The Washington critic., 1886-02-06
WASHINGTON. FEB. 6, 1886.
GENERAL BUTLER HEARD FROM.

General Butler has been talked with
about the Garland and Bell Telephone
Company controversy-if that can be
called q controversy in which the ag
gressivc personalities are all on one side
and an innocent stockholdcr on the
other-and we had no sooner glanced
over his remarks than we won
dered it were possible that such great
gulf had sprung up between the late
candidate for President and the great
metropolitan newspaper which gave
him his leading support II is only n
little over year ago that Butler was the
man of men and statesman Of statesmen
for the Chief Magistracy in the opinion
of this able and esteemed contemporary.
He has now, it would seem, no very
high opinion of the Bell Telephone
press. The first thing he says in the
interview alluded TO is that the unanim-
ity of the newspapers In their criti
cisms upon the Attorney General is
altogether "too unanimous" TO one who
"thinks their unanimiy Is very sus.
picious."
lie fails to see any wrong in Senator
Garland's becoming director or stock
holder in the Pan Electric Company.
The fact was publicly known many
months before he was appointed Attor-
ney-General and was never even whis-
pered rs an objection TO his conhrma-
tion. What he calls the "incorrupti-
BILE sentinels on the watch tower Of
liberty" had no criticisms TO make at
that time. They had not caught on"
As to the action of Solicitor-G General
Goode in the premises, he says:
'1f It Is true--of which know nothing and
express no opinion-that the claimed inventor
of the Bell telephone brbed a United States
officer to steal for him another mans inven-
tion, and he, as receiver, with full knowledge
of TIE theft, appropriated 1t to himself and
sold il for many thousand dollars, who shall
say that, by every means that the law permits
And, in the language of the Constitution, If
probable cause was found by any officer, was
he not bound to proceed: hid the solicitor
accusation to be trues Yes
The only criticism upon the At
lOIIty -pencrul lluI nc mas 10 make Is
that he had the case submitted to
the Secretary of the Interior Depart
ment, which he thinks had no bust.
ness with 1t, but that is matter OF
small consequence \ good case was
made out, at any rate.
As to making the United States a
party TO the suit, instead of having
proceedings instituted by private
citizen, General Butler says that If
there is one thing better settled than
another, it is that patent issued by
the United States, whether for an in
vention, land or anything else, cannot
be set aside except in suit brought by
the United States, and he concludes his
interview with the following strong
and trenchant language:
II there is any evidence that this invention
was stolen, and there Is one man who swears
" was, and that ne was brlbe1 to give II, then
] would like to hear from socloDo,y u reason
why the people should not be protected by the
Government from such official and other COR
IuptiOn, and from being taxed by millions for
the use of the greatest and cheapest means OF
Transmitting intelligence II will be sorry
Jay in this Republic If II turns out that
and because OF their money, n great corpora
lion oan cause the President OF the United
States To discharge a member OF his Cabinet
~ o men ber of IL TO be driven 10 resignation
~ a frst step to prevent the trial Ia q court o
justice Of so great wrong, whoever may
'laXC committed IL