M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1864-02-11
SANITARY FAIRS.
How the Supplies Reach The
Soldiers,

From tho Army Correspondent Of the Loul.
Z Vile JoUrnsl)
ChA1TANoooA, January i6, 1894.
In a receut number Of your iourna
Q | read q communication addressed L
Q you rom Bridgeport, animadvertin
e on tho manner in which sanitar
stores arc disposed Of in tho army.
hoped that tho writer would continue
the subject, and, in Place Of skimmini
over the sutIace, Ike a skiIlul surgeon
probe deep the ulcer, and lay bar,
the rottonneSs 80 artlully covered b,
the thin guiSe Of piety, and concealed
! beneath tho gloss of political hypo
cIlsy. Now that tie people Of the
Northern States are filling the Golfers
Of the Sanitary Commission with 8
lavish prodigaIity, is an suspicious
moment tor Gibbon or q Junius to
unmnsk the loya scounlrels who in
.hiest the canps to bleed the soldier
and pocket the generous offerings Of u
magnaDimons people. Did the cor
respondents Of the public press, who
feed tho public on diluted faction, do
half their duty, they would expose
the Frauds ptTpetrated on the soldiers,
ahd scourge tho Yultures who prey
upon the vitals Of the nation, in place
Of landing Bacchanalnn revels and
writing worthless politicians to stars
aud eagles. Specimens OF this class
Of worthless may be daily soen in that
extra loyal sheet, the Cincinnati Com.
merciGt, compounded 10y it's cores
pondent here Vi equal parts Of A frican
odor and tho unaduItefated esseuco
of ihlsehood.
Why these ialsehood, are puf forth
TO The country, when queation to the
hTst soldier he met would convince
the writer that half clothes and half
ra'ions are ali he gets, ia enigmstical
aud my sterious. The same story wa4
told III the Cincinnati papers, before
the recent battles, when the soldier
lived on half a cracker "A day, and
such iniestines as he could purchase
rom the contract butcher, at enorm-
Gus prices, to keep body and soul
together. Since the Army of the
Cumberland was compelled, by the
disasters Of Chickamsuga, to occupy
Chattanooga, like the garrison of a
beeaglered city, the meu never drew
more than half raticns, and most OF
the1imo not more than fourth. For
want OF the necessary food and cloth
ing since the cold weather set in, al
large proportion Of the regiments are
Gil tho surgeons list laid up with
colds and pulmonary diseases. Bnt
that ls not all Heretofore the Army
Regulations authorized the soldier to
be paid in money for all rations saw
ed or not furnished by tho Govern, |
meDt; but lately some wiseacre st
Washington discovered this to be il |
legal, aid ordered that no money BE- |
paid thou h horeceive but ono fourth,
Or no ration at all. No finer system
could be devised to cheat the toiIipg
private and fill the pockets of dis
'ontst Commissaries of Subsistence.
Yet with these facts patent and pub.
ic, the helpless colder is not only to
70 cheated cut Of his rights. bur tia
rjends and the country are to be lied
'ut Of the knowledge Of them. 1t is,
,orhais, unavoidable that food should
70 scarce and clothing scauty, yet
'sn not see the necessity of propp;ng
Ip misfortune with q deliberate fal.
ehocd. That things might be better
nd food more abundant have no
cub, did not the spirit of avarice
AXE possession Of public function.
rise, and the greed OF gain swallow
p every feeling Of humanity and
nstice.
General Thomas is thoroughly hon.
st aud anxious to stop speculation in
very branch o! the service, but had
70 the eyes OF Argus and the hands
+ Briareus he could not watch the {
laks nor pillory tbs plunders of his
ubordinates The desire to get rich i
3 80 universal that it has become a /,
'atiVnal crime to lack the capacity or I
he will to appropriate your neighbors t
and fill your Golfers with r
public plunder. II cotton is king, the t
lollar is the deity at whose shrine the j
aiut and the sinner alike offer up i
heir daily prisons. While the private g
ut of elbows and out Of toss, hugged a
lis rife on picket and parade, won 6
ering when the next cracker would a
nd resting place in his collapsed q
aversack, the landings along the +
iver from Chattanooga to Bridgeport '
'ere crowded with provisions, per- Q
lifted to rot because the Commis- O
aries we're too busy regulating their Il
rivate finauces. If the visionary
ss failed to find the philosophers I
one, the more practical Yankee has f