Volume 2

St. Andrews Medical Graduates' Association : transactions, [1869-1871] / edited by W. Sedgwick.

Date:
1870-1872
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: St. Andrews Medical Graduates' Association : transactions, [1869-1871] / edited by W. Sedgwick. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    you will perceive tliat not only is the scope of tlie Society very extensive, but the machinery for conducting it is of a very com- plicated nature. That the bodies acting under the Ked Cross conferred immense benefits upon the wounded, not only during the siege of Paris, but throughout the entire campaign, is matter of public notoriety. By their means comforts were afforded to thousands of persons, who without their aid would unquestionably have been left very badly off, more particularly as regards means of transport, accommodation, food, and comforts. Yet the question often presented itself during the war, and has done so since, whether the effects of charity have not, in regard to these Societies, really removed from the belligerent powers a responsi- bility which attaches to them, and ought to be fulfilled by them, —namely, that of providing for men wounded in the wars they severally engage in,—and that in doing so, assistance is really given to the powers to continue their conflict. Undoubtedly this is so to a considerable extent; but then all history of European • wars teaches us the sad fact, that the arrangements made during them for the wounded, have never been upon a scale equal to their requirements, and that military commanders at the present day are too apt, as they were in earlier times, to consider a soldier, once he becomes wounded and non-effective, as so much rubbish to be dealt with anyhow. The existence of Societies under the Red Cross is a check upon this, and unquestionably saves the lives of many men who would otherwise fall victims to insuflicient arrangements. Thus the benefits conferred by those Societies counterbalance the drawbacks attending them. No doubt there are many points in reference to the classes of persons who have to be employed under them, which demand early attention and change, and it is very desirable that the necessary re-organisation of the whole take place before they are called upon to act in another war. It is therefore to be hoped that a conference will meet this very year, to take the whole matter into consideration. As to the probable effect of the Red Cross Societies upon the interests of the medical profession, my own belief is that it must sooner or later be to advance the interests of that profession. As observed in Paris, however, I cannot help thinking that in the establishments instituted under it for the benefit of the wounded, the position was not in all cases accorded to the surgeons, to which, by the important and responsible nature of their duties, they were entitled, for really they alone had the weight of responsibility for