Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-10
THE SICKNESS IN THE ARMY.


merce n paper noted for careful invesu-
cation and conservative judgment:
| In order to break the force OF the sta
| tistics OF sickness In the army t"eie
~. racently been published lot OK
| statistics OF sickness In the army ou""s
| the civil war. but the comparisons are
| n,islead,ng unless We know exactly tho
periods compared. The present regi-
| ,ner,s have not been In existence Tour
months. were the statistics of civil war
| regiments for periods Of four months or
| ,our vearsP That the Chickahominy
| swamps were frightfuily unhealthy Is
well remembered by the older people Oh
| to-day but the necessities or war kept
our troops there for many months' the
| soldiers who went 10 Santiago were
| there only month, and far the greater
| mart OF our soldiers have never peeh
AWAY from the camps Of instruction. on
| sites supposed to be particularly saiu-
brious. IL Is not the sickness at s&htIaso
80 much as the sickness at camp Anger
and Camp Thomas that has excited com
plant. Montauk Point was seiec'ed as d
Mace where the Santiago soldiers coulu
recover their health, and the original nos
pital accommodations were Tor 0oV men
Until within a few days hundreds Oh SIGN
men have been lying on the GROUND 'here
because there were no cots in the nos
r,.ois for them or because Incompetence
prevented their being put upon them. one
az the nurses told the President last
Saturday that with large number Oh
emntv beds in the hospital large num-
her OF sick men were still lying ON the
ground. OF course, the medical ofncers
said she was a hysterical female, as was
said of a nurse who came up on the
Seneca and told what the. conditions on
that ship were.
A few days ago fifty typhoid-fever pa
tients were taken from the camp WlKo1
hospital to the steamer landing 10 De put
on board the Shinnecock to be brought 10
New York and Brooklyn hospitals. Inc
steamer had not arrived, ana the MY
faver patients were laid down on the
sand. in the sunshine, without even
shade over them. to await the arrival or
tho Shinnecock several hours later. In
the mean time a tug arrived from New
port with supplies sent by charitaDie peo-
Dle. and the fifty men were taken Oh
board and kept till the ShinnecocK ar
rived at night, and the worst nfteen cases
were kept on board and carried 10 Ne"
mort hospitals Was IL no ones business
70 see that fifty typhoid-rever patients
steamer arrived, or that they should not
no dropped on the ground under a blazing
sun instead of being carried back TO the
hospital?
The letter of DR.. Stimson IN the
Herald shows insufficient hospital ac-
commodatons, insufficient surgeons ana
assistants. officers declining assistance
when three-fourths Of their men are uhlt
for duty, and almost no effort, except that
made by private charity, TO supply mix
or other delicate food to the hundreds Oh
soldiers whose stomachs will not bear the
regular rations.
Perhaps the most distressing thing Oh
all il the fact that administration news
papers are beginning to show appreheh-
sions of the political effects OF the crlu-
cisms of the War Department, and nave
begun insinuating that the accounts Oh
mismanagement are Democratic cam
naign material. That the most partisan
newspaper could undertake TO oelltue
the suffering in the camps lest the truth
should lead to some manifestation Oh
blind resentment at the polls Is almost
beyond belief.
The Journal of Commerce is correct In
its suspicion that the administration
newspapers-or most Of them-intend 10
treat criticisms of the conduct OF the war
as partisan attacks of Democratic poll
t.cians. But they are too late. Num-
bers Of true and tried Republicans are al
ready on record as declaring that the neg
lect or incompetency Of the War once
has been astonishing. What is more, the
statistics when gathered will speak for
themselves, and We may trust TO the
United States Senate to bring them OUT.
We cannot depend upon the House or
Representatives to do this work so long
as Tom Reed is the Speaker, for he Is
hopelesay partisan and autocratic In the
highest degree. Nor can we place much
dependence upon courts OF inquiry. In
the first place they cannot compel civilian
witnesses to testify, and in the next they
must be composed of men who stand in
awe, more or less, Of the powers that be.