From the Richmond Whig, 6/10/1862, p. 1, c. 1
BUREAU OF INFORMATION. - He would be a genuine
philanthropist who would establish, at some central point in this city, a Bureau
of Information concerning the sick and wounded of the Armies in Virginia. Indeed
the matter is of so great importance that the government would be justified in
setting apart a considerable sum for this purpose. If we look at Richmond alone,
we find the hospitals scattered over a circuit of many miles and some of them of
such immense size that a day would be consumed in looking over the wards or, in
the cases of Camp Winder and Chimborazo Hospitals, the streets of sick and
wounded. The Manager of the Bureau of Information should keep a record, as
complete and accurate as possible, of all the sick and wounded in all the
hospitals, public and private in the city. A daily list of deaths should be
printed and kept for public inspection. To attend to this business, the Manager
should be allowed two or three clerks, whose duty it should be to make frequent
regular visits to the hospitals, and to receive from the surgeons in charge a
list of the patients who have been received, discharged or died. Private
families having sick or wounded with them should also hand in their names to the
Bureau. We are very sure that no service more grateful to the hundreds of
thousands of friends and relatives of the soldiers could be rendered. If the
government will not aid this enterprise, we believe a large fund can be raised
by subscription. Will not some large-hearted citizen put his hand zealously to
this good work? He ought to be a man of system, industrious and indefatigable,
willing to give his whole soul to the work, so as to keep his lists at all times
as complete and accurate as possible. How the mothers, fathers, wives, brothers,
sisters and daughters of this Confederacy would thank this man! Suspense is so
terrible.
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