 John Thomas Caine LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 1, p.726-738
Caine, John Thomas, Utah's fourth delegate to Congress, is the son of Thomas Caine and Elinor Cubbon, and was born in the parish of Kirk Patrick, Isle of Man, Jan. 8, 1829. Speaking of the days of his childhood, Elder Caine says: "I knew if I ever amounted to anything, it would be by my own exertions, for I had no one to help me and was practically alone in the world. I had confidence, however, that a straight forward, honorable course, backed by energy and perseverance, would succeed, and such a course I have endeavored to pursue." At the tender age of six years, in his far-off island home, young Caine found himself virtually an orphan, homeless and friendless, so far as parental roof, father, mother, brothers and sisters were concerned. His father emigrated to America, and his mother died, leaving him in the care of his grandfather, Hugh Cubbon, a small farmer and tailor. When about nine years of age, he was taken to Douglas, the principal town of the island, where he lived with an aunt, Mrs. William Cowley, his father's sister, who sent him to school, thus giving him his first tuition. When about eleven, he took up his residence at Peel, and another aunt, his mother's sister, Mrs. John Richardson, who lived at the Ballamoore, near Peel, placed him in a position to continue his education and otherwise treated him with great kindness. The Richardsons were wealthy, possessing valuable business and properties both in the Isle of Man and in Liverpool. At the latter place, Mr. Richardson (an Englishman) was the head of a large merchant tailoring establishment. With a view of fitting John T. to take a lucrative place in this establishment, his relatives urged him to obtain some knowledge of the tailor's trade. In deference of their wishes, he made the attempt, and for a time became an apprentice to the trade, but his heart was not in it, the occupation being distasteful to him. His desire was to become a printer. Neither of these trades, however, was he destined to follow. At Peel he first heard of "Mormonism"—in 1841. Apostle John Taylor was preaching in a school house, when young Caine happened to be passing by. With a boy's curiosity, he stepped into the building, just before the speaker closed, and there had his first view of a "Mormon" Elder. Subsequently, he heard other Elders preach, and was present at the first "Mormon" baptism at Peel; it was at the seaside, near the home of his Uncle John Gracey, who afterwards joined the Church. Though favorably impressed with "Mormonism," as taught by such men as William Mitchell, William C. Dunbar, William Gill Mills, and others, the lad did not at once embrace it, though it influenced to some extent his determination, formed about this time, to leave the Old Country, where he saw little chance to succeed, and seek his fortune in America. A few pounds left him by his grandfather, added to means furnished him by the Richardsons, enabled him early in 1846 to carry out his intention. He proceeded to Liverpool, and on the 17th of March sailed from that port on the bark "Shanunga," accompanied by a cousin two years younger than himself. An uneventful voyage of six weeks brought him to New York, where he landed on the 30th of April. He first found employment in a merchant [p.727] tailor's establishment. Having made an investigation of the claims of various churches, he became convinced of the truth of "Mormonism," and was baptized by Elder William H. Miles in the East River, New York, March 28, 1847. In the branch of the Church existing in New York City at that time, John T. Caine acted as a Teacher, an office to which he was ordained on July 11th, following his baptism. The Saints held their meetings at the corner of Broadway and Grand streets, now in the very heart of the metropolis. William I. Appleby was president of the Eastern churches, and such notable Elders as Jedediah M. Grant, Parley P. Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Jesse C. Little, Robert Campbell and others were continually coming and going. John T. Caine remained a resident of New York city until October, 1848, when he removed to St. Louis, Mo., going by steamboat to Perth Amboy, New Jersey—the nearest railroad station to New York—via Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which was as far west as the railroad then extended. Thence he went by canal to the foot of the Allegheny Mountains (which were crossed in open cars worked on inclined planes by stationary engines), by canal to Pittsburg and thence by steamboat via Cincinnati and Cairo to St. Louis. He there became actively engaged in Church work, was made assistant to the clerk of the conference, Daniel Mackintosh, and on the 7th of July, 1849, was ordained an Elder by Nathaniel H. Felt, president of the St. Louis conference, which comprised at that time about two thousand Latter-day Saints. The immediate cause of Elder Caine's ordination was the presence of cholera in the city, which was suffering terribly from that scourge, it having come up from New Orleans in the spring. Elder Caine's assistance was needed in administering to the sick. The cholera raged for three consecutive years in St. Louis, and though continually in the midst of it, administering to its victims, he himself was never attacked. While there he met the estimable woman who became his wife, Miss Margaret Nightingale, a connection of the Nightingale and Leach families who were among the first converts to "Mormonism" at Preston, England, in 1837, her grand-mother Leach being the second woman baptized into the Church in Europe. They had emigrated to Nauvoo, and in the exodus drifted to St. Louis. John T. Caine and Margaret Nightingale were married Oct. 22, 1850, by Elder Alexander Robbins, who had succeeded Elder Felt in the presidency of the St. Louis conference. Their first child, a daughter, Agnes E., now Mrs. Arthur Pratt, of Salt Lake City, was born in St. Louis, Oct. 1, 1851. That year Bro. Caine became an American citizen, being naturalized in the court of common pleas. Elder Caine acted as general agent for the "Frontier Guardian," a paper edited and published by Apostle Orson Hyde at Kanesville, Iowa. He also assisted in emigrational and other business matters for Elder Hyde and for the emigrating Saints generally. He succeeded Elder Mackintosh as clerk of the conference, and during the last year of his residence in St. Louis was first counselor to its president, Thomas Wrigley. The Caine family left St. Louis en route for Utah May 8, 1852. The company in which they crossed the plains, the eleventh of the season, consisting of fifty wagons, was commanded by Captain James McGaw, with John T. Caine as captain of ten, arrived at Salt Lake City Sept. 20, 1852. The journey was uneventful except for the death of several persons from cholera, which attacked the company while on the plains. Brother Caine's first employment in Utah was at digging beets, carrots, etc., on shares. He subsequently engaged at school teaching, having secured through the influence of Elder Milo Andrus a district school at Hollidayburg (Big Cottonwood), ten miles southeast of Salt Lake City. He taught school during the winter of 1852-53, and meantime having become identified with the Deseret Dramatic association, made several appearances upon the stage of the Social Hall, the main temple of the drama in Utah at that period. He was present at the opening of the Social Hall in January, 1853. His first appearance upon the boards at Salt Lake City was as Glavis in the "Lady of Lyons," but his first hit was as Aminadab Sleek in the "Serious Family," a play in which he had appeared at a charity entertainment in St. Louis. His Aminadab Sleek captured the play-going public, and John T. Caine was a man of prominence from [p.728] that hour. In January, 1854, Bro. Caine became a clerk in the Tithing Office, having charge simultaneously of the Social Hall, where dramatic performances were given. April 7, 1854, Elder Caine was called, with a number of others, to take a mission to the Hawaiian Islands. He was poorly prepared, in a worldly way, for such an undertaking, having a wife and two children dependent upon him, and no home in which to leave them. In this extremity he found a kind friend in Elder Joseph Cain, who opened the door of his own home to the missionary's wife and children and treated them with every consideration. To assist him on his way, Bro. Caine was given a benefit by the Deseret Dramatic Association, as were three other members of that organization, namely, James M. Barlow, William C. Dunbar and James Ferguson, who were going on missions to Europe. It was arranged to have one of the four benefits on consecutive nights, and divide the aggregate receipts equally among the four missionaries. John T. Caine's benefit took place on the evening of April 22nd. The play was "Pizarro," in which the beneficiary sustained the title role, while James Ferguson impersonated Rolla, Joseph M. Simmons, Alonzo, Mrs. Hyde (afterwards Mrs. Woodmansee) Cora, and Mrs. Wheelock, Elvira. The series of performances was well patronized, notwithstanding the inclement weather that prevailed, and each of the Elders named received eighty dollars as his share of the proceeds. Elder Caine bade farewell to family and friends May 4, 1854, and started for the Hawaiian Islands, via southern Utah and southern California. Elders Joseph F. Smith, Silas Smith, Edward Partridge, William W. Cluff, Henry P. Richards, Silas S. Smith, Eli Bell, Simpson M. Molen, Ward E. Pack, Orson K. Whitney, Sixtus E. Johnson, Joseph A. Peck, John R. Young, Smith Thurston, John A. West, Washington Rogers, George Spiers and William King were members of the same company. Pres. Brigham Young with a party set out at the same time for a tour through the southern settlements, in the course of which he held a conference at Chicken Creek, Juab county, with the Indian Chief Waukaw (Walker) and concluded a treaty of peace. The missionaries accompanied Pres. Young as far as Cedar City, and thence, under the leadership of Apostle Parley P. Pratt, crossed the country to San Bernardino, then a "Mormon" colony. Much of the route was over a sandy desert, and travel, which was by means of wagons and saddle horses, was very difficult. To avoid the intense heat on the deserts they traveled by night, resting and sleeping during the day. They reached San Bernardino on the 9th of June, and were kindly received by Apostles Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich, Bishop Crosby and others in charge. Selling their outfits for barely enough to enable them to reach San Francisco for which they took steamer from San Pedro, the missionaries arrived there on the 10th of July, and met Elders George Q. Cannon, William Farrer, James Hawkins and Henry W. Bigler, just from the Hawaiian Islands. Elders Nathan Tanner and William Mcbride of that mission were also in San Francisco. During the summer the missionaries, in order to procure funds to pay their passage to the islands, sought and found employment in San Francisco and its vicinity, some of them working on ranches during the harvesting season. Elder Caine had the temerity to hire out as a cook at one of the ranches where threshing was in progress. Finally they set sail for the islands, but not all upon the same vessel. Elder Caine, with three or four others, took passage on the brig "Susan Abigail," which sailed from San Francisco Dec. 1, 1854, and arrived at Honolulu the day before Christmas. At the first conference of the Hawaiian mission held after his arrival, he was appointed counselor to Silas Smith, who was made president of the mission. Elder Caine also presided over the Oahu conference. Most of the time he resided at Honolulu, where some one was needed to attend to the correspondence, transact business for the Church and represent the mission in controversies that arose from time to time with the Hawaiian government, owing to sectarian and other anti-Mormon influences. While thus engaged, he answered an attack made upon the "Mormon" people and secured its publication in the "Polynesian," the government official organ. This was the first defense of "Mormons" ever published in an Hawaiian newspaper. Elder Caine had charge of an English-speaking [p.729] branch of the Church, made up largely of emigrants from Australia who were detained at Honolulu, the vessel in which they sailed having been condemned as unseaworthy. Owing to his residency at Honolulu, where English was very generally spoken and where he conducted services in English, he did not acquire a perfect knowledge of the Hawaiian tongue. The climate of the islands did not agree with him, and this, with the further fact that his presence was needed at home, induced Pres. Young to send for him to return earlier than was originally intended. He sailed from Honolulu Aug. 1, 1856, on the packet ship "Francis Palmer," arriving at San Francisco on the 24th of that month. After some delay in San Francisco and neighborhood securing means for his trip home, he proceeded by way of San Pedro and Los Angeles to San Bernardino and there cast his first vote for a President of the United States, having lived in California thirty days before election, and thus gained that right according to the laws of that State. He voted for James Buchanan, the Democratic candidate. This was the only opportunity he had to vote for President until he voted for William Jennings Bryan in 1896. From San Bernardino he retraced the same route that he had formerly traveled, riding horseback all the way to Cedar City, Utah. At a point between Fillmore and Salt Lake City, some time in November, 1856, he met the legislative party on its way to the former place to hold the regular session of the assembly. Being informed that his name had been proposed for assistant secretary of the council, he returned with the legislators to Fillmore. They there held one meeting and adjourned to Salt Lake City, where Elder Caine served in the position for which he had been nominated. This was his first political office. At subsequent sessions of the legislature, which met yearly, he continued to be assistant secretary of the council, and was afterwards secretary of that body for many sessions. In 1857 he was military secretary with the rank of lieutenant-colonel on the staff of Lieutenant-General Daniel H. Wells, commander of the Nauvoo Legion. Soon after his return from the Islands he became one of Pres. Brigham Young's private clerks, to attend to his personal business, and was associated with Hiram B. Clawson and Thomas W. Ellerbeck, the President's business manager and chief book-keeper respectively. At the breaking up of Camp Floyd in 1861, John T. Caine was sent, with Hiram B. Clawson and David O. Calder, of the President's office, to attend the great auction sale of government property at the post, where they purchased large quantities of goods for Pres. Young's private stores. In the meantime he had resumed his connection with the Deseret Dramatic Association, and in a short time had succeeded David Candland as stage manager at the Social Hall. This was the inauguration of his extended managerial career. Warmly seconding Pres. Young's proposition that "the people must have amusements—the best and most wholesome ones that could be provided"—he with others now urged upon the President the advisability of erecting a large theatre to supercede the small and inadequately equipped Social Hall, where the legitimate drama might be fostered and the play-going, fun-loving public be properly entertained. This led to the building of the Salt Lake Theatre, ground for which was broken July 1, 1861, and the building dedicated on the evening of March 6, 1862. The first dramatic performance given at this theatre was witnessed two nights later, the plays presented being "Pride of the Market" and "State Secrets," with a comic song by Wm. C. Dunbar intervening. In "Pride of the Market," Bro. Caine sustained the role of the Marquis de Volage. Until the introduction of outside talent, he continued to play leading roles at the theatre, and was associated with Hiram B. Clawson in its management. As stage manager, all performances were put upon the boards under his personal supervision. After retiring as an actor he continued to be stage manager, and in one way or another was connected with the theatre for a period of twenty years. Early in the spring of 1866, he, in company with a party composed of Wm. Jennings, Hiram B. Clawson, Thos. Taylor and John W. Young, crossed the plains to the Missouri river by stage and spent some six months in New York and other eastern cities, assisting in forwarding that year's "Mormon" emigration from Europe, and transacting other business for Pres. Young. In 1867 [p.730] Messrs. Clawson and Caine leased the Salt Lake Theatre from Pres. Young, paying him the first year a rental of $15,000. The lessees did not make much money out of it that season, but afterwards the rental was reduced and the railroad having reached Salt Lake, the next two years they prospered. In March, 1870, Elder Caine went to Washington, D.C., to carry the protest of the people of Utah against the Cullom bill, which had passed the House of Representatives and was pending in the Senate of the United States. He remained for several months at the capital, assisting Hon. William H. Hooper, Utah's delegate, in his labors, and returned home in July of that year. His extended legislative experience, first in a clerical capacity, and afterwards as a member of the legislative council, in which he served for the sessions of 1874, 1876, 1880 and 1882, was preparing him for his own Congressional career. During his absence in Washington, two of his old-time friends, Edward L. Sloan and Wm. C. Dunbar, had established the "Salt Lake Daily Herald." The "Herald" was founded in June, 1870, Mr. Sloan being its editor and Mr. Dunbar its business manager. They solicited Bro. Caine, upon his return from Washington, to take stock in their enterprise and act as the paper's managing editor. He took a third interest in the paper, retaining the position of managing editor until the "Herald" Company was incorporated. He continued for many years to own stock in the "Herald," and, as is the case with the Salt Lake Theatre, his name will always be identified with its history. Elder Caine's standing in the community at this period is shown by the simple fact that in October, 1871, when the great Chicago fire swept away a large portion of that city, rendering a hundred thousand people homeless and destitute, he was appointed at a meeting called by the mayor of Salt Lake City chairman of a committee of "Mormon" and non-Mormon citizens to receive subscriptions for the relief of the sufferers. In 1872 he figured in the Constitutional Convention held in Salt Lake City, in which both "Mormons" and non-Mormons participated. In 1873 was formed the Salt Lake Theatre Corporation, which purchased from Pres. Young the famous place of amusement he had founded, and proceeded to transform the somewhat old-fashioned interior, making it in .every respect a modern and finely equipped temple of the drama. The managers of the theatre under this regime were Hiram B. Clawson, John T. Caine and Thomas Williams, with James Vinson as stage manager. As a business venture it was a failure, owing in part to the heavy expense of remodeling the theatre and supporting its newly organized stock company, but mostly to the fact that 1873 was a panic year through the nation, and the effects of the wide-spread financial depression were felt for several years following. In 1875 Bro. Caine, almost broken down in health owing to his arduous labors as a theatrical and newspaper manager—for both these burdens were upon him simultaneously—took a trip to Europe to recuperate his exhausted energies. He left home in May, and returned about the middle of August, much benefitted in health. During his absence he visited his birthplace on the Isle of Man, and also toured England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Soon after his return he was nominated and in February, 1876, elected recorder of Salt Lake City, an office which he filled with great efficiency, and to which he was re-elected in 1878, 1880 and 1882. He also served as a member of the board of regents of the University of Deseret from 1876 to 1886, and held various other responsible positions, figuring prominently in most of the public events of the period. Ecclesiastically he was also prominent as a member of the High Council of the Salt Lake Stake of Zion, to which position he was set apart Oct. 16, 1859, and he acted as second counselor in the Stake presidency during the consecutive administrations of Stake Presidents Daniel Spencer, John W. Young, and George B. Wallace, from October, 1868, to April, 1876. At the reorganization of the Stake just prior to the death of Pres. Young, Elder Caine retired, but in 1878 was chosen an alternate councilor and in 1881 became a regular member of the High Council, which position he holds at the present time. He has also served as a home missionary in the Salt Lake Stake, for many years faithfully fulfilling all the calls made upon him. In the winter of 1880-81 he was associated with Hon. William H. Hooper as a representative of Hon. George Q. Cannon, Utah's delegate in [p.731] Congress, in the contest which then arose while the latter was absent at his post of duty in Washington, D.C., over his right to a seat in the House of Representatives. It was against the protest of Messrs. Hooper and Caine that Governor Eli H. Murray, on Jan. 8, 1881, thwarted the will of the people expressed at the polls in the previous November, and gave to Allen G. Campbell, the defeated Liberal candidate for the delegateship, the certificate of election rightfully belonging to George Q. Cannon, who had been re-elected by a vote of 18,568 as against 1,357, the number of ballots cast for his opponent. In the subsequent litigation by which it was sought to compel Acting-Governor Thomas, in the absence of Governor Murray, to give a certificate of election to the sitting delegate, Bro. Caine acted alone as the agent for Bro. Cannon. In April, 1882, he was a representative of Salt Lake county in the Constitutional Convention, which met at Salt Lake City on the 10th of that month, and proceeded to frame a State constitution prior to petitioning Congress for Utah's admission into the Union. In June of the same year he was one of seven delegates appointed by the convention to present the constitution and its accompanying memorial to Congress, and with a portion of the delegation immediately proceeded to Washington and discharged that duty. While in all the offices and positions of trust held and occupied by him he performed the duties in such a way as to command the respect, esteem and confidence of the public whose servant he was, it was as a member of Congress that his more arduous work was done and which elevated him to the distinguished place which he has occupied in the minds of the people of Utah. Elder Caine entered Congress at a stormy period in the history of Utah, and for long years thereafter the fight was incessant, bitter and unrelenting. He succeeded Hon. George Q. Cannon who had been elected to the forty-seventh Congress, but whose seat, after an ugly contest, had been declared vacant under the provisions of the newly enacted Edmunds law in April, 1882. At a People's Party convention held at Salt Lake City Oct. 13, 1882, he was nominated as delegate to Congress, not only to the Forty-eighth Congress, beginning March 4, 1883, but to serve out the unexpired portion of his predecessor's term in the Forty-seventh Congress as well, and on the 7th of November following was overwhelmingly elected, receiving 23,039 votes, as against 4,884 votes cast for his opponent, the Liberal candidate, Hon. Phillip T. Van Zile. Upon retiring from the city government of Salt Lake City, and resigning the office of city recorder and auditor, he was presented with the following testimonial signed by the mayor, alderman, councilors and all the officers of the City: "We, the undersigned, mayor, alderman, councilors, and officers, of the Corporation of Salt Lake City, desiring to express our confidence in and appreciation of the ability and integrity of Hon. John T. Caine, city recorder and auditor of public accounts, on the occasion of his retirement from the duties of those offices, take pleasure in reviewing our association with him in his official position and in adopting this testimonial. Hon. John T. Caine was elected recorder of Salt Lake City Feb. 14, 1876, and entered immediately upon the duties of his office. On the 22nd of the same month he was, on the nomination of Councilor Brigham Young, appointed by the unanimous vote of the council, auditor of public accounts. To these, the chief clerical offices of the municipality, Mr. Caine brought the advantage of long experience, thorough education, and strict discipline, which have been manifested in the adoption of a complete system of accounts in all the departments of the city government, reporting to him for audition, in the great improvement of the council records, and in the general regulation of the recorder's office. When the construction of a canal to supply the city with water from the Jordan river was projected, Mr. Caine took an active and energetic part in securing the necessary legislative authority to provide the means required, and in carrying the project to its successful issue, his last official act as auditor being to report the satisfactory condition of the canal fund. Mr. Caine's ready aid and counsel to the various city officers and the assistance of his recognized legislative ability in the deliberation of the city council, have won from all, who have been associated with him, the highest sentiments of respect and confidence which we hereby take occasion to gratefully [p.732] acknowledge. While we regret the necessity which compels a severance of the very cordial official relationship that has for more than seven years bound him to the interests which we represent, it is with undiminished confidence and cordiality that we sustain Mr. Caine in the more distinguished position which the suffrages of the people of Utah have called him to occupy, Territorial Delegate to the Congress of the United States, in which capacity we wish him great prosperity and the completest success." Elder Caine was one of a number of public spirited citizens, who, in May, 1883, after the veto by Governor Murray of the bill passed by the legislature appropriating money for the completion of the University building on Union Square, advanced means out of their private purses for the completion of the half finished edifice, trusting to what then seemed the forlorn hope of reimbursement through the act of some future governor of the Territory, whose anti-Mormon proclivities were not so pronounced as those of the then reigning executive. Upon a favorable report in his case from the House Committee on Elections, Delegate Caine was sworn in and took his seat in the United States House of Representatives Jan. 17, 1883. It would not be profitable, though decidedly entertaining, to recount in full the story of his combats, his victories and his disappointments and defeats in the 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st and 52nd Congresses, to each of which he had been elected by overwhelming majorities; that at the election to the 52nd Congress amounting to nearly 10,000 plurality. It may almost be said that a battle royal was waged from start to finish through all the eleven years of his service, the victory coming to Bro. Caine and the people for whom he fought unremittingly, at the close of his long service, in the practically unanimous consent of all parties to admit Utah to the Union and confer upon the long suffering citizens the rights and privileges which had been denied them for so many years. Bro. Caine had barely taken his seat in the House when he was confronted with a measure proposing to amend the so-called Edmunds bill which had been introduced in the Senate by Senator Edmunds, the author of the original, and was called to the attention of the House Committee on the Judiciary by Mr. Van Zile, who solicited and was granted a hearing upon the measure. This bill was the original of what after many disappointments and defeats became, five years later, the Edmunds-Tucker bill. Delegate Caine's maiden effort in his Congressional career was in an argument before the House Judiciary Committee in opposition to this measure and in answer to Mr. Van Zile. The measure was defeated in the Senate by parliamentary tactics on the part of the Democrats, who on general principles were opposed to the bill. It came up again, however, in an enlarged form in the 48th Congress and was known as the Hoar bill. While it passed the Senate, which was Republican, no action was taken upon it in the House of Representatives, which was Democratic. Numerous bills on the Utah and "Mormon" question were introduced both in the Senate and House during the 48th Congress, and also many joint resolutions proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibiting polygamy. The bill which attracted the most attention in the House of Representatives, and the passage of which was urged the most persistently was the Cassidy bill, proposing to reorganize the legislative power of the Territory by conferring all legislative authority upon a commission composed of fifteen men to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. This measure was referred to the House Committee on the Territories, where it was considered at great length, its passage being urged by Representative Cassidy, of Nevada, and other enemies of Utah and her people. Delegate Caine, almost single-handed and alone, combatted this measure day after day before the committee and had the satisfaction of seeing it sidetracked by the committee reporting a substitute in the shape of a marriage bill for the Territory which was never considered by the House. Early in the 49th Congress, the warfare against Utah and the "Mormons" was resumed in both houses. Many new bills and joint resolutions were introduced. One by McAdoo of New Jersey proposed to disfranchise all polygamists; another by Woodburn of Nevada provided for the institution of a test oath and to make it a crime to be a member of the "Mormon" Church or to contribute to its support. The temper of Congress and the nation [p.733] was such that there was a disposition to pass some very drastic measure against the "Mormons." This feeling culminated in the introduction and passage by the Senate of the new Edmunds bill, which afterwards passed the House and has since been known in Utah as the Edmunds-Tucker law. Delegate Caine declares that when this measure was referred to the House Judiciary committee, its chairman, Hon. J. Randolph Tucker, was utterly opposed to it. What influences were brought to bear to cause him to change his mind have not yet been found out. Upon the passage of the measure in the House of Representatives, Delegate Caine delivered what was designated at the time a most vigorous, eloquent and logical speech against its passage. His argument was widely published and elicited much complimentary comment, not only in the House, but in the press of the country. However, the disposition of the people of the United States was such that no degree of eloquence, and no amount of argument, could stay the passage of the bill. Upon the Senate's refusal to accept the House amendments to the measure, and it being sent to a committee of conference, he secured the appointment of Hon. Patrick A. Collins, a Democratic member from Boston, as one of the conferees on the part of the House, much to the annoyance and chagrin of Mr. Tucker, who desired that the committee should be composed entirely of the friends of the bill. Mr. Collins fought bravely against the bill, and secured the elimination or modification of many of the most objectionable features. In this Congress, also, Delegate Caine introduced the bill which finally culminated in giving Utah a fourth district judge. Bro. Caine was elected a delegate from Salt Lake county to the Constitutional Convention which convened in Salt Lake City June 30, 1887. He was president of the convention and strongly urged the adoption of the clause in the proposed Constitution prohibiting bigamy and polygamy, believing this to be the true solution of the "Mormon" problem, and the only course that would satisfy the government and people of the United States. The opening of the first session of the 50th Congress was characterized by the introduction of another flood of bills relating to Utah, joint resolutions proposing amendments to the Constitution, empowering Congress to legislate upon the subjects of marriage and divorce, and prohibiting bigamy and polygamy, were introduced by Senators Dolph of Oregon, Cullom of Illinois, and by Representatives Springer of Illinois and Culberson of Texas. Senator Paddock of Nebraska, an ex-member of the Utah Commission, introduced in the Senate a bill constituting the governor, secretary and members of the Utah Commission a board to redistrict and re-apportion Salt Lake City into aldermanic and councilmanic districts. The object being to so district the city as to give the Liberals the control of the city government. Senator Cullom presented to the Senate another bill for a legislative commission for Utah, to be composed of the governor and twelve citizens appointed by the President; Delegate Dubois of Idaho presented a similar bill in the House. Delegate Caine opposed all these measures, making the plea to senators and members that they should wait and see if the Edmunds-Tucker law would not accomplish all they desired in settling the "Mormon" question. Jan. 12, 1888, Delegate Caine presented in the House of Representatives the memorial and constitution adopted by the constitutional convention of 1887. About the same time he introduced a bill for an enabling act for the Territory of Utah, all of which were referred to the Committee on Territories and ordered to be printed. The same documents having been presented to the president of the Senate by the delegation sent by the constitutional convention, a bill for an enabling act was introduced by Senator Butler of South Carolina and referred to the Senate Committee on Territories. The Senate Committee having granted a hearing to the delegation from Utah in the interest of statehood, Delegate Caine, Feb. 18, 1888, made a strong argument showing the honesty and sincerity of the people of Utah in adopting the constitution with the clause prohibiting polygamy and pledging their good faith in executing the law upon all violators of that provision. In this session of Congress, the fight over the proposed removal of the Southern Ute Indians from Colorado to San Juan county, Utah, was precipitated by the introduction in the House of a bill by Representative Symes [p.734] providing for such removal. Delegate Caine antagonized the proposition through that and the two succeeding Congresses, appearing both before the Senate and House Committees on Indian affairs, securing adverse reports in two Congresses and by combination with other interests defeating its consideration in the last Congress in which it was agitated. The removal was, therefore, not effected, notwithstanding all the efforts put forth in its interests by the State of Colorado, with two Senators and a Representative in Congress. Among other bills presented by Delegate Caine in the 49th Congress, was one providing for the erection of a government building in Salt Lake City at a cost of $500,000. It was at this session of Congress, on Aug. 25th and on October 4th respectively, that he delivered in the House of Representatives his well-remembered speeches "Polygamy in Utah a Dead Issue" and "Mormon Facts vs Anti-Mormon Fiction," in which he set the people of the Territory right before the country and made plain the circumstances of the wrong doing to which they were being subjected in the face of their sincere promises, professions and actions. At the beginning of 1889, the House Committee on Territories, at the solicitation of Delegate Caine, accorded a long and patient hearing to delegations from Utah in regard to the admission of the Territory as a State; and on the 16th and 17th of January, he delivered before the committee a forcible argument in favor of admission. The outcome of this hearing was a report by the committee through Chairman Springer favorable to the claims of Utah for statehood, but the report came too late to receive action during that Congress. On April 29th and 30th and May 1st, 1889, Delegate Caine, as the representative of the Territory of Utah, upon invitation of the committee, attended the three days' celebration in the city of New York in honor of the centennial anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington as President of the United States, and participated as a guest in reviewing the great naval, military and civic parades of the occasion, being the most magnificent pageants ever witnessed in that city. He was also a guest at the banquet given at the Metropolitan Opera House on April 30th. Among the guests, which numbered between eight and nine hundred, were the largest number of prominent men, not only officials, but celebrities from all parts of the country, ever assembled at a banquet on the American continent. With the opening of the 51st Congress came another deluge of anti-Utah bills and resolutions, among them being one by Representative Ezra B. Taylor, who was among the most prominent supporters of the Edmunds-Tucker bill in the previous Congress. This was a joint resolution providing for the stock Constitutional Amendment forbidding polygamy; a bill introduced by Stewart of Vermont, but the text of which was furnished by Salt Lake Liberals, proposed to disfranchise all members of the "Mormon" Church and forbidding the naturalization of such persons, denying them the privilege of settling upon or filing on public lands, etc.; another bill by Senator Platt of Connecticut taking away the right to vote or hold office from persons who taught, advised, counseled or encouraged others to enter into polygamy or celestial marriage; a bill by Senator Edmunds to take the control of the public schools out of the hands of the people and to practically revolutionize the school system of the Territory; another measure by Senator Cullom to amend the Edmunds law of 1882, making that act far more stringent, and punishing by disfranchisement not only polygamists, but all members of the "Mormon" Church; the notorious Struble bill, introduced in the House of Representatives by Struble of Iowa, similar in its disfranchising provisions to that of the Cullom bill in the Senate. This bill and one which had passed the Senate under the whip of Senator Edmunds, proposing to devote the personal property escheated from the "Mormon" Church to the public schools of the Territory, were very strongly urged, and much pressure was brought upon Congress to act upon them. "While it is well known that all these iniquitous bills were defeated, it is not so well known that it required incessant watching and work on the part of Delegate Caine and other workers to bring about that result. April 23, 1890, he delivered, before the House Committee on Territories, which had the Struble bill under consideration, a strong argument against the disfranchisement of the "Mormons," and other objectionable features of that measure. [p.735] The bill was favorably reported to the house by Chairman Struble, and its passage recommended, but by various processes he was prevented from getting it before the House for action. The Edmunds bill relative to the escheated personal property of the Church was defeated by parliamentary default, in losing its place on the calendar, and Delegate Caine and congressional friends preventing its being reinstated. On the passage of the bill for the admission of Idaho as a State, he delivered a speech in which, while favoring the admission of the Territory, he opposed the provision of the enabling act which disfranchised "Mormon" citizens residing there, because of their Church membership. Delegate Caine's labors during the 52nd Congress, the last of his long service in the House of Representatives, can only receive brief reference to some of his more important efforts in behalf of his constituents and the great Territory which he represented. The first measure calculated to affect Utah adversely, which came up in this Congress, was the perennial Ute removal bill. The bill was strongly opposed before the House Committee on Indian Affairs by Delegate Caine and other opponents of the scheme, but the influence of Colorado appeared to dominate the committee, which reported the measure favorably to the House. But the opponents of the bill in the House gave the committee plainly to understand that if they attempted to bring that measure up, all their proposed legislation would be defeated. This ended the matter in that Congress. Jan. 7, 1892, he introduced in the House bills for the erection of a government building in Salt Lake City, and one in Ogden as he had previously done in the 51st Congress. He also introduced a bill for creating another land district in the Territory, with an office in Ogden. He appeared before the House Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and urged favorable action on the Salt Lake and Ogden Public Building Bills. A bill, through the efforts of Senator Paddock of Nebraska, had passed the Senate, making an appropriation for the Salt Lake building of $500,000. Delegate Caine pressed the House committee to place the same amount in the House bill, but the committee assured him that such a large amount might kill the measure in the House; they therefore favored and so reported the measure carrying an appropriation of $250,000, and recommended its passage. But opposition or indifference to giving public buildings to cities in Territories prevented its consideration by the House. Jan. 7, 1892, the celebrated "Home Rule" bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Delegate Caine. It had already been presented in the Senate by Senator Charles J. Faulkner of West Virginia. On Feb. 10th, a delegation from Utah favoring the passage of the measure appeared and made arguments before the House Committee on Territories, being introduced for that purpose by Delegate Caine. The hearings were continued on Feb. 16th, 17th, 19th and 20th. Hearings on this bill were also had before the Senate Committee on Territories, commencing Feb. 11th, and continuing on the 13th, 18th, 20th and 23rd. Those who made arguments in favor of the measure were Hons. H. W. Smith, C. C. Richards, J. W. Judd, Franklin S. Richards, T. J. Anderson, Joseph L. Rawlins, Frank H. Dyer and Ex-Governor West; those who opposed were the Hons. O. W. Powers, C. E. Allen, C. W. Bennett and John Henry Smith, the two latter arguing in favor of Statehood rather than "Home Rule." During the hearing before the Senate Committee, Delegate Caine introduced and read the petition for amnesty, dated Dec. 19, 1891, signed by the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, thus securing its insertion in the Congressional Record, and publication in a government document. Delegate Caine worked zealously for the passage of the Home Rule bill and saw his efforts crowned with success by its passage through the House of Representatives on July 8, 1892, the vote being, yeas 164, nays 41, absent and not voting 123. He regarded the passage of this bill as clearing the way for Statehood for the Territory. March 4, 1892, he introduced a bill granting to the University of Utah, for a University site, a tract of sixty acres of land on the Fort Douglas Military Reservation at Salt Lake City. This measure, at that time, met with some opposition from the War department and the bill was not pressed. It, however, [p.736] became law in a subsequent Congress. In June, 1892, Delegate Caine having been elected as a delegate by a regular Democratic convention, held in Ogden, attended the National Democratic Convention at Chicago, which placed in nomination Grover Cleveland for president and Adlai E. Stevenson for vice-president. There was a strong contesting delegation, headed by Judge O. W. Powers, representing the Tuscaroras, a society claiming to be Democratic, made up mostly of members of the Liberal party. Delegate Caine's acquaintance with public men who were members of the convention largely assisted in securing the seating of the regular delegation from Utah, consisting of Judge Henry P. Henderson and himself. Delegate Caine was appointed a member of the committee on platform and resolutions, and was instrumental in securing a clause in the platform favoring admission into the Union of all territories having the necessary population and other qualifications for statehood. Jan. 14, 1893, Delegate Caine introduced in the House of Representatives a bill for an enabling act for the admission of Utah as a State in the Union. A similar bill was, at his request, introduced in the Senate by Senator Faulkner, of West Virginia. This bill was practically identical with the one which became a law in the next Congress. The bill was referred to the committee on territories, before which Delegate Caine soon after secured a hearing in advocacy of the measure. The committee considered the bill fully and ordered it to be reported back to the House with a favorable recommendation for its passage. Representative Charles H. Mansur of Missouri was appointed to draft the report; at his request Mr. Caine assisted him in its preparation. The bill and report were presented to the House Jan. 24, 1893, and the bill placed on the calendar. This report was adopted verbatim by the Committee on Territories of the Fifty-third Congress and was the report upon which the enabling act became law. That Delegate Caine's bill failed of passage in the Fifty-second Congress was due to the flood of business which came at the close of the session, and the change of administration. Through the personal efforts of Delegate Caine and others, the Democrats in each house and many Republicans were unitedly committed to the bill, and if the rules had permitted getting the measure before the House for action, it would doubtless have gone through by a large and enthusiastic majority. Aside from preventing the passage of legislation inimical to the people of Utah, Elder Caine during his congressional career did much to benefit his constituents. No citizen of Utah, or even of Idaho or Arizona, ever appealed to him for assistance in any matter before the government, but that he received a ready and courteous response and such prompt action as the object demanded. This he did irrespective of who the applicant might be, never asking if he were friend or foe, "Mormon" or Gentile. During the anti-Mormon raid, when many old and feeble men were undergoing terms of imprisonment in the Utah and other penitentiaries, he rendered valuable services in securing presidential clemency and free pardons for many such. In these matters, and many others requiring executive action, Brother Caine speaks in the highest terms of the magnanimity and high sense of justice always manifested by President Cleveland in the consideration of Utah affairs. While in Congress, he secured the passage of a measure for the relief of the inhabitants of the town of Ferron, Emery county, and the cities of Richfield and Morgan, by which their corporations were enabled to increase the area of their townsite entries by filing upon school land within their corporate limits. He also secured large appropriations for the construction and completion of the Utah penitentiary, making it the substantial, commodious and well equipped prison it stands today. He was actuated in this matter by a double motive, first to benefit the inmates who might be imprisoned therein, and second to have a good prison to turn over free of cost to the State of Utah when admitted into the Union. He also secured appropriations amounting to $15,000 for the benefit of the Sheebit Indians of Washington county to purchase land, seeds and agricultural implements, to place them in a position to become self-sustaining. During his several terms in Congress, Elder Caine served as a member of the House committee on Post-office and Post-roads, and in addition thereto, in the Fifty-second Congress he was a member of the Committees on the "Pacific [p.737] Railroads, on Coinage Weights and Measures, on Private Land Claims, and of the special Committee on Irrigation or Arid Lands in the United States. During his whole term in Congress he served as a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the representative of the Territory of Utah, and took an active part in all the deliberations and plans of the committee for the advancement of Democratic interests in the several Congressional districts. He thus formed the acquaintance of quite a large part of the leading men of the party. Brief as is this reference to the more important work performed by Elder Caine in a public way, it is extended enough to prove the character of the man, to show his capabilities for work, his comprehension of the requirements, his patriotism, his devotion to duty and to Utah and her people. In his intercourse with public men, he was ever dignified and courteous. He enjoyed the respect and confidence of his associates in Congress, among whom, while he made no enemies, he had many warm friends. With the president, the heads of departments and the attaches of the several government offices, he always maintained the most cordial relations. Upon the dissolution of the People's and Liberal parties, and the division of the citizens of Utah upon national party lines as Democrats and Republicans, Bro. Caine, who had always been a Democrat in spirit, became fully identified with, and has since figured as one of the leaders of the Democratic party of Utah. After the organization of the Democratic party, it was suggested to him by personal friends in the party that in order to show to the country that the dissolution of the People's party was an honest reality, it would do much to stimulate confidence in the movement to nominate a non-Mormon for delegate to Congress for the election of 1892. While feeling that the long fight he had made towards settling the so-called "Mormon question" and his efforts to secure statehood for Utah which was then in sight, entitled him to re-election and the privilege of consummating the work of bringing Utah into the Union, yet for the sake of restoring confidence, establishing peace and good fellowship between "Mormons" and non-Mormons throughout the Territory, he willingly sacrificed his own political interests and heartily joined in the nomination and worked for the election of Hon. Joseph L. Rawlins, as delegate to Congress. In the interim between his retiring from Congress and the advent of statehood in January, 1896, he held the office of auditor of public accounts for the Territory of Utah, to which he was appointed by Gov. Caleb W. West, Dec. 28, 1893. At the fall election of 1893, the Territory of Utah went Republican, that party electing a majority of the members of the legislative assembly. This caused the Democrats of the Territory to fear that it might have a detrimental effect upon Congress, which was strongly Democratic, and prevent favorable action by the Senate upon the Utah statehood bill, which had passed the House of Representatives in December of that year. In order to ascertain what the feeling really was among the Democratic leaders in Congress, at a suggestion of some prominent Utah Democrats, Bro. Caine made a trip to Washington in January, 1894, and had a consultation with some of the prominent men of the party over the Utah situation. While, as Democrats, they were disappointed at the result of the late election in Utah, they declared that the Territory had all the qualifications for statehood and was entitled to admission into the Union irrespective of politics, and it was the avowed policy of the Democratic party that the Territory should be admitted before the close of that session. This assurance was highly satisfactory to him and the friends at whose instance he undertook the delicate mission. Future events proved that the assurance then given by the Democratic leaders in Congress was faithfully carried into effect. The enabling act for the admission of Utah into the Union passing the Senate in July, 1894, and being approved by Pres. Grover Cleveland, on the 16th of that month. The Democratic convention for the nomination of State officers, in anticipation of the early admission of the State of Utah, convened in Ogden, Sept. 5, 1895, when Hon. John T. Caine was almost unanimously nominated for the first governor of the State. He entered [p.738] heartily into the campaign, and in company with Hon. Brigham H. Roberts, the Democratic candidate for Representative in Congress, made a very thorough canvass of the State, visiting all the most populous counties, and speaking in nearly all the cities and towns that could be reached in the time at their command. The Democratic State ticket, however, was defeated at the polls, and Bro. Caine shared the fate of his party. In 1896 he was nominated by the Democrats of Salt Lake county as a candidate for State senator, and after a sharp canvass of the county, he was elected. During the session he acted as chairman of the committee on appropriations. The family record of John T. Caine and wife show them to be the father and mother of thirteen children. Though a public man, whose duties have taken him much from home, Elder Caine is domestic in his tastes and devotedly attached to his wife and children, whose affection for him is likewise unbounded.—Compiled principally from sketches by Orson F. Whitney and Byron Groo. |
Biographies 
