SANITARY COMMISSIONS. 



Secretary of "War, urging the establishment of 

 the desired Commission as a needed adjunct to 

 the new, extensive, and overflowing duties of 

 the Medical Bureau. 



On the 23d of May the delegation addressed 

 to th'e Secretary of War a " Draft of powers, 

 asked from the Government, by the Sanitary 

 delegates to the President and Secretary of 

 War." In this paper the powers desired were 

 stated as follows : 



" 1. The Commission being organized for the 

 purposes only of inquiry and advice, asks for no 

 legal powers, but only the official recognition 

 and moral countenance of the Government, 

 which will be secured by its public appoint- 

 ment. It asks for a recommendatory order, 

 addressed in its favor to all officers of the move- 

 ment, to further its inquiries ; for permission 

 to correspond and confer, on a confidential 

 footing, with the Medical Bureau and the War 

 Department, proffering such suggestions and 

 counsel as its investigations and studies may 

 from time to time prompt and enable it to 

 offer. 



" 2. The Commission seeks no pecuniary re- 

 muneration from the Government. Its motives 

 being humane and patriotic, its labors will be 

 its own reward. The assignment to them of a 

 room in one of the public buildings, with sta- 

 tionery and other necessary conveniences, 

 would meet their expectations in this di- 

 rection. 



" 3. The Commission asks leave to sit through 

 the war, either in Washington, or when and 

 where it may find it most convenient and use- 

 ful ; but it will disband should experience ren- 

 der its operations embarrassing to the Govern- 

 ment, or less necessary and useful than it is 

 now supposed they will prove." 



Concerning the objects of the Commission, 

 the delegation say : 



" The general object of the Commission is 

 through suggestions reported from time to 

 time to the Medical Bureau and the War De- 

 partment, to bring to bear upon the health, 

 comfort, and morale of our troops, the fullest 

 and ripest teachings of sanitary science, in its 

 application to military life, whether deduced 

 from theory or practical observations, from 

 general hygienic principles, or from the ex- 

 perience of the Crimean, the East India, and 

 the Italian wars. Its objects are purely advi- 

 sory." 



They indicate the following specific objects 

 of inquiry : 



"1. Materiel of the Volunteers. The Com- 

 mission proposes a practical inquiry into the 

 materiel of the volunteer forces, with reference 

 to the laws and usages of the several States, in 

 the matter of inspections, with the hope of 

 assimilating the regulations with those of the 

 army proper, alike in' the appointment of medi- 

 cal and other officers, and in the vigorous ap- 

 plication of just rules and principles to recruit- 

 ing and inspection laws. This inquiry would 

 exhaust every topic appertaining to the original 



materiel of the army, considered as a subject 

 of sanitary and medical care. 



" 2. Prevention. The Commission would in- 

 quire with scientific thoroughness into the sub- 

 ject of diet, cooking, cooks, clothing, huts, 

 camping grounds, transports, transitory depots, 

 with their expenses, camp police, with reference 

 to settling the question how far the regulations 

 of the army proper are or can be practically 

 carried out among the volunteer regiments, and 

 what changes or modifications are desirable 

 from their peculiar character and circumstan- 

 ces ? Every thing appertaining to outfit, clean- 

 liness, precautions against damp, cold, heat, 

 malaria, infection, and unvaried or ill-cooked 

 food, and an irregular or careless commissariat, 

 would fall under this head. 



" 3. Relief. The Commission would inquire 

 into the organization of Military Hospitals, gen- 

 eral and regimental ; the precise regulations 

 and routine through which the services of the 

 patriotic women of the country may be made 

 available as nurses ; the nature and sufficiency 

 of hospital supplies ; the method of obtaining 

 and regulating ah 1 other extra and unbought 

 supplies, contributing to the comfort of the 

 sick ; the question of ambulances and field 

 services, and of extra medical aid ; and what- 

 ever else relates to the care, relief, or cure, of 

 the sick and wounded, their investigations 

 being guided by the highest and latest medical 

 and military experience, and carefully adapted 

 to the nature and wants of our immediate arrny 

 and its peculiar origin and circumstances." 



The President and Secretary of War were 

 not at first disposed to look with any great 

 favor upon this plan, which they regarded 

 rather as a sentimental scheme concocted by 

 women, clergymen, and humane physicians, 

 than as one whose practical workings would 

 prove of incalculable benefit to the army which 

 was rapidly coming into existence. The ear- 

 nestness of its advocates, their high position, 

 and the evidence which was adduced that they 

 only represented the voice of the nation, pro- 

 duced some effect in modifying their views ; 

 and when the Acting Surgeon-General asked 

 for it, as a needed adjuvant to the Medical 

 Bureau, likely soon to be overwhelmed by its 

 new duties, they finally decided, though re- 

 luctantly, to permit its organization. 



Accordingly the Secretary of War, on the 

 9th of June, decided on the creation of such a 

 Commission, the President approving. The 

 title first given to the new organization was 

 " The Commission of Inquiry and Advice in 

 respect of the Sanitary Interests of the United 

 States Forces," but was subsequently changed 

 to " The United States Sanitary Commission." 



It was composed of the following gentle- 

 men : Eev. Henry W. Bellows, D.D., Presi- 

 dent, New York; Professor A. D. Bache, Vice- 

 President, Washington ; Elisha Harris, M.D., 

 Corresponding Secretary, New York ; George 

 W. Cullum, U. S. A., Washington ; Alexander 

 E. Shiras, U. S. A., Washington ; Eobert 0. 



