The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-12-03
WHY STEWARDS BoDY WAS STOLEN
A Reader OFFERING nm Original and interesting
View OF the subject.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-ytr. The
Dissertation Of Alexander T. Stewards grave.
according 10 the estimate have formed OF the
act, was not for greed or gain. II proceeded
from an entirely different motive. and ia not to
be debited to the merely sordld in human ma
ture. Consider, in support OF the opinion hero
matter expressed that New York is the cos
mopolitnn city Of tho world. with less OF
homogcneousncss In its population than
there IL In the population Of any other
metropolis. London. for instance, IL essentially
English, Paris completely French. Berlin ahso-
utely German, Amersterdam literally Dutch.
Moscow entirely Tartar. Naples thoroughly
italian, while Now York embraces within her
population omgrants from all these. and rcfu-
goes from almost every quarter OF the globe.
These. added to tho native population, form
tho most heterogeneous mass Of inhabitants
anywhere congrcgatcd upon the same space Of
territory. and make W the largo majority Of
the five hundred thousand people who. accord
ing to the recent report Of the Society for tho
Improvement OF the Condition OF tho Poor.
perform all the functions Of individual and So
cal life in the tenement houses Of this CITY,
IL Is safe 10 say that eight-tenths Of these
are ~ poorly fed and clad ns they arc
wrctchedIy housed and that their poverty Is by
no means an indication Of Ignorance or vice in
their criminal manifestations. There are thou
write and think. but whose reflective faculties
are so Jostled and disturbed by outward circum-
stances that their passi ions even without their
knowledge. take the place Of their reason. and a
false logic supplies them with Just seeming
grounds for their discomfort But notwithstand-
ing all this, they are honest and earnest and
above all else. tlloy are human-as much human
~ the dcni2ens Of tho palnces that border our
parks or line our avenues And they are
angry; angry through and through angry
that they are so poor without fault of theirs
angricr stu that others are SO rich without
merit in them: and they hate whatever repre-
scnts an enormous accumulation OF money.
whether II has the shape Of a man or nm cdifce.
They love their women and chi dren as well as
the wel-to-do classes love theirs. They walk
w Broadway and Fifth avenue. and seeing tho
hundreds OF tushiunnbly dressed women, each
with a fortune on her back. or flushing from her
ears. their thoughts revert to the haii-clnd wife
and sickly babe they have just embraced. mud
their hate Of tho inequalities of life becomes
lurid. My constant wonder is that they restrain
themselves from acts Of violence
They read in THE Sun that shines for all "
how Vanderbilt nmassed to himself one hum
died the posscssQr Of sixty or seventy mil
lions, and they hate such men, not. how
ever, MS individuals but IA tho repre-
sentatives OF tho pride and power ~
money. They road how ono Of these endowed
a university. thousand miles distant from the
suffering poor Of New York, with half a mill
lion. and how the other converted a barren
plain into an aristocratic community. and their
hatred and contempt are kindled anew. They
read how after the death Of Stewart part OF
the great wealth he amassed IL devoted To the
erection OF what Is denomlnated a cathedral
church. but what Is really intended rs a muuso-
leum for his bones. which should exceed in
statcliues- that erected by the Widow Artemisia
10 the King Of Cara. They regard this rs q
gross uifrontto the spirit Of republcauism itself
az well us g. the narrow and unmarked burial
pla'" oi tho virtuous poor, and resolve 10 pre-
vent It's contamination and avcuge themselves
by making this show 81 pomp by-word Tor the
centuries They think they have done this los
possessing themselves OF the mortuary re-
mains and with a satisfaction made up Of scoru
and hatred, they are laughing AZ the plight
into which thoy haVe thrust the living repre-
scntatiyes 81 the dead mans money.
This is my theory Of the removal OF Mr.
Stewards remains. II IL be- correct no amount
oi reward will restore them. II II be- a mere
Imagination Of mine. this publication will not bt
without good effect. II IL shall arouse the enor-
mously wealthy TO a wise consideration OF all
that is involved In the alarming statement that
nearly one half Of the population ~ this great
city IL crbhcd cabined. and confined" for the
most part Of its life, in those profile nurseries
OF vicc and disease known as tenement houses
and II IL shall set them 10 providing ways and
means for the cure Of the appalling evil. by
emu latlng the example Of George. Peabody IN
London and Peter Cooper In New York.
Your CONSTANT READER,