New-York tribune., 1870-09-21
AID FOR THE WOUNDED.
APPEAL TO AMERICAN CITIZENS.


INTERESTING DETALS-MAGNIFICENT CHART
TIES OF EUROPE.
In 1868 Convention was held at Geneva
Switzerland OF delegates of the European Pow
ers, in which Government was represented i"'
the purpose OF securing, by agreement among 'ne ~"
tons. neutrality I'm time OF war for hospitals "'Y'
lauces surgeons, and all persons legitimateN e"s"s
IN caring Tor the sick and wounded In 1854 "' "n ~
national Congress held at the same place SauSI"'O''
tcles of neutrality agreed upon "uu ,tri,
been signed by all the chief Powers oil hui'I g., ,y
which held out against the humane pan ,,iopco
sitter the battle Of Sadowa, from P'"o' -. U,s.ia
os Tho ,r.ot bcpeAt of the International lled9' h"
has finally Welded TO the same ell"'"e' -
preseDt war begun Turkey ahu '"o .
are the only considerable Powers tna' "' 9" -, ,
~ tho : ,cred League. our own GoNerhneu' h'e '""9
frde,lned 70 join in the agreement on the sohol"i
-. ., ovoiding entangling alliances with European
-, I'M, with the changed relations of the two CONT
nent. which are brought so ngh together pl
cieuce and political aspirations, II seems probdoe 'hat
W., shall not long able willing TO isolate ourselves
fom the rest OF the world ON any question that con
cern, the universal rights and duties of Humanity New
earl, therefore, will be made to remove the painful eN
cepton of the United states Government nom a treaty
that more than any other movement of modern times
illustrates the international sense Of common brother
hood.
In 1866 branch Of The International Society OF Re
lief for Wounded Soldiers was established IN America
and ma. continued in correspondence with the central
authorities and with the chief branches in Paris, Berlin
and Geneva The American branch of the International
Association the Relief of the Misery OF Fields
has hitherto confined itself furnishing the parent So
cety and its branches with all the experience gathered
In our late war Of the best methods Of relief and not
too much to say that sanitary and Christian Commits
sons have the chief lights of the inspiration OF the
humane plans which have now spread through Europe
Up to this time "the American Association has refraned
from any direct efforts to raise money in this country for
r,1ad thp
France and Germany firstly, because it did not wish to
interfere in any way with tthe earnest movements OF
German and French residents, who were calling upon
each shCr, and upon liberal citizens for pecuniary
and other supplies; and secondly, because IL
wished to see clearly how the plans of the
international Association working and whether
1t could with full faith the American public of the
SAFE direct, efficient, and impartial application OF all
means Of relief offered by people TO the SICK ana
wounded of both armies further reason for delay has
the conviction that aid would be more neces
sary after the enthusiasm OF sympathy and succor
had subsided. The time has come when the Ameri
lean Association feels that 1t is mperatyey due TO our
national character to make purely American demon
sration Of sympathy with the victims Of this great war;
and to take place with the other great nations III the
urgent work of relief to the tens Of thousands of sufferers
in the lamentabe strife that has deuged Europe with
blood and her homes with tears. That the urgency OF
the may he duly understood we proceed 10 give
succnct account Of the numbers and condition of the
wounded and the means employed for their relief.
THE IMMENSE NUMBER OF THE WOUNDED
The French army was sent into the present before
any reforms had been made in its bad system OF intend
eIce Ii was unprepared to provide for many Of
the French wounded fell before the 2Oh day OF
August And it has been the fortune of that army to
have almost its entire ambulance nateriel swept away
in the successive defeats. The voluntary aid that
forward by the National "SOc6te de SecOUTS" at
Paris has supplied wants by being permitted the
privileges of neutrality when brought within the Prus-
sian lines But the wants of the French wounded have,
mn to the present time been chiefly provided by
Government In the beeaguered cities of Metz and Stras
bourg however the French surgeons have the Of
vast number of their wounded In the former city
reported that there had accumulated nearly 10000
wounded and that their suerngs and doubtless
continue, nOleabe, Notwithstanding the great efforts
made by the French, German, and English societies OF
succOr to supply their wants Except as respects the
city OF Paris the ambulance mdterei of the French ha
been far swept away that they unprepared to rem
der adequate to their own wounded and sick, II
the continues.
In the Prussian armies that have crossed the Rhine
there existed and still exists, regulation requiring an
outfit for ambulance and field hospital to accommodate
5000 This outfit for the field medical service
supposed to be always near the moving forces. The
military medical staff OF that army endeavOrs to be in
readiness the surgical of any number of wounded
not exceeding 6OOO in any series of battles The
PruSsan army medical and hospital system has been so
enlarged as 10 provide for the possible of forty
per CeutitW of the entire force in the course OF
owe year, and has been reformed to
accept any needed aid from civil
surgeons in accordance with the German Confer
ynce Its plans and facilities for the speedy and safe
transportation Of wounded men upon grand scale
But Notwithstanding all these preparations, they were
ttory overtaxed even before the 2Oth of August for,
instead Of 2GOOO wounded needing and succOr the
hed, the conquering army had more than thrice that
number upon its hands, while yet the slaughter be-
coming and more terrible; and, by the 1st Of Sep
tember-in only one month of ightng-the total number
wounded in German hands is reported to exceed 1I0
OD But even there only 10000 wounded in Ger
hO ptals from both armies, ii would be an unpre-
cedeued task for any army medical department 10
provide for many in so brief period
quantity Of wounds in particular battles is fearful
to contemplate. In the single conflict at Vonville our
esteemed feOw-citzen, Mr. Frederick Kapp, writing
from Berlin testfes that the Prussian losses exceeded
5000 The Prussian Society Of Succor, or " Hlfs
Verep," and its auxlliaries hastened forward all the
means Of assistance in their power, and their aid
gladly accepted. But before any great amount Of such
help Came, the armies moved forward and the wounded
were being sent eastward across the Rhine, where,
i'm tn. temporary and other hospitals this kind OF
help is being abundantly used. Some idea of the
movement the wounded and of the vast numbers Of
them may formed from statements that reach us
from particular stations the routes. For example
Previous TO Aug. a. upward OF 1900 wounded have
passed Mayence by railway and steamboats,. AT Saar-
bruck the journals that upward of 10000 had passed
by railway trains up TO septl l. At Bngerbruck, 10000
had passed on; and at Bngen the Rhine in
single night 400 arrived and immediately dis
trbuted to hospitals in Bonn, CODentz, Cologne, and
Dusseldorf In Southern Germany the process OF
distribution has been going through Baden, Wurtem
berg, and Bavaria.
While all this timely and rapid distribution Of the
wounded that could bear transportation had been going
qpadt 10 a., tba