Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-01-31
Democratic Union State Ticket


Under this caption the Journal Of yesterday
contains long and labored defense of Governor
MoRToS in response circular signed "JoHS
F.HSrsTocx." in winch His Excellency's public
and private character was assaiIed. as his organ
states. with filthy virulence, and an affectation
of literary polish remarkable they were dis
gushing" In connection herewith there IS a card
from large number OF the officers of the llth
regiment. in which they pronounce the circular Of
FAHsEsrocK as Lying. infamous and scurrilous."
and charge him with gross immortality and insub-
ordination while in the three months service as
Captain ofone Of the companies of that regiment
We think the defense of the Governor uDdigniied,
uncasied for, in bad taste aud that il manifests
seasitveness which will give character the cir
GUAR OF FAHSEsrocK, which it could never have
attained. IL, to use the classic language of the
Governor after having first read it, as stated by
his organ, he had let "Mr F 90 the devil" And
~hy1 The Journal. in the defense, states the
best Of reasons Why the Governor should have
preserved - dgni6ed silence satisfied with con
sciousness of his own innocence. They are first,
because the charges against the Governors
public conduct we're falsehoods, refuted twenty
times over" second. those against his private
character were grossly vile and absurd that
they needed no contradiction" and third, "be-
cause the public in this vicinity understood quite
we'll the secret Of Mr.. FAHNEsTooE aniinosity,"
which the Journal says was to black mail or
secure military appointment from the Gov
ernor. Certainly. these considerations, in
y,sh oh obn
have deferred the Governor, for his own honor
and for that of the State, from making a
personal issue as to his official and private nteg-
rity with a whom he charges with being in
fuenced by the basest OF motives, and as
utterly unworthy of notice. And the logic of
the Governors apology is equally lame. There
is only one specific denial of the charges of
FAHsEsTocK and that is from Attorney General
UsuER, who states that he did not give his writ
ten verbal opinion that Governor MoRroN could
not, under the Constitution of the State of lndi
ana, hold the Offices of Major General and Gov
ernor at the same time We presume the Gov
ernor will not deny that he took counsel upon
that point from other sources. With this excep-
ton the issue between the Governor aud FAHSEs
Took is one of personal morality and integrity
FsHSEsrocK charges upon the Governor immorali-
ty. private ndeIity and official corruption and the
Governor retorts by endeavorng to discredit the
revelations of his accuser by charging upon the
latter immortality and infdelity as a man and as
an officer As the case now stands His
Excellency seems to have the advantage.
The Governor. by his labored defense
makes the controversy purely personal, and
loses the advantage which reticence did give and
would have given him. The defense of the
Louisville Journal which we copied into our
paper several DAYS ago. and that of the American
of this city. few evenings since. were in much
better taste and far more effective Wethnkjhe
Governor has made great mistake in noticing in
any way the Lying. infamous and scurrillous cir
cular' of FAHsEsrocK. Such personal detrac.
tons never injure public man. but otherwise they
generally have the effect TO attach his friends
more warmly to him. As illustration of this,
We need only cite 10 the virulent personal abuse
which the Journal. without stint, heaped upon
Governors WRIGHT, WILLARD and HAMMOND,
during their terms of office, which they thought
beneath them TO notice and all of which fell
harmless at their feet Even WASHINGTON, JET
PERSON and JACKSON, in their day. were the sub
jects of malicious and low personal detractions,
but they suffered il N silence. Governor NOR
rox should not have departed from those iIlustri-
Gus examples.
But As mis- is is personal difficulty between
two Republicans. we have no disposition either to
interfere or take sides IN the family quarrel.