The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1886-02-17
a GRAVE MATTER.
A Democratic Papers Account of the
Greatest of National Scandals.

Greatest Of National Scandals.
The New York Times admits that the
public condemnation of Attorney-Gen-
eral Garland for continuing to hold
Pan-Electric shares after his appoint
ment as chief law officer Of the Govern
ment is just; but with regard to the
principal point in this scandalous case,
the Times passes it over in silence.
We refer, of course, to the fact that,
while thus holding large amount of
such shares, the Attorney-General al
lowed the authority and name of the
United States to be used for the pur-
pose Of promoting, under cover of a
Sham lawsuit, the sale of Pan-Electric
shares and for the purpose of enhancing
their marketable value. This is the
great point of the scandal, and this, as
we say, our contemporary carefully
overlooks.
The Times, however, touches, though
with light and skilful hand, upon a
conspicuous feature Of this affair. Mr..
Garland, it tells us, refused, on account
of his ownership in the Pan-Electric, to
bring a suit for the annulment of the
Bell Company's patents; and yet he
permitted It to be brought by his subor-
dinates until President Cleveland or
dered them to stop. But now, says the
Times, ''it has been decided in the
hearing before the Secretary of the In
terror, that such suit ought to be
4. a. ~
Here is where Mr.. Lamar has
swamped himself in this shameful af-
fair. After long examination of the
testimony regarding the Bell patents,
in which not single new fact or q
single bit of new evidence had been
presented, and with the circumstance
before his eyes that three Justices of
the Supreme Court-Matthews Blatch-
ford and Gray-and four Circuit Judges
of the United States-Lowell, Bond,
McKenna and Wallace-and number
of district judges with them, had
all held, after a careful and protracted
hearing of the same testimony, that the
Bell patents were valid, Mr.. Lamar,
either out of some deplorable intel
lectual eccentricty or from willing
ness to oblige Mr.. Garland, or from
some other unjust and unjustiiiable
reason, reported that, in his opinion, q
suit should be brought in the name OF
the United States, because, he said, nc
private suit could avail to set aside q
patent that had been fraudulently pro.
cured. Yet, in the face of this sur.
prising and unaccountable declaration
the revised statutes of the United States
(scction 4,920) expressly provide thai
any defendant contests the valid
ity of a patent shall have the right tC
prove that the patentee 'had sur
reptitiously and unjustly obtained ;
patent for that which was in fact in
vented by another provision which
covers the whole case, and expressly
contradicts and ridicules Lamar's la
bored and irrational argument.
Here, then, we have the Secretary o
the Interior uniting with the Attorney
General to employ the name, the author
ity and the money of the United State
to institute and carry on in their owl
private interest, and for their persona
enrichment, a litigation against
-, patent granted by the United State
Government. IL matters not to then
that both >>district courts and circui
courts of the United States have re
peatedly declared that they have n,
good ground of action, and hav
granted injunction after injunction
the Acknowledgement and the Secretar.
of the Interior propose to array tn
Executive against the judiciary, and :
bring the Treasury of the United State
to their aid in overawing the courts an
overthrowing justice, that the con
spirators may become rich beyond tn
widest dreams Of avarice.
Another point which should not b
overlooked is the fact that there is n
legal authority which allows the ES
ecutive to bring the proposed suit
without an act Of Congress previousl
obtained. This was well known to tn
spectators, and they last year under
took TO procure such enabling legisla
ton; but their bill failed to pass tn
Senate. Now, however, time is short
and they do not wish to wait an
longer. So great is their impatienc
that the Acknowledgement allows
suit to be begun without any shado'
of power, and the Secretary Of the Ii
terror, likewise distinguished lawye
and statesman, seconds the motto
and endeavors to drag the Presider
and the whole Administration ihto th
same deadly slough.
This is indeed an official scandal
the first magnitude, overlapping ever
thing else Of the kind that has eve
been transacted since this Nation hi
been in existence.-M Y. Sun (Dem