Washington sentinel., 1854-05-31

statement, and to say that the agricultural por
ton Of the Patent Office Report was first or
dered TO be printed by the Senate and no
by the House Of Representatives. To sus
tain our assertion. we will begin by exposing
that which we have to combat, and by dis
secting the argument by which it is sought
to sustain it. In order to do SO, we will state
that the real question at issue depends upon
i the fact whether the two parts of this report
constitute one document or two separate and
distinct documents. Having stated this, we
quote Mr.. Hamlin's own words.
Mr.. HAMLIN said:
ssWhat constitutes documents That is the
| true question TO be settled. BY the law OF 1897,
] il is Liade the duty of the Commissioner OF
| Patents to make an annual report upon the
arts and manufactures. That is all the law there
is in existence which requires any report from the
Commissioner of Patents The law, therefore,
| is complied with when he sends here what we
call his mechanical report. That is all the report
he is required 10 make by law That was ordered
10 be printed, first in the Senate, next in the
House, and both editions were printed, or are
in process of being printed, by the Senate printer
What number the document bears has no earthly
connexion with the subject"
The above extract includes the whole ofwhat
Mr.. Hamlin uttered on this point Now let us
look at it and see what it contains.
In the first sentence we find the assertion
that the law Of 1887 requires the Commissioner
of Patents to report annually on arts and
manufactures" and then we find in the second
place the. deduction that the report is full
and perfect, under the law, when the me-
chanical portion Of the report is sent in and
and any subsequent communication from that
officer is different and distinct matter
making another document. Now, we affirm
that Mr.. Hamlin has either not read, misread,
or misinterpreted the law Of 1887. That law
does not limit the Report Of the Commissioner
Of Patents, as Mr.. Hamlin states it does 1t
makes it the duty of the Commissioners Of
Patents to report annually, not only on arts
and manufactures but on other thingste Ven
comprising any matter which may be interest
ing to Congress or the country.
Under this enlarged power agriculture was
embraced, and was divided from mechanics
on the same principle that different chapters
in book are devoted to different subjects
Formerly the whole report of the Commis-
sioner on Patents was printed in the same vol
ume. But it was found to be difficult to pre-
pare the agricultural statistics as early as JAN
uary, and inconyenient to have the whole report
published in one book, therefore it was divided |;
and the division which the different subjects
it treated Of suggested, was naturally adopt
ed. But they have always, up to the pre-
sent Congress- been considered the same
document and numbered as such. When it
FIRST became impossible to prepare the annual
statistics in time, the commissioner made his
report, under the law, in the month Of January,
sendingto Congress all the material which had
been prepared relating to arts and manufac
lures, and apologising for not sending that
which related to agriculture because Of ina
bility. The apology was accepted; but still
the report was held and deemed to be one and
the same communication or document by ev-
erybody, as any can see by looking to the doc.
nments themselves.
Without criticising Mr.. Hamlin's statement
further for we have but little space at our dis
posal for the purpose now, we would call at
'tention to the letter of the commissioner him
self and to the order made by the Senate,
which we would commend to the attention OF
Mr.. Stuart, Of Michigan, because we think he
has never seen either of them. The letter OF
the commissioner is in these words:
UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,
January, 1854.
SIR: Agreeably to tie l4th section Of the
act approved March 3, 1887, entitled an act
IN addition to tie act to promote The progress
otscience and the useful arts" I hare the honor
70 submit Ae'erth my annual report 49,
Hon. d. ATcHIsoN,
President Of the Senate.
This was the Report Of the Commissioner
Of Patents; and Immediately the Senate Or
dered that IL lie on the table and be printed"
Now, we ask: What was ordered to lie on
the table and be printed? Was it not what it
purported to be--the whole and entire report
Of the Commissioner? Most surely. He SO
represented it. The Senate SO understood it,
and made its order accordingly. But it turns
out that a portion Of the manuscript constr
tnting a part of the report, did not accompany
the commissioners letter to the Senate, and on
that weak foundation the pretence is set up,
for the first time, that the manuscript thus
withheld makes an entirely ae,c document!
We must confess that we cannot appreciate
reasoning which leads to such monstrous
conclusion, and have alluded to it only because
we could not do otherwise in justice to our
selves.
RESOLUTIONS OF THE BOSTON MOB
MEETING.
The mob meeting of abolitionists that re-
Gently disgraced the city Of Boston, after hear
ing several infammatory, violent, and blasphe-
nous addresses, adopted series of resolutions,
which will be found below. Wepublsh them
that our readers may see, if they do not already
know, the foul character of these enemies of