HC Deb 06 July 1855 vol 139 cc537-40
MR. STAFFORD

also wished to ask the Under Secretary for War a question of which ho gave notice yesterday, and which he did not then bring before the House in compliance with the wish expressed by the hon. Gentleman. Several Members of the House had probably seen a letter, published in The Times of yesterday, purporting to have been written by an army surgeon in the Crimea, and he felt convinced that no hon. Gentleman could have read that letter without feelings of the strongest possible indignation. The letter referred to the arrangements made for the reception of the wounded on the 18th of June last, and the writer made the following statements— At five a.m. a ward was given over to me. It contained no patients. I was requested to see what was wanted for it. I found in it fourteen wretched shaky bedsteads, as many mattresses stuffed with chopped straw, the mattresses not sewn up at the sides, and sheets and blankets to correspond. This was all—not a single chamber utensil, not a cup, knife, fork, or spoon—no large vessel for holding water—nothing but what I have named. I immediately applied for the various things deficient. Drinking-cups there were none; one chamber utensil only I could have for the whole ward, and two bedpans; nothing to hold water or tea—no plates The wounded began to arrive; that ward was soon filled; others were given over to me in exactly the same predicament. One orderly was given to attend on fourteen wounded men, not one of whom was able to move. Each ward was the same. The constant cry of the wounded was for water. We had nothing to give it them in. Old tin cases that had contained preserved meats were eagerly sought for, but out of these they could not drink, except by a most painful effort, as, of course, they had to be raised up in bed. I proceeded to dress the wounds; the orderly given me had never done that duty before, and when I asked him to give me lint strapping and gutta-percha he did not know what those articles were. Every moment he was called away to give a drink to some wounded man. Well, Sir, during the whole of that day the wounded had nothing to eat, and not enough to drink. During the night of the 18th the wounded came crowding in; some of them were admitted by the orderlies, without having seen a medical officer, and, consequently, not having been seen, their wounds were not dressed till morning. Yesterday the only food given to these poor creatures until nine o'clock at night was hard biscuit and tea! There was no bread for them, no arrowroot, no beef tea—nothing except tea without milk! I did not find this out until the bread had arrived, or certainly, as long as any bread was to be bought, my own men should have had some. We were occupied incessantly all yesterday and the day before in dressing and operating. As soon as one man was removed from the operating-table, another was put on. I have not time, Sir, to write more, or I could give many further particulars. I think these facts need no comment. I can vouch for every word I have written. Though I do not wish my name to be published, you are at liberty to give it to any of the authorities, or to any one who wishes to investigate the matter further. I beg to state that I am not a civilian surgeon, finding fault with what I do not understand. I am in the army, and, being in the army, it is, perhaps, to use an official term, 'indiscreet' to write this letter. Nor am I a non-professional person writing to The Times to complain that a man with a ball through his shoulder suffers pain; but, case-hardened and tough though a professional life has rendered me, I cannot see brave men suffering unnecessarily without indignation. I have written strongly because I feel strongly. Your medical readers will understand the frightful deficiency of stores when I mention that there are no splints, except straight ones, to be had, and that there are no M'Intyre's splints, nor any modification of them, and no angular splints. All these things are stored in the most lavish profusion at Scutari. He trusted he should not he told by the hon. Gentleman that he had taken these statements hap-hazard from a newspaper, and that it would have been more fair to wait for an explanation before he brought them under the notice of the House. It must be remembered that these statements were made by a paper which was denounced and contradicted during the whole of the autumn and winter, but which, by degrees, had had the whole of its previous terrible statements so completely borne out that the truth of none of them could now be denied. This was not the only reason which had induced him to bring the subject before the House. The information received by the Government with regard to the health and the treatment of the troops, and the supply of medical necessaries and comforts, was derived from a man of whom the Sebastopol Committee had expressed the following opinions— Your Committee are totally at a loss to comprehend the report of Dr. Hall, more especially with regard to the Barrack Hospital, the scene of so much misery and suffering, Dr. Hall having reported the hospitals at Scutari to be in as good a state as could reasonably be expected. The Government could not comfort themselves with the belief, after such an expression of opinion on the part of the Committee, that they could rely on the statements of Dr. Hall, who was charged, not only with having given no information, but with having supplied misinformation on this most important and vital subject. He wished to ask whether the attention of the Government had been called to the letter to which he had referred; whether they had any reason to doubt its authenticity; whether they would be willing to avail themselves of the offer made by the writer of that letter to give his name; and whether they would fully and fearlessly investigate this painful subject? Statements had been made before the Commis- sion less generally known than those made before the Sebastopol Committee, which, although they caused the hearts of those who heard them to chill with horror, were highly honourable to the regimental surgeons, who came forward, notwithstanding the risk to their own professional advancement, to bring under the notice of the country the sufferings of the poor patients committed to their charge. It was not possible to exaggerate the eulogies due to these men. Even putting the question upon the lowest ground, the life of a soldier, looking upon it as a mere mercantile firm would do, could not be valued at less than 200l. The country could not have any confidence in the head of the Medical Department after the charges which had been brought against him by the Sebastopol Committee, and it could not, therefore, but be expected that statements like that which he had just read would be made from time to time in the papers, and would be read by the country with indignation, but with the strongest belief in their veracity.