The American. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1857, 1857-08-15
Inventors and the Patent once.

the public service the government has lost most
efficient trustworthy, indefatgabls and accom-
plshed officer; and the numerous class of inven'
tors firm and steadfast TREND and Jealous sup
porter Of their interests, possessed of high sp-
probation Of their genius, and anxious to promote
reformation In the Department in which they are
all 80 deeply concerned, have led US into train
of reflections upon Inventors and the Patent Office,
which we deem appropriate to be made known to
our readers We cannot now give vent to all cur
thoughts upon these subjects, but must for the
present content oursel with expressing those that
press at the moment strongest upon us.
Inventors, in our opinion, do not stand in the
| elevated position in the public mind to which
their genius and their works entitle them. We
consider EN-, even when illiterate, to be entitled
to rank as intellects with novelists and poets and
| in usefulness and practical benefits to man.
| kind, tar ahead Of these. The novelist and the
poet ina instruct but their truest province is to
please While the inventor not only pleases and
instru ~, but allevates the labor, promotes the
comtoI and luxuries, enhances the possessions
and i reases the enjoyments of man. The anci-
ents aled the poets by the appellation Of "Crea-
| tors but if such term should be applicable to
cny ing human, how much more applicable is
| it to !, be inventor, for he makes mere machine
pc I,fm the offices az Of thinking being, he
$ 81 to have endowed it with instinct to have
a n-ated it with mind.
isvsation has almost become sort ofprofession
our country, and Inuentors, as class the most
FIJI and deserving of our citizens, but too often
worst remunerated and the most imposed
on Their genius pervades every walk, calling,
science and art in life.t Without it, man would
ave remained in savage state, but little if at ALL
letter than the beasts of the forest There is no
ousehold, no farm, no shop, no any.place in
civilized life that owes not its existence its i'm
provelnent, to the genius of some Inventor. In all
chimes, in all countries of the world, the Inventor
is not only not duly appreciated, but he is liable
to plumber and pillage, to neglect and persecution,
and reviing and obloquy,
James Rumsey, the first navigator by steam on
this continent, langushed in poverty, and was
called "Cmzy jim" He left this, his native
country, in disgust, was better appreciated in
England where he died, and was honored with
| tomb among her ilustrious Dead in Westminster
Abbey. His contemporary, Jonathan Fitch, Jared
no better here among his countrymen; and at
this day, though we boast our refinement and our
progress, Inventors to whom, of all men, we
are most indebted, we are least willing to pay our
homage, express our gratitude, or even grant
adequate protection in the enjoyment of the works
of their own genius.
The ingenuity of the Inventor lessons the labor
of the plough to the farmer; it sows the seed for
him, broadcast or in drills; it harrows it into the
earth; it reaps the ripened grain; il takes "the
harvest home;" it winnows from it the chaf; it's
mills make the -four, and its ovens bake the
bread All these things may he seen in the many
models of the inventors of ploughs, Of drills, Of
harrows, of cultivators Of scythes and cradles, Of
harvesters, of fans, of mills, and of ovens, that
/ crowd the cases in the great SNOWFALL Of Ameri
can ingenuity, in the Patent Office. y FRI
Though the Inventor has done all these things,
and more for the agriculturist, he is still made to
furnish even further aid. The sweat of his brow,
the vigor of his mind, the pains of its pregnancy,
the very parturition of his brain, are even taxed,
that he may send forth, annually, an illustrated
volume Of agriculture at a cost of from $4,000
| toSl00,000. While the labors of the farmer are
| decreased by the ingenuity of the Inventor, and
| the quantity of his produce enhanced and his
knowledge enlarged, the farmer himself contri-
butes, directly, nothing towards the benefits 30
lavishly bestowed Why should the Inventor
alone be taxed, both in. mind and in money, to
promote the interests of the agriculturist2 Yet
such is the present state Of things From the
Patent fund, contributed solely by the genius Of
Inventors. the agriculturist is indebted for the
| annual costly volume that promotes his interest
and facilitates his industry This should not be.
| The fee or tax on patents should be reduced, and
! the farmers as class, or the public at large,
should be made to pay for the agricultural infor-
nation tina" is now 80 widely and at such great
cost disseminated at the expense Of the inventors
alone We could speak of other kindred impo.
sltions, but for want of present space. a,.
The Invento. has to pay largely in time, in labor,
aud in money for the poor privilege Of being al
loved to try to preserve bis own, which privilege
Is about all that the grant of patent allows him.
1.-The Is prated uponi in any way, he has it is true,
his action for damages but this he has to bring at
heavy cost Of time and money, and then, in nine
cases out of ten, after yexatious trials and procras-
tnations, he will most likely find that he has but
Eyerifed the homely adage--" sue a beggar," &c,
or he may encounter a wealthy knaye whose Fat
and lengthy purse will prove too much for bis lean
one, or whoseicunning may svade judgment /; in
either case, he only gains a loss.p We want a
cheap and summary statute to protect the Inventor;
and when the purse Of the pirate is not to be got
at, we want to reach his person. A arcency upon
an invention should be treated any other lar
cency forgery or fraud upon an Inventor SHOULD
be deemed felony, and its punishment should be
the, penitentiary. 1890. .s..s...
When the errors above alluded to are corrected,
and the reforms referred to are consummated, and
come real protection affordedto mind as well as to
money or other matter, and proper punishment