Las Vegas daily gazette., 1886-04-20
TELEPHONE TALK.
Attorney.General Garland Tells Of
His Connection with the
Pan Electric Com-
pany.

w AsHlNGION, april lS.-lne an
nouncement that Attorney General
Garland would come before telephone
investigation committee caused q
large attendance this morning.
1t was nearly three-quar-
tiers of an hour after the regular hour
of meeting when the attorney general
appeared, looking pale and rather
feeble. With courteous salute to
the counse, he began to make q state
ment Of his connection with the PAN
Electric company. He wished, he
said, to lay before the committee and
reaffirm matter contained in his
statement on October last. Contm-
uing. the witness said, Senator Harris
made substantially the came state
ment about the invention, and two or
three days afterwards he (witness) had
been introduced to Mr.. Rogers and
his son at their home. He briefly
told of their organization of the Pan.
Electric company. as detailed by Sem
ator Harris and other witnesses, and
then turned his attention to the APP
plication made to him to bring suit
against the Bell company. 1t was an
inference and not a fact, he said, that
the Electric company had made the
application. The inference
was founded on two reasons,
namely, first, that Colonel Young
came with the other gentlemen, and
the witness knew him to be the treas.
u,er and secretary of the Pan. Electric
company, and second, because wit.
ness had on May 25 received letter
from Mr.. Rogers requesting suit be
brought as stockholder of that
company; coupling these facts to
gether witness took it for granted that
the Pan Electric company made the
application. Witness had treated
Rogers letter as personal, and he
knew Mr.. Rogers had no authority to
make application; that such an appli.
cation must be made from the presl-
dent of the company; therefore, the
etter remained unanswered. and
personal paper had not been filed.
In July Van Benthuysen had present.
ed his application for suit, basing it
on law, which he stated, had been
passed at the last session of congress.
Witness heard of law before that;
had some search made but could not
find the act; the applica ion of it,
however, was so well written and ap-
parently set out the passage
of the bill so positively, that witness
felt that the bill had become law.
The application had been referred
by witness to the interior department,
where it should have gone in the frat
instance; witness had heard no more
of it until it had been returned last
January with other papers. After
receiving Benthuysen letter, wit
ness had sat to work to examine into
the matter, for though he had no in
timation to that effect, he was salts
fled otner applications would be
made; looking over authorities, he
concluded he could not order suit,
and when Van Benthuysen, and
others CAME to him, he had deter
mined that he could not touch it at
all under any circumstances. When
witness was still in the senate Senator
Platt had come to him one day with
a bill to authorize the government
suits, another asked his opinion of it;
witness had looked it over and
had regarded it as unnecessary;
that it would do no good; that was all
he ever heard or said about the bill
| until it had been brought to his at.
tention through an application. In
the esrly part of the fail Mr..
Humphrey, of the Globe Telephone
company, had called on him at the
department about an application.
He thought he was going to jump on
me. said the witness. Humphreys
had insisted that he (witness) order
suit and had said it was very curious
because he [witness) was in another
company; that hist is(Humphreys Orights
should be disregarded. He got mad
because 1 would not do
anything about it said, the
witness, and we parted not
with mutual respect and admiration
at all. Witness denied that he had
ever given an opinion about him; the
opinion he had given, and the only
opinion, was the statement made in
February, 1888. General Atkins had
said to witness that he believed the
Rogers inventions were of great utll.
ity, If handled, and that money could
be made out of them; being a poor
man, General Atkins had de-
cided to enter into this company.