The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-08-19
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tnaI mas been adduced on both sidas -,
can come 10 no other conclusion than thst
ne Is innocent OF every one of them. Where
envy ami malice would give censnra nc
would bestow praise. The enternrises ;o
which he has been engaged are MANY and
great and good, and most unselfshly has he
labored in them. To answer fully all these
charges would require far too much snace
and would be better suited to a pamphlet or
volume than to the columns of a daily iour
nal. We propose to answer a few of the
charges, the Others are equally foolish and
absurd.
1t is said he took for Howard University
worthless bonds of the Young Mems Chris
tian Association of which he was President.
The trustees and not Gen. Howard made the
investment. Besides, a portion of these
bonds the University holds by donation out
right from individuals; another part came in
payment OF lots purchased of the University;
and the rest OF them is an investment secured
by property two o. three times the amount
OF the bonds ON which the interest is regu-
larly paid.
So as to lOaning money to the Congrega-
tional Church; if a Board of Trustees, twen-
ty-one in number have funds to loan we can
not see why they may not invest it, as in
this case, on property worth three times the
amount of the loan with interest regularly
paid. Here the sum unpaid draws eight per
cent. That Gen. Howard gave ''public
I9hds' to the Congregational Church or the
foung Mems Christian Association, is
wholly untrue. Moreover the funds so in
vested were not public funds in any sense
as they were appropriated to Howard Uni
versity in exact accordance with the law
and after the appropriation the funds be-
| longed to the University. THIS is too plain
to need any argument or Illustration. The
pay that he receives does not come from
anr H. Al.
any officer OF any one of the multitude of col
leges in the land.
As to the charge that there has been a loss
of public money through him we have to say
it does not yet appear that government suf-
tered any loss through him directly. 1t is
true that three or four subordinate disbursing
offices in Kentucky, Missouri and Louisiana,
| have been the means by errors or frauds of
loss differently estimated between 81, 600
and S14, 200, but as the accounts are vet un-
settled at the War Department the exact
amount cannot be stated. But no official
pretends thus far to place the loss higher
than the above sum. In the disbursement,
then, OF thirteen millions of dollars, funds
| OF the Freedmen's Bureau and eight millions
| OF dollarssof bounty funds, twenty-one mill
| ions in all, with ut least two thousand agents.
he has exceeded any other Bureau of the
| government, excepting, perhaps, the Com
4
| itures as to limit frauds to a compal atively
| small amount There is good reason, more
| over, to believe that every dollar of the
| above eleven or fourteen thousand will be
| completely recoveied. The defaulters were
| discovered, it should be observed, and report
ed and discharged by Gen. Howard himself
| before the Bureau ceased by law. No new
| case has as yet been reported. The Atty
| Generals opinion affixes the bounty respon-
| sibilIty on Gen, III. personally. Cruel as such
| decision may seem he does not seek to evade
| the responsibility nor to put one dollar Of his
property out of his hands. The Government
| has had part of his body and his blood, and
il it desires to take his little property he may
protest but viii never evade the enforced sac
rifice. Although Gen. II. has had charge of
these many millions of dollars aud has by
good management made large sum for How
ard University his property is now no larger
than it was when he went to Washington
seven years ago. The very house he lies in
is morgaged for halt its value. The money
he has received from all quarters he has
generously given in aid Of the charities he
has borne so prominent part in founding.
| Any but malignant mind would love and
| honor him for what he has done and not per-
secute and curse him.
Howard University which he is charged
with having badly managed, seven years ago
had no existence. He purchased one hun
dred and fifty acres of land and so managed as
to save one hundred acres to the Univer-
sity. By his personal popularity he has
secured large sums towards its endow.
ment. Established for the poor and
unfortunate who have but little means TO
defray their expenses, it has prospered be
yond all expectations. Only few, those en-
dowed by states or wealthy individuals car
show such record. 1t has now five differen
departments, three score graduates, and thir-
! ty-seven Undergraduates, accommodations fo'
teaching one thousand students and for board
| ing nearly one half this plumber, and a lande,
property and buildings to day worth more
than $500, 900 above all liabilities and an in
come left intact of $4,000. This noble mon.
ument to the energy and generosity of thi:
good man, through envy and hate, bad men
would cripple or destroy. 1t will however
live and bless. And the greatness and good
ness of its distinguished founder, whose cour-
age and Inselfshness were shown at Fair
Oaks, at Gettysburg and in the "March to
l. the Sea" will secure for him a firm place in
the minds and affections of the people through
all coming time, while mis- de.ractors will be
known, if known at all, only as the persecut-
ors and villiffers of one deserving the love aud
gratitude of every patriot and philanthropist.
| w