Stilie.] 378 [May 6, 



He was elected on the thirtieth of July, 1861, by the gentlemen ap- 

 pointed by the President of the United States, a "Commission of 

 Inquiry and Advice in respect of the Sanitary Interests of the United 

 States Forces," a member of that body. His duties in this position 

 were all engrossing. To do properly the work which the Commission 

 had undertaken to do, which was nothing less than an attempt to 

 supplement by the full measure of popular sympathy the deficiencies 

 of the government service in the care of the suffering of the Army, 

 required something more than mere devotion and zeal. If the whole 

 project was not to end by increasing the very evils it sought to 

 remedy, there was need of the utmost judgment, prudence and intelli- 

 gence on the part of those who managed its affairs, in order to secure 

 the harmonious co-operation of the army officials. In shaping and 

 directing the policy of the Commission to this end, Mr. Binney was 

 always conspicuous. On many occasions during its sessions in Wash- 

 ington, I was impressed with his sound and well-considered views, not 

 merely in regard to the general objects of the Commission, but as to 

 the best methods of securing them. His judgment was always so 

 sure and calm, his counsel so wise and patriotic, that he soon gained 

 the fullest confidence of his colleagues, many of whom were among 

 the foremost men in the country. 



But Mr. Binney's care for the sick and the suffering of tlie Army 

 during the war, did not end with this general supervision of the 

 means to be taken to improve their condition. One of the methods 

 adopted by the Sanitary Commission to organize popular sympathy on 

 the widest basis, was the establishment of branch or tributary asso- 

 ciations in different parts of the country. In pursuance of this plan, 

 Mr. Binney was instructed to organize in December, 1861, such an 

 association in this City. By his zeal and personal influence, he 

 gathered round him many of our prominent citizens, who desired to 

 aid in this great scheme of Army relief. Of this body, called the 

 "Philadelphia Associates," Mr. Binney was Chairman during the 

 war, and by means of its labors, more than a million and a half of 

 dollars were contributed in aid of the purposes for which the Com- 

 mission was established. It is impossible, it seems to me, to recall 

 the vast proportions which this work assumed without admiration, 

 wonder and gratitude. Under Mr. Binney's wise and earnest leader- 

 ship, it collected vast supplies from the homes of the country, and 

 distributed them to the suffering of the Army, it supplemented the 

 needs of the Military Hospitals, local and general, — it was foremost in 

 relieving the miseries of battle-fields ; it established a Hospital Direc- 

 tory, by means of which the condition of the suffering soldier, in 

 any Military Hospital, might become speedily known to his friends, 

 and it maintained a Bureau for the purpose of collecting the soldiers, 

 claims on the government without charge to him. To c arry on this 



