The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-02
GEN. JOHN w. FOSTER
A MILITARY AND CIVIC CAREER rN-
EQUALED IN THE UNITED STATES.
Remarkable History of the Man
Assist in the Peace Negotiations.

10 Japan TO meet the commissioners dp-
pointed by China to negotiate terms of peace
with her victorious opponent in the war
now raging in the Orient. has had ex-
perience in the 6sld of diplomacy which is
unequaled in the annals of American his
tory. John Quincy Adams is the only other
native of the United States whose record
in that branch of public service In any
sense may be said to rival his, and Mr.
Adams did not approach him in the variety
of the services performed.
The Massachusetts statesman began his
career at the early age of fourteen, when
he was made an attache of the United
States legation at ST. Petersburg, where
his father, John Adams was minister
from this country to Russia. From that
subordinate position he was advanced until
finally he held the post of minister to
Great Britain and served a term as Secre-
tary of State. 1t is interesting to note
that the discussion of the lately much mooted
question of the jurisdiction over the Boring
sea first began when John Quincy Adams
was Secretary of State. the letter of Mr..
Adams to our minister to St. Petersburg
expressing the views of the United States
government upon the edict of the Car as
serting Russia's dominion the water
being the earliest official paper on the SUBJ
ject quoted in the recent negotiations re-
speeding that subject.
Mr.. Foster may be said to be the only
American who has made diplomacy his
profession He is recognized as distinctive
ly a diplomatic, and although he goes TO
Japan in a purely private capacity his ap-
pointment is looked upon by the members
Of the diplomatic corps in Washington as
identifying him in an official sense as one
of their number. Before he left Washing
ton and after the publication of the fact
that he had been selected every embassa-
dor and minister located in the capital
called and left their cards AT his residence,
as they would in the case of an appoint
ment to position similar to the one tney
hold.
From the time when President Grant,
in 1873, upon the request of Mr.: Morton,
appointed him Minister to Mexico every
position held by Mr.. Foster has come to
him unsought, and in one or two instances
f had iM be nu' cogrm M When President
Hayes in 1880 transferred him to st.
Petersburg from the City. of Mexico the
the announcement to him by the Mexican
Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had been
Romero Immediately upon the nominatlon
being made public. Mr.. Foster did not
hear from his own government until the
next day after the nomination had been
confirmed by the Senate.
ACTED UPON QUICKLY.
This recalls another fact which seems
to have been characteristic of Mr.. Fos-
ters appointments. They have usually
been settled upon and confirmed with re-
markable celebrity. Having resigned the
Russian mission in 1881, he returned to
Washington and entered upon the practice
of his profession, the law, being engaged
in international cases almost exclusively.
One Tuesday in February, 1888, President
Arthur asked him to take the Spanish
49,
twenty-four hours he agreed to go; on
Thursday the nomination was sent in, and
on Friday it was confirmed by the Senate.
The circumstances attending his appoint
ment as Secretary of State in June, 1892,
to succeed the late Secretary Blaine, were
even more striking in this regard His
with the office, and on the day the appoint
ment was made a story was printed on the
and politician that Secretary Tracy would
be transferred to the state Department,
and ex-Gov. Cheney, of New Hampshire,
succeed Tracy at the head Of the Navy
Department. Mr.. Fosters nomination was
sent to the Senate at about l O'Clock in
the afternoon; and IN two hours ana thirty llt,
in. held reception in the diplomatic par
lor in the State Department, and was at
his desk signing the days mail.
Mr.. Fosters ability to form accurate
judgments upon questions presented to
Of f''i the nn matters att When his mind was made
up. have, been important factors IN MS
successful career. HIS capaclty ioF work
plished with the minimum of exertion,
through his excellent methods, the result
of training in the school of the lawyer and
newspaper man, for it is upon the founda-
lions laid while serving in these .profes-
sons that the main structure of his life
has been built. 1t may be well to mention
that President Hayes would have made
possible for him to have reached Wash
ington from the City of Mexico under
tn Of C,lic
scented in the Casnet o ey HS Raw WHILE
Mr.. Foster remained in Mexico.
STORY OF HIS LIFE.
John Watson Foster was born in Pike
county, Indiana, March 2, 1885. the son
of an English farmer who emigrated to
this country in his youth and married
Indiana girl. He able to give his
son a good education and he graduated
first from the Indiana State University at
Bloomington and later from Harvard Law
School. While at Bloomington the young
student p.ecipitated a conflict with the
head of the institution a noted Methodist
divine, which resulted in the latter's re-
tirement from the institution. He was
public speaker OF great force and at
only the pride of the college, but a source
of much revenue and reputation. Mr.. Fos-
detected resemblance between the pres-
dnt'S most famous production and certain
rather OBSCURE 0reek CldSSlCS DlISenL re-
search and the use of the deadly parallel
column enabled the student to demon
strate the professors plagiarism and
immense row was the result The two
were of opposite political faiths and the
matter went not only into educa tional, but
political circles, and the whole State was
aroused by it. The president left the uni
verslty and has been forgotten.
In 1856 Mr.. Foster began the practice of
law in Evansville. Ind, being associated
with Conrad Baker, late Governor of the
State and afterwards the law partner of
Vice President Hendricks. He continued
in the practice of his profession until the
war broke out, when ne promptly volun-
teered his services to Governor Morton,
and was made major of the TWenty-fifth
Indiana Regiment. He promoted to
the overwhelmingly, and afterward to
the command of the Sixty-fifth Regiment.
Disability caused his retirement, by reSg-
nation, on March 10, 1864, but recovering
his health he re-entered the service as
colonel of the MISUNDERSTANDING
sixth Regiment and remained until the
close of the war.
No man parades his military record less
than General Foster, and yet few have a
brighter or more creditable one. On that
April Sunday in 1862 the first day of the
battle of Shiloh, Major Foster rallied his
regiment amid the confusion and disorder
that existed by seizing the colors and
planting them against a fallen tree, thus
saving the regiment to fight again on Mon
day. In 1863 he led the advance of Burn
sides forces, being in command of a