USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 27
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Dr. Hugh France, a physician of Wallace absolutely opposed to the illegal methods adopted by the miners' unions and standing squarely for the main- tenance of law and order, was acting as coroner of the county. It became his duty in that capacity to hold an inquest over the body of Cheyne. Advised by the attorney general of the state that he was not compelled to hold an open session during an investigation of this kind, he issued subpoenas for a large number of witnesses, including many of the leading members of the various miners' unions, and caused them to appear and give testimony at the inquest. No one was admitted to these sessions excepting the coroner himself, the coroner's jury and the witness who was testifying. The investigation was carried on for a number of weeks.
In the meantime, Governor Steunenberg had come to the disturbed district in person and spent a number of days there. He was accompanied by Hon. Samuel H. Hays, the attorney general, who assisted the governor in his endeavors and advised with the others who were investigating the cases. Hon. H. F. Samuels had been elected prosecuting attorney the season before, but it was evident that he was disqualified in attending to the duties of his office in the conduct of many of the cases growing out of the riots, and Mr. Samuel's frankly so stated in open court on the first opportunity that presented itself and was excused from taking any part in the investigations and trials.
Governor Steunenberg, with other state officials, concluded it was necessary for the welfare of the state to employ additional counsel to take charge, in conjunction with the attorney general, of the various legal proceedings that were to be inaugurated. Hon. William E. Borah, afterward and for many years United States senator from Idaho, James H. Hawley of Boise and J. H. Forney, of Moscow, were retained in behalf of the state, Mr. Forney being appointed as special district attorney upon Mr. Samuels declaring himself disqualified. Hon. George H. Stewart, afterward upon the supreme bench of the state, and at that time district judge of the third judicial district, was selected by Governor Steunenberg under the authority given him by the statute to act as trial judge during the prosecutions, Hon. Alex Mayhew, judge of the first district, in which Shoshone County was situated, not desiring to participate in the trials.
On May 29, 1899, a special term of the District Court of Shoshone County was convened at Wallace and investigation of charges made against parties connected with the riots and the trial of causes connected with it was begun. It was deemed proper to call a grand jury for the investigation, and numerous indictments for murder were found against members of the miners' unions.
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Among others, Paul Corcoran, of Burke, secretary of the Burke union, was indicted for the murder of Cheyne.
Pending the investigation by the grand jury which culminated in the indict- ments, actions were commenced by the attorneys for the state against the sheriff of Shoshone County and two members of the Board of County Commissioners of the county, who had been arrested and confined in the "bull pen" for derelic- tion in official duty. A special statute of the state providing for a formal hearing before the court where an official was charged with neglect of official duty, was invoked and these men were removed from office, and upon appeals taken to the Supreme Court of the state, the decisions of Judge Stewart in such cases were unanimously sustained.
The Western Federation of Miners assumed the conduct of the defense and Patrick Reddy of San Francisco, Frederick G. Robertson of Spokane and Walter Jones of Wallace, all leading lawyers of their various localities, were retained as attorneys for the defendants.
The attorneys for the prosecution were satisfied, after examining into the evidence adduced before the grand jury and that taken by the coroner at the Cheyne inquest, that against a good many of the men who had engaged in the riots there was, without doubt, sufficient proof to insure their conviction of the murder of Cheyne, based upon the theory of law that all parties jointly engaged and with a previous understanding in any act unlawful in its nature, are responsible for all the natural consequences of such act and are guilty of any crime committed by any of the parties to the conspiracy in carrying out the general plan. But the object of the state officers who were behind the prosecution and of the attorneys conducting it, was not so much to impose punishment upon those who had been connected with the crimes committed, as it was to show to the members of the unions and those who had used their influence with the unions to carry out their own selfish design that the law would reach anyone connected with such illegal acts, no matter how high his standing in the com- munity and although it might be proved that he had not personally participated in any of the unlawful acts. The men whose guilt could easily be proved were comparatively unknown members of the unions and their conviction meant but little, so far as the future of the Coeur d'Alenes was concerned. It became a question with those in charge as to who would be the proper man, by reason of his high standing as a citizen and good reputation in the community, united with the fact that he was a man of family and possessed of abundant means, and it was determined that Paul Corcoran, the secretary of the Burke union fully met these requirements and that if convicted upon the charge of murder, his conviction being based upon the fact that he was a member and high officer in the miners' union and had assented to the unlawful proceedings of April 29th, it would mean more for the future orderly conduct of affairs in the Coeur d'Alene section and would do more to prevent future crimes and subsequent disturbances that that of any other man against whom an indictment was found.
In accordance with this conclusion, Mr. Corcoran was on July 8th placed on trial and after one of the hardest forensic battles ever fought in a courtroom of the Northwest was, on July 27th found guilty of murder in the second degree and sentenced to life inprisonment. An appeal was taken by his attorneys to the Supreme Court of the state, but the conviction was sustained in that
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tribunal. Corcoran served in the state penitentiary at Boise until the fall of 1901, when he received a full pardon from the Board of Pardons of the state, of which Governor Hunt was at that time chairman. While this pardon was severely commented upon by many, the fact that Corcoran was not believed to have personally participated in the killing, but had been found guilty by reason of his being a party to a conspiracy formed for an illegal purpose, satis- fied the majority of the people that the Board of Pardons had acted rightly in granting him his freedom, his conviction having accomplished the main purpose sought by his trial.
In the trial of Corcoran it was found very difficult to obtain competent jurymen. Nearly all of the population of Shoshone County resided on the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River and in the lead and silver mining camps of that section. All of them were necessarily familiar with the incidents leading up to the killing of Cheyne. There was, however, a number of people living on the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene, in the mining camp of Pierce City and in the timber and farming country of the Weippe. It was from these sections that the jury which tried Corcoran was procured, as all of the residents of the mining camps of the South Fork had actively taken sides in the preceding troubles. After the trial of Corcoran it was impossible to use any of the jurors who had sat in that proceeding in any other trial growing out of the troubles, as the evidence in great degree would necessarily be the same. It was concluded, therefore, by both sides that the part of wisdom called for an adjournment of court and a cessation of the prosecutions until a subsequent term.
Martial law remained in force in the Coeur d'Alene mining district for over a year and a half and in the meantime the "bull pen" was maintained and a large number of persons who had been arrested for participation in the riots were therein confined. A great many who had been taken into custody and whose cases had been investigated and little proof found against them, were discharged. 'Among those, however, who continued in custody were many who had been indicted for murder in connection with the killing of Cheyne and including those heretofore mentioned against whom proof of guilt was com- paratively clear. Before another term of court had passed most of these persons escaped custody and their whereabouts was never after ascertained. Perfect order followed the conclusion of the term of court mentioned. The power of the state to protect its citizens and its industries had been fully demonstrated. The Coeur d'Alene mining district had been rendered safe for the conduct of mining operations and work in the mines had been fully resumed. Good feeling had been restored, and has continued, between the mining companies and their employes and a new era of development was entered upon promising a bright future for this greatest lead mining district of the world. Under these circumstances it was not considered advisable by the state authorities to go further with the prosecutions against the men remaining in custody and long before the expiration of Governor Steunenberg's second term, they had all been discharged.
But against the governor the wrath of the law-defying element that had temporarily assumed control of the affairs of the miners' unions in that section was aroused. Extremely harsh feeling prevailed and it was often asserted that in the future they would wreak vengeance upon the man who, in their
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estimation, was accountable for the failure of their scheme to obtain control of the richest mining section of the United States and to use the miners' organiza- tions in that region to further their own selfish ends. Governor Steunenberg was constantly in receipt of anonymous letters so written as to defy detection and threatening his life, but these threats never deterred him from the full performance of his duty and he never relaxed in his efforts to restore and main- tain the dignity of the state and insure the safety and well being of its citizens. In a subsequent chapter further reference will be made to his tragic death and to the trials, exciting world wide interest, afterward occurring.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1900
In the presidential campaign of 1900, the republican party renominated Wil- liam Mckinley, of Ohio, for president, and Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, for vice president. The democrats again nominated William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, for president, and Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois, was named for vice president.
The democrats and silver republicans of Idaho united in the nomination of the following ticket : James W. Reid, Edward J. Dockery and Samuel J. Rich, pres- idential electors; Frank W. Hunt, governor; Thomas F. Terrill, lieutenant- governor ; Charles J. Bassett, secretary of state ; John J. Plumer, state treasurer ; Egbert W. Jones, state auditor ; Frank Martin, attorney-general ; Permeal French, superintendent of public instruction ; Martin Jacobs, inspector of mines ; Thomas S. Glenn, representative in Congress; Charles O. Stockslager, justice of the Supreme Court.
Joshua G. Rowton, George M. Parsons and Weldon B. Heyburn were nominated by the republicans for presidential electors; Drew W. Standrod, for governor ; Addison A. Crane, for lieutenant-governor; Martin Patrie, for secre- tary of state; Henry J. Syms, for state auditor; George H. Kester, for state treasurer ; George E. Gray, for attorney-general; Jessie Riley, for superintendent of public instruction ; Robert N. Bell, for inspector of mines; John T. Manson, for representative in Congress; Edgar C. Steele, for justice of the Supreme Court.
A state convention was held by the populists, at which Hardin Chenowith. James J. Jones and Napoleon B. Long were nominated for presidential electors. No nominations were made by this party for attorney-general and superin- tendent of public instruction. The candidates for the other state officers were as follows: John S. Randolph, governor; Johannes Hansen, lieutenant-governor . Melancthon F. Eby, secretary of state; William W. Tharp, state auditor; Augustus M. Slattery, state treasurer; Edward Kimberly, inspector of mines; John F. Stark, representative in Congress; William Perkins, justice of the Supreme Court.
The prohibitionists nominated a full ticket, with the exception of a candidate for justice of the Supreme Court. Moses Fowler, Rebecca Mitchell and Edwin . R. Hoadley were named for presidential electors; William J. Boone, governor ; James A. Hedges, lieutenant-governor ; Mrs. Neal B. Inman, secretary of state ; Irwin P. Marcellus, state auditor; James Ballantine, state treasurer ; William A. Hall, attorney-general; James G. Smith, superintendent of public instruction ; George Klock, inspector of mines ; Amanda M. Way, representative in Congress.
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. At the election on November 6, 1900, the entire democratic and silver repub- lican ticket was victorious, the vote on presidential electors being 29,414 to 27,198 for the republicans, 211 for the populists, and 853 for the prohibitionists. For governor, Hunt received 28,628 votes; Standrod, 26,468; Randolph, 246; and Boone, 1,031. The constitutional amendment providing for loaning the per- manent school funds on first mortgage security, under such regulations as the Legislature might prescribe, was adopted by a substantial majority.
HUNT'S ADMINISTRATION
Frank W. Hunt, fifth governor of the State of Idaho, was born in the City of Newport, Kentucky, December 16, 1861, and was educated in the schools of his native state. While still a young man he came to Idaho and it was not long until he became identified with public affairs, representing Lemhi County in the State Senate at the fifth session of the Legislature. He served with the first Idaho Regiment in the Philippine Islands at the time of the Spanish-Amer- ican war, and received the rank of captain; was nominated by the democrats and silver republicans for governor in 1900, and was elected in November of that year ; was again the democratic candidate for governor in 1902, but was defeated by John T. Morrison, many of the silver republicans having by that time returned to the regular party organization. Not long after the election of 1902, Mr. Hunt went to Goldfield, Nev., where he died of pneumonia on November 25, 1906. His remains were brought to Boise and interred there on the last day of the month.
SIXTH LEGISLATURE
The sixth session of the state Legislature began at Boise on Monday, January 7, 1901, and adjourned sine die on Tuesday, March 12, 1901. During the session Lieut .- Gov. Thomas F. Terrill served as president of the Senate, and Glenn P. Mckinley, of Shoshone County, as speaker of the House. Governor Hunt's administration commenced with the opening of this session. In his message he gave a comprehensive account of the Coeur d'Alene riots and announced that the cost to the state of restoring order in the troubled district was $59,849.66. He also stated that martial law was still in force and that United States troops still occupied Shoshone County. .
The governor further called attention to the fact that the act of the preceding Legislature creating a code commission made no provision for defraying the expenses of publication, and that the general appropriation bill of 1889 contained no appropriation for that purpose. In the meantime the revised laws had been printed at a cost of $8,239.78, for which he asked the present session to make an appropriation.
On the subject of state finances he stated the bonded debt to be $443,500, of which the state held $103,000, and that there were outstanding warrants amount- ing to $124,766.66, making the total net indebtedness of the state $465,266.66. He reported sales of state lands as follows; 8,088 acres of school lands, for $105,626.57; 2,670 acres of special grant lands for $30,545.80; and that 33,721 acres of the state lands were under lease, bringing in a rental of $25,427.80.
He recommended an appropriation of $8,293.74 to pay the expense of bring- ing the members of the Idaho Regiment home from San Francisco on their return from the Philippine Islands in September, 1899; called attention to the decision
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of the Supreme Court that patented mining lands should not be exempt from taxation and recommended the enactment of a law to place such lands upon the list of taxable property; and suggested a memorial to Congress urging the re- enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act, so amended as to include Japanese and all Asiatic labor.
The recent riots in the Coeur d'Alene district had shown the arbitration laws of the state to be ineffectual in settling disputes between employers and employes, and Governor Hunt recommended an arbitration law "that can be put into force and effect for the settlement and adjustment of disputes arising between em- ployers and their men." He further recommended a new legislative apportion- ment so that counties that had outgrown their present representation might have a voice in the Legislature proportionate to their increased population, and sug- gested legislation to give incorporated cities and towns larger powers in the purchase or establishment of municipal waterworks and lighting plants.
Most of the governor's recommendations were made the subject of action by the Legislature. A new legislative apportionment was made giving each of the twenty-one counties one senator, and the representatives were apportioned as follows : Custer, Cassia, Elmore and Lincoln counties, one each ; Bannock,. Bear Lake, Blaine, Bingham, Boise, Canyon, Lemhi, Oneida, Owyhee and Washington, two each; Ada, Fremont, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah and Nez Perce, three each; and Shoshone County, four, making the total membership in the House of forty- six. Each new county created was to have one senator and one representative until the next general apportionment was made.
A labor commission was created by the sixth Legislature. Under the pro- visions of the act, the governor was authorized to appoint two members, one of whom should be an employer of labor and the other an employe, and these two were to act with the judge of the district court in the district where any dispute might arise in the adjustment of any differences between an employer and his men. The commission was given greater power that the old board of arbitration.
Other acts passed were: Appropriating $18,385 to rebuild the Soldiers' Home ; authorizing a bond issue of $50,000 to build a dormitory for girls at the Uni- versity of Idaho; the issue of $13,000 in bonds for two dormitories and the com- pletion of the buildings of the State Normal School at Albion; authorizing the appointment of a commissioner to the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, N. Y., and appropriating $15,000 for an exhibit ; creating the traveling library commission, the three members of which were to be appointed by the gov- ernor, and appropriating $1,500 for the expenses of the commission and $3,000 for the purchase of books; creating the Academy of Idaho, to be located at Pocatello; amending the charter of the City of Boise; authorizing school boards to establish free kindergartens ; regulating the operations of employment bureaus and labor agencies, requiring persons operating such institutions to furnish bond of $5,000; and a long revenue act of 189 sections thoroughly revising the methods of levying and collecting taxes.
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1902
Five tickets were nominated in the campaign of 1902. The democratic state convention nominated Frank W. Hunt for governor; William E. Adams,
.
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for lieutenant-governor; Charles J. Bassett, for secretary of state; John C. Callahan, for state auditor ; Edward P. Coltman, for state treasurer; Frederick D. Culver, for attorney-general; Permeal French, for superintendent of public instruction ; John H. Nordquist, inspector of mines; Frank E. Fogg, for justice of the Supreme Court; Joseph H. Hutchinson, former lieutenant-governor, for representative in Congress.
The republican convention placed the following ticket in the field: John T. Morrison, governor ; James M. Stevens, lieutenant-governor; Wilmot H. Gibson secretary of state; Theodore Turner, state auditor ; Henry A. Coffin, state treas- urer ; John H. Bagley, attorney-general ; May L. Scott, superintendent of public instruction ; Robert N. Bell, inspector of mines ; James F. Ailshie, justice of the Supreme Court; Burton L. French, representative in Congress.
Despite repeated defeats, the populist party again appeared in the campaign. No nominations were made by this party for lieutenant-governor, attorney-gen- eral, superintendent of public instruction, justice of the Supreme Court and representative in Congress. The candidates for the other state officers were: DeForest H. Andrews, governor; Melancthon C. Eby, secretary of state; W. R. Wyatt, state auditor; John M. Londgren, state treasurer; Eli L. Vance, inspec- tor of mines.
A full ticket, except attorney-general, was nominated by the prohibitionists, to wit : Albert E. Gipson, governor ; Simeon E. Hunt, lieutenant-governor ; William E. Schnebley, secretary of state; Thomas G. Hodgson, state auditor; Mrs. Jennie G. Headley, state treasurer ; Mrs. Ollie E. Ellis, superintendent of public instruc- tion ; George Klock, inspector of mines; William A. Hall, justice of the Supreme Court ; Herbert A. Lee, representative in Congress.
This year the socialist party, for the first time in the history of Idaho, nominated candidates for all the state offices except superintendent of public instruction. Augustus M. Slattery was named for governor ; Louis N. B. Ander- son; lieutenant-governor ; Will D. Candee, secretary of state ; George W. Herring- ton, state auditor ; James F. Miller, state treasurer; David W. Smith, attorney- general; O. C. Smith, inspector of mines; John A. Davis, representative in Congress ; John C. Elder, justice of the Supreme Court.
The election on November 4, 1902, resulted in the election of the entire republican ticket. The vote for governor was: Morrison, 31,874; Hunt, 26,021 ; Andrews, 188; Gipson, 607; Slattery, 1,567. A constitutional amendment, pro- viding that eight hours shall constitute a day's work on all state and municipal works, and authorizing the Legislature to pass laws for the health and safety of employes in factories, smelters, mines and ore reduction work, was adopted by a vote of 20,096 to 835.
MORRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
John Tracy Morrison, sixth governor of Idaho after its admission into the Union, was born in Jefferson County, Penn., December 25, 1860. In 1887 he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Ohio; married Miss Grace D. Mackey, of Vienna, O., in 1886; received the degree of Master of Arts from his Alma Mater in 1880, and the same year Cornell University con- ferred on him the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Shortly after this he came to Idaho, located at Caldwell and began the practice of law. He identified him-
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self with the republican party and soon became a prominent factor in shaping its destinies. In 1896 he was elected secretary of the republican state central committee, and the same year was that party's candidate for representative in Congress. He was chairman of the state central committee from 1897 to 1900, and in 1902 was elected governor. At the expiration of his term in January, 1905, he moved to Boise City where he resumed the practice of law. He died in Boise in 1914. Governor Morrison was an active member of the Presbyterian Church and was a delegate to the Presbyterian general assemblies of 1892, 1897 and 1902.
SEVENTH LEGISLATURE
In the organization of the seventh State Legislature, which began its ses- sion at Boise on January 5, 1903, James M. Stevens, lieutenant-governor, be- came president of the Senate and James F. Hunt, of Bannock County, was elected speaker of the House. In his message Governor Morrison insisted that there were too many offices, stating that the policy of previous legislatures in creating new offices and departments had met with public condemnation, and that the time had come to abolish offices that were nothing more than sinecures. He especially mentioned the office of insurance commissioner created by the sixth Legislature. He dwelt at length on the subject of irrigation, pointing out weak places in the existing laws, and recommending a number of amendments.
The governor also urged the enactment of a general banking law which would give the state supervision over banking institutions incorporated under the Idaho laws. He also called the attention of the Legislature to the custom of custodians of the state and county public funds of depositing such funds in banks where they would draw interest, and then appropriating the interest to their own use. This custom, he pointed out, often occasioned a delay in the payment of warrants, in order that the official might draw the interest. Some law to secure the interest on such deposits to the state or county was therefore necessary. The governor recommended that the Legislature take the necessary steps to provide for state exhibits at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, and the Lewis and Clark Exposition, to be held at Portland, Oregon, in 1905.
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