The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-02

ION on April 23. had remarkable ca
reer, The New York Tribune prints
the following sketch of MS life and
,areer:
William Morris Stewart was the most
picturesque and one of the ablest Of
The thinning camp statesmen For
.wenty-nine years he represented his
state in the United States senate, and
Utmost from the birth of that COM
nonwealth he controlled its destiny
He was most conspicuous for his ad-
Iocacy of free silver. making many
notable speeches on the subject. lie
was Senator Stewart who coined the
phrase "the crime of '73. -
Senator Stewart rose from tho ranks.
From the time he was 13 years old
nc was dependent solely upon manual
labor and teaching for his support and
education. With his small savings and
!he aid of generous friend by the
name of James G.. Smith then a Young
lawyer and afterward one of the JUS
Ices of the supreme court of New
York. he entered Yale and remained
There until the winter of lS49 80, when,
In common with thousands of other
Young men. he went TO California by
way of the lsthmus of Panama After
many delays on the passage, he arrived
in San Francisco on May Z. 1850. and
proceeded Immediately TO the mines in
the Sierra Nevada mountains. He en-
gagged in mining and prospecting for
mines and constructing mining canals
for nearly two years. There is now
in use III Nevada county, California, a
canal over twenty miles long, which
was surveyed by him along the noun
tain side with level made by himself
and constructed under his direction in
1851. In the spring of 1852 he began
the study Of law. was admitted to prac-
tice in the fall of that year, and APP
pointed district attorney of Nevada
county. The following spring ne was
elected to the same Office. In 1854 he
was appointed attorney general OF Cal
ifornia, and served for six months. He
became leading and successful at
torney IN the mountain counties of Cal
jfornia, and was eminently successful
IN the most important litigation af
fecting mines and water rights.
In 1855 he married Miss Annie Z.
Foote, daughter of Henry S. Foote. the
Mississippi senator, then citizen of
California.
On the Comstock Lode
On the discovery of the Comstock
lode. in The spring Of 1860, Mr. Stew
art removed to Virginia City, New,
and was immediately employed by the
original claimants of the Comstock lode.
This lode was several miles long. and
was indicated on the surface by crop
pings several hundred feet in width
The first locators, according to rules
and regulations which thev made,
claimed the lode, with all its dips, spurs
and angles. population OF from ten
TO twenty thousand soon gathered along
this great lode and located thousands
of claims parallel TO the original loca~
tiop. claiming that the Comstock was
not n single vein. but system of
parallel veins.
Mr.. Stewart from the first contended
that there WAS only one vein. and his
views were termed the "one-lode the
ory, - while the great mass Of the peo-
pie maintained the contrary. This con"
hict resulted in the most important
mining litigation that has taken place
ir the United States. but the one-lode
theory finally prevailed and the orig
inal locators' title to the whole vein
was confirmed by the courts. Mr.
ability made bim commanding figure
and the leader in this great contro-
versy. The exciting scenes which took
place during the four years which cul
minated in establishing the one-lode
theory would FIJI volumes.
Amid this legal struggle there was
great political excitement, in which Mr..
Stewart took leading part He was
union man and a republican from
conviction, and g." became necessary TO
determine whether Utah and California
should remain loval TO the Union. His
services to the Union cause during that
struggle were most important, When
Nevada was organized. in 1861. he
served one term in the territora! coun-
ell TO assist in organizing the new gov
ernment In 1863 he was a member Of
the constitutional convention. 1864,
when Nevada was admitteA the
Union. he was the first ser 'ected
from the new state. n's :" VINO
was elected the next dav James
w Nye. the first goVerno the ter
ritory. Mr.. Stewart drew the long
term which was five wears. and in 1869
he was again elected, and, served until
March 1. 1875. when. his fortune hav-
ign become somewhat improved, he de-
cliued a reelection.
Long Service in the Senate.
Mr.. Stewart's first eleven years in
the senate embrace a large part OF the
most notable portion of American po-
litical. financial and economic history.
He was an active supporter Of the war
legislation. and before the fourteenth
amendment was offered he proposed a
plan OF reconstruction which provided
FOR universal amnesty and universal suf.
fragc. but allowed the states TO exempt
those who were then voters from re-
strictions which they might thereafter
impose. If this plan had been adopted
the same parties who took the stat"s
into secession would have brought them
back into the union, and would have
controlled their own local affairs, pro-
vided that they would grant to all who
should hereafter become voters equal
civil and political rights without regard
to race, color or previous condition Of
servitude.
His plan was not adopted. The four
teenth amendment was reported by a
committee of fifteen Of the two houses,
and Mr.. Stewart gave it his support.
The disfranchisement in the fourteenth
amendment and the legislation which
y