Stewart Acquitted

A problem in contempt which the Senate left behind was settled last week by a jury of eight men, four women. Col. Robert Wright Stewart, chairman of the Board of the Standard Oil Co. of Indiana, was acquitted of contempt charges arising from his refusal to answer questions put to him by the Senate Committee on Public Lands.

In February, Mr. Stewart balked the committee's attempts to find out his relations with Harry Ford Sinclair and the $3,080,000 profits of the Continental Trading Co.

In April, after Mr. Sinclair had been acquitted of conspiracy, Mr. Stewart said that he had received $759,000 in Liberty bonds from the president of the Continental Trading Co. and turned them over to a trust fund.

The trial lasted two weeks. Justice Fredrick Lincoln Siddons of the District of Columbia Supreme Court ruled against Mr. Stewart on nearly every legal point. The jury was instructed that it had only to decide whether or not Mr. Stewart had appeared before the Senate committee and refused to answer pertinent questions. After 21 hours, the jury decided that he had not and hence he was not guilty.

Said Lawyer Frank J. Hogan, who regularly outsmarts Government lawyers: "Justice has been done. . . . It is time the Walshes, Nyes and Norrises should learn that prosecutions of this kind cannot prevail. . . ."

Said Senator Norris of Nebraska: "It demonstrates clearly that if you have money enough to hire lawyers, you will be found not guilty, even though you admit that you are guilty."

A charge of perjury against Mr. Stewart is now being considered by the Grand Jury of the District of Columbia. Also, he faces the demand of John D. Rockefeller Jr. that he resign as chairman of the Standard Oil Co. of Indiana.