Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1865-07-20
The sanitary Commission.

y Report OF the New England Women'i
Auxiliary Association of the U, S, San,
itary Commission, with the accompany
Ing letter, we publish by request, 10 ex'
plain the work which the Commission
still have In hand, and as an answer q
She oit.repeated question--what fur
ther need there is OF effort 10 SIS De-
hair.
MONTHLY REPORT,
When our supply work ends,
there is yet something, perhaps q great
deal TO be done Some extracts from O
letter of the President Of the Commits
sion will give as good an idea of what
this work is 70 be, as can be given al
this moment. He says under date OF
May 26th
1--WE hope TO make our branches CEN
tres both for the diffusion and the col
lection OF light, on all thar concerns the
well-being OF our disabled and dis
charged soldiers. We shall soon issue
general Instructions upon this subject.
We suppose, however that each commu-
nifty win have its own special exper-
fences, depending upon its geographical
position and on the number and charac-
ter OF the institutions already ut work
for the benefit of the soldiers. We wish
our branches to assume no work which
others are doing well; 10 do no super
Auous or in any way needless labor /;
and we wish them to discourage all
about them in works OF supererogation
no ~, n
but to stand up; and only those be pro-
vided with public support who cannot
take care of themselves, nor be taken
care Of by their friends.
The chief work you can do, IL seems
10 me, is TO make your branch a centre,
1rst, for the collection Of facts and OBJ
seryations respecting the actual needs
Of the soldiers returning to the sphere
Of your work. Make your office place
where soldiers can come to register their
wants and complaints, and where you
can obtain your share Of facts, to aid in
forming correct theory Of the course
the nation ought to take for the next
i've years towards its inyalids, its vet.
Grams, and the widows and orphans of
the war
Next let it be a bureau OF information
to the soldiers and their friends in res
pect to pensions, back pay and bounty.
Is you have claim agency in Boston,
you will merely extend the knowledge
Of its privileges, SO as to secure for the
soldiers families all their rights.
Then, let your branch be an Office for
collecting information in regard to the
kinds of labor in which invalid soldiers
can engage; and the market for their
labor. In this way we hope through
eur branches and aid societies, to do
something toward keeping our invalid
soldiers scattered; objects of neighbor-
ly and personal interest, thinly spread
over the country,-instead Of regiment
ing them in asylums, to weary and de-
noralize each other, and to become bur-
dens to the State. adv. Eea-. ..
We recommend you TO impress on ev-
cry aid society on your books, the i'm
portance Of it's making itself the local
centre Of all that concerns the welfare
81 returning soldiers in its own neigh
horhood; to recommend the notion that
t is a disgrace to town to allow it's
0wn soldiers, or its widowed and or
phaned families, to look beyond its own
limits for support; to make it a matter
OF holy pride and emulation to provide
employment for it's own disabled men,
and in this way to reduce the County
and State and National asylums to the
lowest possible figure. il,for1s
We believe that the healthful tenden-
eies Of American institutions will SO
largely favor these ideas as to make the
number of absolute dependents much
smaller than is now feared and to rem
der the labor put upon our branches far
from burdensome. Bat the next three
enthusiastically the next year. Will
test that point. f...-
We. already perceive q disposition OF
q certain set of low spirited men who
count their wounds not SO much an
honor as a thrift, to take up the business
OF mendicants, and deform the streets
with their hat finland beggary. These
wounded towards must not be mis-
taken for our. disabled soldiers, not be
allowed to represent them. For the
honor of the whole corps they ought to
be disconntenanced, and by arrange
nents with the police compelled to go
10 WDTh, VI pc pun III NueiANJ "Dy Au'ho'
Public, Shameless beggary is every way
sorrupting, whether made by blind,
hme, or sick men and the public can
net be expected at once to understand
this. 1t is matter in which they must
he protected from their own impulsive
sympathies. 49, 4, -es
There, is however, q class OF persons
made helpless by the war--some OF them
vet to devslope the whole extent ottheir
broken constitutions-who must be
made comfortable for life, in publiclin-
stitutions. How numerous these will
prove 1t is impossible even to conjeet-
ure 1t does not include all the helpless :;
because q large proportion of them will
receive the tenderest care of their own
families, too happy to watch over
them--as they should be, even though
In very moderate circumstances. Let
rs do nothing to discourage this noble
pride of democratic independence. A
large share of the inyalidiSn of the war,
we shall never hear Of. On, proud boys
win hide their scars, and de in the sa-
cred retirements Of homes that will not
parade their services or their sorrows ;
happy in having borne and rendered
both. But there are many foreigners
who have fought for us, and have all
the claims of natiyes,-since to mix