Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-02-04


Attorney General Garland. because he
is the owner Of Pan Electric telephone
shares, and Secretary Lamar, b cause he
! decided that suit should be brought in
the name of the United States to test the
validity of the Bell telephone patents, are
not having everything their own way.
There is very good reason for supposing
! that at least some of the attacks are in
| spired by the agents and attorneys of the
/ Bell company. 1t is alleged that the
agents OF that company are chiefly instru-
mental in promoting the war on Mr.. La
mar and MIR. Garland. 1t is noticeable
that nothing was said against Mr.. La
mar while the matter was pending before
him, but that as soon as his decision was
rendered the Bell people at once discoY
cred that he was unfit to be at the head
Of the Interior Department.
While it may be true that Mr.. Garland
will be greatly benefited if the Bell pat
ents should be declared invalid, no one
has yet been able to point TO a single act
of his in connection with the telephone
business that's dishoROrable or unworthy
OF an honest man. He has not been ac-
tive in promoting litigation against the
Bell company in his capacity as Attorney
General, and the possession OF his shares
has not, as far as can be seen, Influenced
his official conduct in the least. He came
by the shares honestly, and has perfect
right to hold them.
Suppose he had held shares in the Bell
Company at the time he became Attorney
General, instead of in the Pan Electric
Company, and the Pan Electric Company
had pursued the same course that it is
now pursuing, and Mr.. Garland, consid-
ering himself an interested party, had
pursued identically the same course that
he did when application was made to him
to bring suit to test the validity Of the
Bell patents, would there have been any
scandalous charges made against him?
No one would have questioned his right
to hold Bell shares, provided he came by
them honestly. There has been no insin-
uation that he did not come by the Pan
Electric shares honestly.
Although Mr.. Lamar has been bitterly
assailed, there doesn't appear to be any
sentiment anywhere which supports the
suggestion that his decision was not justi-
fed by the facts, or that he wasn't infu-
enced In what he did by the purest mo-
tives. The charge has been made, and is
being reiterated, that every bit of testi-
mony against the Bell patents that was
submitted to Mr.. Lamar had already been
submitted to at least a dozen Federal
judges, from the highest to the lowest, and
that all of them had decided in favor of
the patents.
1t is stated, however, that the most i'm
pOrtant bit of testimony that was pre-
sented to Mr.. Lamar, and which perhaps
had great deal TO do with his decision,
has never been presented to any court.
The testimony in question is that of Mr..
Wilbur, who was a clerk in the patent
office at the time that the applications of
PrOfs. Gray ana Bell were filed in that
office. The claim of the Pan Electric
people is that Prof. Gray was the discov-
erer of the principle on which Prof. Bell
secured patents, ana Wilbur sustains
this claim by testifying that he made
Prot Bell acquainted with the contents
OF Prof. Gray's application, and that Prof.
Bell amended his application, embOdying
in 1t the discovery of Prof. Gray. Prof.
Belps application was considered first
because it had been filed a few minutes
before that Of Prof. GRAY, and he got the
patents which rightfully belonged TO Prof.
Gray.
This testimony, extremely important if
true. is, 1t is alleged, entirely new. In
fact, it Is claimed that it was never made
public until July 30 last. AS it does not
appear to have been successfully contra
dicted, is it not alone sufficient to raise
the question whether the Bell patents
were honestly obtained or not?
1t Is evident that this struggle between
the rival telephone companies has Just
begun. 1t will make a great deal more
noise than it has yet made, and while it
is safe to assume that neither Mr.. Gar
land nor Mr.. Lamar will be driven out Of
the Cabinet, the attacks on them will con-
tinue, doubtless, as long as there is any
hope of helping the Bell company in that
way. The attacks, however, are not proof
that they are guilty of dishonorable trans
actions of any kind.