Career
He was a co-author of the California retail sales tax and was twice president of the National Association of Tax Administrators. Stewart was appoointed in 1917 as superintendent of the California State Belt Railroad, which operated on the San Francisco waterfront. In 1933 he was director of the State Tax Research Bureau.
In 1936, law-enforcement agencies began to investigate reported corruption in the Board of Equalization.
The Los Angeles Times reported:
He told investigators he had never been to the Werner ranch near Glendora, as reported, "and any statement to that effect is an unmitigated lie."
The investigation of the relationship between the wine industry and the government continued over the years, and in November 1939 Stewart, fellow board member William G. Bonelli and seven other people were indicted in by a Los Angeles grand jury for conspiring to obtain $15,000 from California wine makers. The charges against Stewart were later dismissed.
Stewart died at his home in Oakland on April 17, 1942, at the age of 61.
