'JBnmcji of % ihtM States Commission. 
Individual and desultory labor accomplishes but little, compared with that which is systematized and concentrated. One earnest 
Woman, whose heart responds to the appeals made in behalf of our sick and wounded Soldiers, can do more for them by enlisting the 
active sympathy and co-operation of her friends and neighbors than by days and nights of unassisted toil. 
Let her call together three or four of the most patriotic and energetic women of the village, and consult with them as to the 
feasibility of forming a Soldier’s Aid Society. Let them determine upon a day and place for a public meeting, to which all the 
women and young girls of the neighborhood shall be invited. The Pastors of every church should be requested to give this invitation 
from their pulpits on the ensuing Sunday, a short notice should be put up at the Post-Office, and, if possible, inserted in the county 
paper. 
It may be well to ask a gentleman, conversant with the ordinary rules of conducting meetings, to preside on this occasion. His 
advice in regard to the forms by which the Officers of the Society should be elected, order of business, &c., will be valuable to those 
who are unaccustomed to it. This formality, which may appear unnecessary to some, is, in reality, important to any efficient action 
on the part of a Society. Every Soldier’s Aid Society, however small, should have its regular “ order of business,” and go through 
with it at every meeting. 
The following is suggested as a 
PLAN OF ORGANIZATION FOR COUNTRY SOCIETIES 
The name of this Society shall be the Soldier’s Aid Society of 
Its object is to provide supplies for the aid and comfort of the sick and wounded Soldiers of the United States Army 
Its officers shall consist of a 
President, 
Five Yice-Presidents, 
Secretary and Treasurer (the same person), 
Committee on Packing (five members). 
There shall be an annual election for Officers. All vacancies occurring during the year shall be filled by the President. 
The President shall preside at the meetings and have the general interests of the Society in charge. She shall purchase all 
materials, and at every monthly meeting, after consultations with the Yice-Presidents and the Treasurer, present a plan of work for 
the ensuing month. 
(uomuii't'wjt) on vjuiaiijj uiciu’uurs), 
The Vice-Presidents shall (one of them) preside in the absence of the President. They, in connection with the President and 
Secretary, shall devise ways and means for improving and increasing the usefulness and efficiency of the Society. At the meetings 
the Yice-Presidents shall distribute work, have the general supervision of it, and collect it again. It shall be the duty 
of the Yice-Presidents to canvass the village and neighborhood for the purpose of obtaining as many members as possible. A 
division into districts will facilitate the work. They should explain the object of the Society and endeavor to enlist the sympathies 
of all in its behalf. The names and Post-Office address of all members are to be recorded in a book kept for that purpose by the 
Secretary. No membership fee shall be required. 
The Secretary and Treasurer shall keep all the books of the Society, conduct the correspondence with that Branch of the 
Sanitary Commission to which the Supplies may be sent, and attend to any other writing which may be necessary, such as serving 
notices, etc. She shall write to the Commission for any information which may be desired by any one member of the Society. She 
shall give a receipt, keep an account, and be responsible for all moneys received by her; shall pay all bills marked “ correct” and 
signed by the President or any one of the Yice-Presidents; make a statement, at every monthly meeting, of the condition of the 
Treasury, and, at the end of every three months, present a Quarterly Eeport, giving in detail the amount of work accomplished and 
where sent, money received and expended, number of members, average attendance, and any other information which may be 
desirable and interesting. At every meeting the Secretary shall record the names of those members present. 
The Gutting Committee shall cut out all material according to approved patterns, and shall have a sufficient quantity of work 
prepared for every meeting. 
The Packing Committee shall elect its own Chairman, who is to make a detailed and accurate list of the contents of each box 
while it is being packed. The list should have the name of the Society written upon it, with the name and Post-Office address of 
the Secretary, and should be placed just under the cover of the box or barrel. A duplicate of this invoice must be sent without 
delay to the Secretary, who will notify the Sanitary Commission, by letter, of every consignment, inclosing a list of ths contents of 
each package. Every box or package should be clearly directed and marked on the outside with the name of the town or village 
from which it is sent. Directions in regard to packing may be found in the Circulars of all the Branches of the Sanitary Commission. 
( When sending to New York, the freight charges will be paid upon delivery at No. 10 Cooper Union.) 
Meetings shall be held once a fortnight or once a week, at the option of the Society. It is better, when practicable, to have 
them held in some regular place of assembling—the Town Hall, Court-House, Public School-House, the Yestry of a Church, &c. MEETINGS. 
ORDER OF BUSINESS. 
I. After the work has been distributed, the President shall call the meeting to order, and open it by calling the roll of all the 
members of the Society, made out alphabetically—those present answering to their names. 
11. The President shall read the names of those members present at the previous meeting. 
111. Report of Secretary and Treasurer. 
IV. Report of Cutting Committee (number of garments cut). 
V. Report of Packing Committee. 
VI. The President, or any member deputed by her, shall read any letters or printed matter lately received from the Sanitary 
Commission. 
VII. At monthly meetings the President shall present a plan of work for the ensuing month. 
VIII. Miscellaneous Business. 
HOW IS THE TREASURY TO BE SUPPLIED ? 
The following plan for supplying the Treasury of Tillage Societies has been in successful operation for the past two years, in 
parts of the State of New York and elsewhere: 
It depends for its efficiency upon the zeal and activity of the young people, who form themselves into an association having for 
its object the collection of funds. We want the little girls, and older ones, too, who so often ask us, “if there is anything they can 
do for the Soldiers,” to feel that we are now answering their question and speaking directly to them. 
As the “Alert Club,” composed of the little girls and young people of Norwalk, Ohio, has been one of the most active and 
successful of these associations—collecting $560.12 in seven months from a little village of only about two thousand inhabitants, and 
no really wealthy men among them—it is proposed that their name should be adopted for all similar organizations. 
The following plan is taken almost entirely from a newspaper article, published by the Soldier’s Aid Society of Northern Ohio, 
Branch of the U. S. Sanitary Commission. 
ALERT CLUB. 
The object of the Alert Club is to furnish the Soldier’s Aid Society with funds to carry on its operations, and all moneys 
collected for this purpose are to be unconditionally paid into the Treasury of the Parent Society. 
The Club should have a President, Secretary, two Treasurers and forty Collectors. 
The Club appoints its own Collectors, who hold their office for one year, unless re elected. There is also an annual election for. 
President, Secretary, and Treasurers. The President shall fill all vacancies which may occur during the year. 
The President shall preside at the meetings, call the roll of the Members—those present answering to their names—and shall 
read aloud the names of those members present at the previous meeting. She shall also read any letters or printed matter which may 
have been received from the Secretary of the Parent Society. 
The Secretary of the Club shall record the names and address of all members, and at every meeting register the names of those 
present. The Secretary shall make an Annual Report to the President of the Soldier’s Aid Society at the annual meeting of the 
Society. ' ■ 
The President is to divide the village and neighborhood into ten districts. Four Collectors are then appointed for each district— 
two for the “ ladies’ monthly” and two for the “ gentlemen’s monthly.” They are to obtain subscriptions of twenty cents per month 
among the ladies, and from the gentlemen a monthly subscription of as much as each subscriber is willing to place against his name 
The"collectors are to call at every house in their respective districts. Every two Collectors will be furnished with a little book, in 
which- the names of their Subscribers and the sums collected will be entered. The President of the Club will receive books and 
pencils for this purpose from the Treasurer of the Soldier’s Aid Society, who will gladly give the Club any assistance it may need, 
and.whose interest, aid, and encouragement may always be relied upon. 
The' Collectors are to go with their books to every Subscriber immediately after the first Monday of every month, and on the 
following Saturday render the accounts to the Treasurers of the Club, who shall examine them, record the result in each case in a 
book-kept' for that purpose, and pay over the suras collected to the Treasurer of the Parent Society,—not later than the following 
Monday,"" 
The Alert Club shall hold its monthly meetings on those Saturdays when the Collectors make their returns. If desired, meetings 
may be held every fortnight. At their meetings they may make slippers, piece quilts and quilt them, and perform such other services 
as their Officers or the Parent Society may suggest. But the main object of the Association being the collection of funds, they are 
not expected fo burthen themselves by other labor. 
When clubs have been particularly “ on the alert,” they have interested themselves in getting up entertainments, concerts, 
tableaux, strawberry parties, etc., beside the monthly subscriptions, and have materially increased the funds of the Society in this 
Way/ * ■- - 
Women’s Pennsylvania Branch, 1307 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 
Reports having been persistently circulated that Dr. Bellows received a large salary for his unwearied services in behalf of the 
United States Sanitary Commission, we at length submitted to Dr. Bellows a letter received at this office, containing information of 
such a rumor and its source, with the request that he would prepare something for publication in reply. 
We do not avail ourselves without hesitation, of the permission given to us by him, to make use in any way that we please, of the 
following statement, for we well know “the humiliation it is to be obliged to descend to such explanationsbut we feel that justice 
to the United States Sanitary Commission, as well as to Dr. Bellows, requires that the truth be made known. TO THE PUBLIC. 
The Board, consisting of twenty-one persons, constituting the United States Sanitary Commission, is an entirely unsalaried body; 
the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Standing Committee, receiving not a penny for their services,—which are daily services, 
occupying for nearly three years past the largest portion of their mental and physical strength. 
As enemies of'the Commission—may God forgive them !—have industriously circulated the false report that the President 
received a large salary, it lias become necessary for him to make this formal and absolute denial of the statement. He trusts that it 
will not be deemed obtrusive, nor as an appeal for praise or sympathy, since he has always found his labors in the Sanitary Commis- 
sion overpaid by his work of love, and needing no return of silver or of gold, or even of public recognition. It is simply in deference 
to the earnest request of friends devoted to the interests of the Commission, that he allows himself to say aught upon so low a plane 
in connection with the exalted subject of mercy to our sick and wounded soldiers. 
President of the U. S. Sanitary Commission. 
HENRY W. BELLOWS, 
THE SANITARY COMMISSION AND THE CHRISTIAN COMMISSION. 
We have taken from the outset all possible pains to prevent any misapprehension as to the relations existing between ourselves 
and the Christian Commission. What these relations are and ought to be, is clearly pointed out in the following letter of instructions 
to our Inspectors, issued December, 1862. 
Central Office, Sanitary Commission, Washington, December 16th, 1862. 
To Each Inspector of the Sanitary Commission: 
The Christian Commission is a body designed to supplement and assist the chaplain service of the Army and Navy, as the 
Sanitary Commission does the medical service. Its accredited agents in the field are termed “ Delegates of the Christian Commission 
they distribute books and tracts, and also give spiritual counsel verbally. The Secretary of the Christian Commission has expressed 
the wish that their attention should not be distracted from this, their ordinary duty, by undertaking personally the distribution of 
supplies. It is not considered best that they should attempt to perform their ordinary duty, however, during the tumult resulting 
from battles, and it is desired that they should be employed in giving such assistance as they can in the measures taken for the saving 
of life and mitigation of the suffering of the wounded on these occasions. It is proposed that they should, for this purpose, act at 
such times under the advice of the Medical Officers of the Commission. 
You are therefore instructed, whenever the delegates of the Christian Commission offer to give you their aid for battle-field 
relief operations, or in other emergencies, to accept it gratefully; and, for the time being, you will deal with them, as far as possible, 
in the same manner as you would if each individual had been sent to you for special battle-field duty by officers of the Commission. 
You are also instructed at all times to give special attention to the representations of the accredited agents of the Christian 
Commission with regard to the wants of the hospitals, and will meet those wants to the extent of the means at your control as far as 
possible, consistently with a just prospective regard for the wants of others. FRED. LAW OLMSTEAD, 
General Secretary. 
We know of nothing calculated to create an impresssion that the course here traced out has since been departed from by our 
agents; nor do we know of anything that ought to lead any body to suppose that two such organizations cannot work usefully 
side by side; more usefully, in fact, side by side than singly or apart. It is not always necessary, however, that false impressions 
should have foundation in fact in order to obtain currency. We heard the other day that the salaries paid to the agents of the 
Sanitary Commission in California, alone amounted to $40,000 annually; the fact being that we have never had an agent in California, 
and consequently no salaries have ever been drawn, though we have received immense donations from that State with little or no 
solicitation. Reports equally baseless are frequently put in circulation as to a conflict of interests and of aims between us and the 
Christian Commission, and we shall probably be compelled to recur to the subject occasionally for the purpose of correcting them. 
The following letter shows the nature of the feeling existing between the two bodies in the West: 
U. S. Christian Commission, Branch Office, Nashville, July 23, 1863. 
Dr. J. S. Newberry, j 
Secretary Western Department U. S. Sanitary Commission, Louisville: 
My Dear Sir I desire, on behalf of the Christian Commission, to render grateful acknowledgment for the uniform, generous 
and cordial co-operation of yourself and the agents of your Commission in our work of bringing spiritual comforts and blessings to. 
the soldiers. But for your assistance at the first, and its continuance all along, our work would have been greatly impeded in the- 
Army of the Cumberland. 
Also in my recent trip to Vicksburg, in the service of the Christian Commission, I was at all points kindly received and materially 
aided by the Sanitary Commission, My own feelings—that the work of both Commissions, though wrought in different departments, 
should be entirely co-operative were fully reciprocated by your agents at Cairo, Memphis, and on the barge on Yazoo River. 
My observations of your work on that barge were very pleasant. I saw stores dispensed to needy applicants most freely, and in 
surprising quantity and variety; and when I got back to the Bluffs, where the sick and wounded were coming into the division 
hospitals, 1 found bedding with your mark, dried and canned fruit, and lemons and chickens, which could have been furnished from 
no other source. I knew that without the timely help of the Sanitary Commission, there would have been destitution, and consequent 
suffering in many of those hospitals. 
I want to bear testimony to the noble Christian philanthropy of the men in charge of your Commission in that department. I am persuaded they could not do that work from unworthy motives. Money could not procure such services as you are receiving, for 
instance, from Dr, Warriner at Vicksburg. 
Every week’s experience in my army work, bringing me among the camps and through the hospitals, and giving an opportunity, 
which I always improve, to look in at the different quarters of your Commission, leads me to a continually higher estimate of the 
work you have on hand. lam satisfied that your system of distributing hospital supplies is the correct one. Such large contri- 
butions as the people are making cannot he handed over to the army on any volunteer system, unless it be for a few days amid 
the emergencies of a severe battle. A business involving such expenditure would be entrusted by a business man only to permanent 
and responsible agents. 
That among all your employees there should be no unworthy man, is more than a reasonable mind can ask. The Christian Com- 
mission and the Christian Church would go down under that test. 
Let me close this letter of thanks, my dear brother, with my daily prayer—a prayer which I learned in your Soldiers’ Home in 
Louisville, and have often repeated since in the Soldiers’ Rest at Memphis, on the barge in Yazoo River, in the division hospitals 
under the guns of Vicksburg, in the Nashville Home and Store-room, and in the camps and hospitals at Murfreesboro’; a prayer 
fresh on my lips, as I have just come from seeing wounded and typhoid patients at Tullahoma and Winchester lifted from rough 
blankets and undressed from the soiled clothes of march and battle, and laid in your clean sheets and shirts, upon your comfortable 
quilts and pillows—a prayer in which every Christian heart in the land will yet join—God bless the Sanitary Commission. 
Most cordially yours, 
EDW. P. SMITH, 
Field Agent, U. S. Christian Commission. 
SUPPLIES WANTED FOR THE HOSPITALS 
Woolen Shirts and Drawers of ordinary make and size. 
Dressing-gowns of double calico. 
Carpet Slippers, with stiff soles. 
Woolen Socks, 
Bed Sacking, of ticking or burlap, 7 feet long and 3 feet wide; slit yard long in the middle, with strings. 
Sheets, 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. 
Blankets and Quilts. 
Towels and handkerchiefs. 
India-rubber Cloth. 
Oiled Silk. 
C&ate, rivMa&as, Bwte vjori SVwtL. 
Needle-books. 
EDIBLES. 
Arrowroot; Earina; Sago; Tapioca; Corn Starch; Tea; Coffee; Cocoa; Sugar; Oatmeal; Crackers; Whiskey; Brandy' 
White Wine—for wine whey, etc.; Pure Lemon Syrup ; Condensed Milk ; Pickles ; Jellies ; Dried Fruit of all kinds. 
Boxes should be directed— 
WOMEN’S PENNA. BRANCH, 
1307 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 
From Aid Society. 
Send two copies of invoice—one enclosed in the box, and the other by Mail. 
Wines, syrups, etc., should be packed in separate small boxes, which may be put within large cases of clothing, if more convenient 
and economical. Bottles should have the cork tied or sealed over. They should be packed in sawdust as firmly as possible. When 
packed with clothing they are often broken and upset. Every bottle should be labelled. 
The freight charges upon all hospital supplies will be paid upon delivery. The Pennsylvania, Reading, Camden & Amboy Rail- 
roads carry supplies marked U. S. Sanitary Commission, free of charge. 
MATERIALS. 
Country societies desiring to purchase any specified material by the piece can be supplied at the cheapest market prices by 
forwarding the money in advance, directed to Miss E. Hawley, Treasurer, 1307 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Express charges must 
be paid by the parties for whom the goods are purchased. 
For information concerning soldiers’ pensions or back pay, address M. W. Nashman. 
SUB-COMMITTEE ON CORRESPONDENCE. 
Mrs. M. B. Grier, Chairman. I 
Mrs, B. H. Moore, Cor. Sec. _ , 
Mrs. George Plitt, Rec. Sec. f Ex-Umcio. 
Mrs. Phoebe M. Clapp, Ass’t Sec. J 
Mrs. W. H. Furness. 
Mrs. Lathrop. 
Miss M. M. Duane,