New-York tribune., 1886-11-12
THE 1ELEPH NE DhCISION.

Tho Soutbern telephone spectators fancied
that thev had carried their point when they
secured control of the Department OF justice.
With an Attorney General whose political In
finance and official station cOnld be banked
r,on to an unlimited extent, and with
Solicitor General who could be depended upon
at twenty-tonr hours notice to sanction Gov
ernment proceedings for invaldating the Bell
patents, these light. fingered ana enterprlsihg
representatives of the New South imaginen that
their fortunes were made. They remained
confident of final success when the Memph's
suit was discontinued by the Presidents o1der
and the application was referred to secretary
Lamar. for they we're aware that his pr'nclpai
snbordinates in the Department OF the Interior
were Stockholders ID the Pan Electric Com
many When the decision in favor of Gov
ernment suit was rendered they were not sue
prised and as the preparations tor breaking
down the Bell patents were conducted on large
scale they congratulated themselves upon
he;rg in comnl.te possession of the field. The
most extensive counsel could be hired Mt the
cost of the Government; judicial districts
where the Bell patents had been uniformly sus-
tanned could be avoided and the suit couiu De
brought under the most favorable conditions
]
for the rivals of the Bell Company
The first disappointment to which the Attor-
new Generals business associates were doomed
WAS the death of Judge Baker, who had Deeh
selected as the best man on the United States
bench for the purposes of the telephone claim
ants He was known amOug lawyers as "a
natent-smasher.n and while his ability and IN
corruptibility were not open to suspicion' his
/ hel
listed against patent corporations. His death
was misfortune the spectators admitted !;
but they rapidly recovered their spirits as they
observ ed increasing evidences OF the Govern
ment's energy in pressing the suit agalnS; the
Bell Company. The Administration h"n Deen
pravely cepsured for condoning the Pan-Elec-
trio scandal. It's reputation was involved III
the issues of law and fact to be presented ID
favor of invalidatng the existing patents.
Success in the cOutts would DC ponlicai
triumph. Defeat in the courts would be
political reverse. The spectators were con-
| 6dent of SUCCESS, because they knew that they
could command no: merely the resources OF the
Department of Justice, but the polltlcal lhnu-
ence of the Administration as well.
How keen mnst be the humiliation OF tele-
pbope spectators, within and outside of the
| Gov ernmenJ departments, III ioai mug '""'
their case has been dismissed 1t has been
thrown out on the first hearing for lack OF
jurisdiction on the part of the court which was
30 carefully selected. The presiding judge OF
the Circuit had been nominated by President
Cleveland himself after the death OF Judge
Baxter, and he had been appointed from
Tennessee, where Senator Harris and his Pan
Electric associates were especially influential.
Yet the bench decides against the Government
and rattles the suit out of court. That influential
statesman, Judge Thurman. has been retained
to no purpose; the LEANED and eloquent
counsel assisting him have failed to convince
the court that it possessed Jurisdiction and
ex-Solcitor General Goode and his associates
are advised to bring the suit in some other
district, like Massachusetts, where no question
of jurisdiction can be raised. The Department
of Justice has utterly failed in its attempt to
secure trial of the suit under conditions IA
vorable to the spectators. The Administra-
ton. which condOned Nr. Garland's prostltu-
ton of public functions to private ends, has
not succeeded in dishOnOriDg or cOmprom lsne
the reputation of the Federal courts.