the views of the Central
Association and the emergencies of the case. The ordering of a Sanitary
Commission _without rights or powers_ was finally granted, the _duties_
being enough to satisfy the most active. The order for the Commission
was issued by the Secretary of War June 9th, and approved by the
President June 13th, 1861. Women feel that our soldiers belong to the
_nation_, and thus local, and personal prejudices have yielded to the
truly _federal_ principles of the Sanitary Commission. They are
withdrawn from local politics, and have felt the assault upon the life
of the nation in its true national aspect. They have been the first to
appreciate and understand the all-embracing duties of the Sanitary
Commission. With Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville,
Pittsburg, Philadelphia, New York, Brooklyn, New Haven, Hartford,
Providence, Boston, Portland, and Concord for centres, there are at
least 15,000 Soldiers' Aid Societies, all under the control of women,
employed in supplying, through the Sanitary Commission, the wants of the
sick and wounded in the great Federal Army. The skill and business
energies of the women managing the vast operations of the chief centres
of supply unfold a new and glowing page in the history of the capacities
of the sex.

Why does the Sanitary Commission need so much money? Because the present
machinery of the Commission, supported by the Central Treasury cannot be
kept in motion without large expenditures; and large as the cost is, the
results for good are almost infinitely larger. The Sanitary distributes
the supplies sent, embraces Sanitary Inspection by medical men of
general hospitals, Sanitary Inspection by medical men of camps and field
hospitals, Special Relief with all its agencies and in all its various
departments, and the Hospital Directory with its register and its
500,000 names. Every dollar expended meets some real want, or helps to
save a life. Do the people wish this agency in behalf of the soldiers in
tent, hospital, and on the battle field--at the East--West--South, to
cease? or is it their will to continue it in its largeness of plan, its
scientific exactness, its ability to do all that the friends at home
would themselves desire to do for our soldiers? Our generous and loyal
people have given their entire confidence to the Sanitary
Commission--they have decided that it shall not die for lack of material
aid, estimating beyond all money and all price