The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1861-11-19
A EEint or Two

Those who have been 50 ready 10 pro
nounce Fremont Incompetent because he
dida'r reinforce Lyon, and did buy tenl pins
al a high price, may probably fnd some
food for reflection in the following pregnant
hints in an article by Hon. Schuyle Colfax,
a man who is we'll known to be very GER
tain of his facts before he asserts them, and
very cautious in his differences before he
declares them
There is no use in attempting to follow
and reply to all these multiplied charges,
chick as the leaves Of Failambrosa" for
as fast as lie old ones were explained, new
ones were manufactured But suppose it
should be found that the refusal to reinforce
Lyon came from the highest military au-
thority IN Washington, ana not from Free
mont and that Cairo and Birds Point,
commanding the junction of the Ohio and
Mississippi, were ordered to be promptly re-
inforced as the most important stragetic
point in the country-and suppose these
were orders which Fremont did not issue,
but obeyed. What would become of that
charged Suppose, to descend from the
grave to the petty, it should be found that
the charge that be paid IS cents for tent
pins, when blacksmith offered them at 20
cents, should prove true, only that the latter
was a common pin, and the former an i'm
proved one, with a swivel and ring, that
horses could be hitched to, day or night.
Suppose that it should be found that the
officers congregated in the So, 600 a year
t'palatial residence" and within instant
communication with each other, and with
a telegraph Office under the roof, would
have received from the Government, if scat
tered all over the city, an aggregate army
allowance of Sc, 400 per year for quarters"
Would these prove the charge of "reckless
extravaganza ?"
But we have said, it is useless to 20
through in detail We have not seen Ere
mont, nor had a line from him for two
months. All that we have written during
that time, has been to insist that a man who
offers his services and life for his country,
should not be stabbed in the back while be
faces the foe and that the public should not
Join in his condemnation till they gave him
an opportunity not denied to the vilest
criminal, of being heard in his own defense
What has been required Of him was, that he
should give his entire time to the thous-
ands, who for one reason aud another, in
sisted on seeing him-thst he should besides
constantly consult with all his military sub
ordlnates, as IS right and should tell them
all his plans, which is not right-that he
should see that every contract from that
denounced one of ice for sick soldiers in
hospital, down to tent pins, should be at
the lowest price, Though he had neither
cash nor credit) that be should ferret out
every suspicion of dishonesty, and see, es-
pecialIy that they were not cheated in horses
as they had been at Wasbington-that
he ebouId dofand his sca+tered nosfs from,
Cairo to Paducah in the face of the enemy,
and with State heaving with instruction
under his feet, while his regiments were or
dered aEay from him---that he should gath
er an army under the most depressing cir
eumstances---and that he should employ
what leisure hours he had left in collecting
certificates and affidavits to prove to the
public that he was neither a thief nor
fool