The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-04 00:00:00

•
and enacts, at their suit, that all monopolies are the Confederai cy thus ostentatiously ignored the;
contrary to the law and void, with the sole exception authority of the Governs( int which they h"ethe
of Letters Patent granted to the inventors for the recently established. But it is not. alone on
working or making of new manufactures. This ground of its being impai 'tic that Mr. Davis 11!
is the statute which to this day determines the posi- protested against indepen lent State action as
tion of patentees, all later acts dealing only with endeavour to re-establish p eace. If, as the Soothe
in.
matters of detail, In form and in substance it is President observes, a cony( ration of States,
concerned with no more than the rights which one ing those both of the Nordand South, should 10:.
subject can acquire as against another, and the re- agreed upon, either each ! separate State would.
lotions between the Crown and a patentee are left serve the right of being me fettered by the decisieno
untouched by it. Even if the ordinary canon of of the majority of the: men ibers of the conventior
construction of Acts of Parliament, that the Crown or the reverse. But in tl Le former case that
yey
is not bound, unless specially named, were set aside, right for which the South has combated would 9eit
it could not be successfully argued that the rig
hts expressly acknowledged, and such an admissiol
which, whatever they might be, remained in th 6 would be idle to expect from the Northern States,°e
Crown upon the grant of a Patent before the Sta- and in the latter case the .members of the Coded,
tute of Monopolies, were affected by that statute. racy would, of necessity-,. be outvoted by those
e
The effect of the Statute was, indeed, no more than -UN rival Federation, and'A their fate would thus
this, that the Crown was thereby appointed a dee;ded by a vote the issue' of which could 11°
A
minister, to confer, under certain conditions, a Pri- uncer,Lain. It is one of the ."oils of democratic .
vilegium to one or more of its subjects, in derogation vernmei.t that whenniatters notproceed siva°
wil.
of the rights of the rest ; and it is this function the fault invariably impute dto those in ed.
which the Attorney-General, as the officer of the hands the sL:I toile
preme authority is ;`or the time repo.S._,o
Crown, has discharged from the time of the statute, The local Le'gA.'slatures of the So uthern States !iliac' e
and still discharges. Whether we regard the Patents become impatiehfi in consequence of the.; continua_
which has been granted since the Statute of Mono- of the war, and at fain to suppose 'that if the op'
polies as concessions of the same character as those portunities for negotiating with Vile enemy,ht
previously granted, or whether we look on them as afforded to them, all subsisting ~differences
privileges of an entirely different order, resting on speedily be arranged. The fallacy of such I:6°:leirs
the authority of the Statute, the short conclusion is is, however, exposed by Mr. Day is in a wallow
that a patentee has no rights against the Crown, and which, we are sure, ratzst carry 0. anviction w
a_
the privileges conceded to him do not therefore pre- minds of all whose common sense =ld patriotism 4
vent the Crown from using his invention. The not altogether stifled by mistrust of a Governilufsr
argument of Sir Roundel]. Palmer was ingenious which cannot perform impossibilitit Is. " The ll'
ittevr,
and successful ; but when we consider it apart of these resolutions," says Mr. Das is in his t vie
from all technicality, it is seen to be so destitute " and those who concur in his views„ appear 7 the
of solid foundation that no Attorney-General to commit the radical error of suppc usingtillaapsire
would venture to use it who had not persuaded obstacle to obtaining the peace which we all
ties
himself that the Patent Law ought to be consists in the difficulty of finding proper agen_o,
abolished. Sir Roundell Palmer has succeeded in for negotiating, so that the whole scopes of the, he
,0
showing that the Crown is not bound by Letters lotions ends in nothing but suggesting that
4,,fte
Patent. But what is the Crown in this matter ? enemy will treat, the best agency would be
ie and
When it is said that the Crown can assume the use delegates to a convention, whereas the ,ho
of any patented invention without compensating the only obstacle is that the enemy will not treat at. L,
Patentee, the meaning is that the whole body of or entertain any other proposition than that4t
taxpayers are relieved from a liability to which each should submit to their yoke, acknowledge 'fa
one of them singly is subject, and the conclusion of we are criminals, and appeal to their mercy
the Attorney-General, sanctioned by the Court of pardon."
Queen's Bench, is that, though a patent binds each
subject individually, it does not bind them collec-
tively. Mr. Feather may prevent any private ship-
builder any firm or company of shipbuilders, from
using his invention, but he cannot interfere with its
use by the Lords of the Admiralty, who are the
agents of the nation. No show of reason or of
justice can be advanced in support of this anomaly.
If any one subject is rightly debarred from the use
of Mr. Feather's invention without paying him for
permission to use it, the whole body of subjects
ought to be put under a similar disability ; and if
the whole body can properly be allowed to use the
invention without compensating the inventor, the
same freedom ought to be conceded to every member
of it. If any difference could be permitted between
the rights of a single subject and the nation, it
ought to be in favour of the subject, for the nation
can compel an inventor to sell his privilege a power
which the subject cannot put in action. Sir Boun-
den Palmer, in using the line of defence adopted in
" Feather v. the Queen," must be held to express
his opinion that there is no reason why Mr. Feather
should be allowed to demand compensation from an
individual. The substance of the transaction on
the granting of a patent is that the inventor pub-
lishes his secret to t his countrymen, and gets in
exchange a limited monopoly of its use. The form
in which this substance is embodied is that the
Crown, acting as the Minister of the nation, grants
a monopoly. The Judges of the Queen's Bench
have deemed themselves bound by the form of the
transaction, but the Attorney-General could not
have raised this novel defence, producing in the
opinion of the Court some retrospective injustice,
unlesshe was convinced that the transactionwas sub-
stantially impolitic. Itwould, of course, be improper
in ordinary cases to identify the private opinion of
the advocate with the arguments advanced by him
on behalf of his client ; but when the argument is
one of novelty, urged by the Attorney-General on
behalf of the Crown, we are warranted in conclud-
ing that the advocate approves the defence as a
matter of good conscience as well as of law. We
shall not quarrel with the Attorney-General's con-
clusion. We are satisfied to welcome him not
merely as an opponent of a system which works the
despair of inventors and represses the improvement
of manufactures, which does not stimulate in-
vention but which does hinder progress, and
which adds to the cost of production, but as one
who, after the fullest experience, has convinced him-
self that public convenience can be met by nothing
short of the abolition of patents.
POST.—The Southern States are confessedly
anxious to make peace ; and it is not unnatural
that they should cast about in order to discover the
means by which this most desirable end is to be
attained. However persons may differ in opinion
respecting the precise objects with which the two
sections of the once united American Republic have
taken up arms, no doubt can exist respecting the
willingness of one of these sections to desist from
strife on the earliest opportunity. Whether the
South is fighting, as some suppose, for political in-
dependence or for the perpetuation of slavery, it is
at all events not fighting for conquest. It claims
the right of separating itself from that league of
which it once formed an unimportant part, and, if
its claims are recognised, it is perfectly indifferent
to the course which may be taken by those States
with which it was formerly politically united. With
the North it is different. The Federal Government
still assert that they are the true and lawful repre-
sentatives of that entirety of States which consti-
tuted the American Union ;. and they deny to any
of those States the right of forming themselves
into a Republic independent of the authority which
they profess to exercise. In plain language,
the South simply asks to be let alone ; the North
requires that it shall submit to its jurisdiction.
It may be said that the South is the aggres-
sor, because by its secession, or, as some will
have it, by its rebellion, it rendered aggres-
sion necessary on the part of the North ; but assum-
ing the legitimacy of its demands, it is content to
lay down its arms if those demands are acceded to.
From the commencement of the war the South have
been ever ready to enter into negotiations for the
re-establishment of peace, and, being the weaker of
the_two belligerents, its anxiety to bring hostilities
to a close has not diminishedi as the war proceeded.
Sanguine of speedy and complete success, the North
in the first instance underrated the vigour of its
adversary, and the results of the first three years of
the war only served to whet the animosity of those
'representing the established Government, whilst
they failed to furnish any indication of the approach
of that consummation which they so much desired.
But, as the war proceeded, the disparity of strength
between the opponents began to tell against the
weaker one, and without flinching in the resolve by
which it was actuated when the struggle began, it
became still more anxious than before to arrange, if
possible, on satisfactory terms the dispute which had
already cost it so much. The Central Government
of the Southern Confederacy failed to open nego-
tiations for peace, and some of the States of which
that Confederacy is composed conceived the idea of
effecting by separate action that which the united
Governments were unable to accomplish. The
scheme having been mooted, the opinion of the
Southern President was sought in respect to its
feasibility, and we publish elsewhere the reply of
Mr. Davis to a communication on the subject made
by. some of the members of the Legislature of the
State of Georgia. Since his election to the responsible
position of President of the infant republic, it cannot
be denied that Mr. Davis has shown himself to be a
very able statesman. His qualifications as a stra-
tegist have recently been called in question ; but in
all matters relating to the government of the
Confederacy he has evinced a sagacity which will
entitle him to the esteem and admiration of his
fellow citizens. It was, it would seem, suggested
that Mr. Davis approved of independent State action
in endeavouring to open negotiations for peace;
and, in consequence of these suggestions, an expres-
sion of his opinion was sought as to the advisability
of the Georgian Legislature taking the initiative in
adopting such a course. His answer, as might have
been anticipated, is one of complete disapproval.
Indeed, it is not easy to understand how anything
save a conviction that the Confederacy was unable
to protract the struggle, and that the Federal Go-
vernment were determined in any event on refusing
to acknowledge the competence of the Government
at Richmond to open negotiations for peace, could
have given rise to the idea that by separate action
the Southern States could succeed in obtaining from
the North that recognition of their independence for
which they have hitherto contended with so much
obstinacy. Mr. Davis had so little trouble in de-
monstrating the inutility, not to say absurdity, of
the proposed scheme, that he excused himself for
discussing the subject simply on the ground that his
correspondents desired a full exposition of his views.
The Confederacy must stand or fall as a whole,
and unless the various States composing it were .
unanimous in the opinions which they entertained
in respect to the conditions on which peace should
be concluded, in which case the Central Government
would be the most appropriate organ for the expres-
sion of their wishes, independent State action could
only lead to discord. " The immediate and inevit-
able tendency cif such distinct action by each State
is to create discordant instead of united counsels, to
suggest to our enemies the possibility of the dissolu-
tion of the Confederacy, and to encourage them by
the spectacle of our divisions to more determined and
united action against us." It is certainly difficult to
understand how the Federal Government could arrive
at any other conclusions if the several members o:

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