The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-09-12

beiuE aaf He IT, l.lisee /. Has@..a
at'tcks Hp1a tila 1fiafscf6f Of at
person because BE happehs to be q
political epponhnt No cause on
earth was ever Forwarded by such
personalities, and while We have al
ways been bold and fearless in de-
snouncing the acts of public men that
we believed to be wrong, we have gen
orally avoided assailing their motives
or their private character. Stung,
however. bv what was considered q
personal allusi0n in the Journal
to the proprietors of this pa
ner A paragraph slipped into the
Ganrier some days ago which has
been regarded as rejecting upon the
character of one of the editors of the
| JOURNAL, In connection with his
conduct as military officer IN Ken
lucky in 1862. At the invitation and
request of that gentleman. we have
read and examined his papers-or-
ders and instructions from superior
officers, receipts, reports, &c.--having
| reference to his actions as a military
| commander in Kentucky-and must
say, after close investigation, that
we could see nothing in them
/
honesty. The orders and instruc-
tons were very strict and severe
| indeed, and In their execution we
| are not surprised that Colonel Foster
gave great ofense to that portion of
the people of Kentucky over whom
he was placed. Most emphatically do
we condemn those orders. They were
harsh beyond all necessity. and I'M
just in principle and oppressive in
their execution. The idea of making
| large class of citizens, supposed to
| sympathize with the rebellion, re-
sponsible for the acts of few bad
men among them, aud levying con-
tributions off them, however innocent
they might be, to pay for the depreda-
tions of prewling bands of guerrillas
with whom they had no connection,
is most abhorrent to every Sc use of
justice and right, but close irVesti-
| CATION of the papers convlnees us
that Colonel Foster was in no way
benefited pecuniarily by the cOlleo-
II ton or distribution of these funds,
and that he acted under orders from
his superior officer in the matter, and
7 his course was fully approved By the
, Government. We fnd that the
moneys thus levied were used for the
purposes indicated: that they were
} disbursed by other officers, and fully
E accounted for to the Government; and
t Ethat he did not receive any pecuniary
{ beneftfrom the disbursement. While
) most strenuously condenning the
: acts of Colonel Foster as military
commended in Kentucky, and hold
! ing ourselves bitterly opposed to the
i policy of the Government, which he
| was the instrument to carry into effect
] in his district, candor compels us to
say that these acts were done under
orders, and that we could find
9 nothing in the transactions showing
: any lack of honesty on Col. Foster )
| part He informs us that he came
f out of the army as poor as when he
entered it, and that all the capital he
had wherewith to commence business
: was the distributiye share of his
; fathers estate. From the evidence
: before US we believe the statement to
J, / be true. If any inference has been
: drawn from an article which appeared
in the Courier Of the 10Th of May
: last, against Col Fosters honesty, We
| hope what we have here stated viii
: remove such impressions from the
2 minds of our readers.