The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-02-21

and hence without tangible substance;
! that the right to sell the oil was
not derived from the letters patent but existed.
of such letters. unless prohibited by some local
statute: that because the patentee acquired a
monopoly in his discovery, and was hence secure
against interference 1t did not follow that the
tangible property which came into existence by
the application Of che discovery was beyond the
control OF State legislation; that, on the contra
ry. the right of property in the physical
substance. which is the fruit Of the discovery, is
altogether distinct from the discovery ITSELF just
| as the property in the instruments or plate by
which copies of q map are multiplied is distinct
from the copyright itself; that hence, the right
conferred upon the patentee and his assignees
| to make use Of and vend the corporal article or
commodity brought into existence by the appli-
| cation OF the patented discovery must
be exercised in subordination to the police
| or local regulations established by the State.
The doctrine of that case was approved and fol-
lowed in the recent case OF Weber vs.. Virginia,
lob q. s.. 344, and has the support, either in d.
rect terms or in principle, Of numerous other
carefully considered cases. While, therefore, it
Is true that letters patent confer upon the
patentee q monopoly to the extent OF
y y;essing IN him: his heirs heirs. and ~, as
uss and vend the tangible property brought into
existence by practical application of the discov
cry covered by letters patent, for limited time,
it is not true that such right authorizes the max
1 lbEt ucluS VI fouutuS SUCH tdHBtOl6 pEOp6Fby III
| a manner which would be unlawful, except for
such letters patent, and independently of State
legislation and State control.
1t is next conteuded that the Central Union
Telephone Company was organized, and has
so far been conducted as an ordinary business in
vestment. and is in its methods, AS we'll as in its
relations to it's patrons and subscribers merely
private enterprise, no more subject to legislative
control than any other private business. with
| which considerable number of persons has be.
1 either GirActfv iOdirectly COnCect9d.
| that consequently the act of the Legislature,
| under which the prosecution was instituted. Is
| imperative and void as o restraint upon the
company in its charges for the rental and use of
| its instruments.
| The telephone is one Of the remarkable pro-
auctions of the present century. and. although
its discovery has been Of recent date it has been
In use long enough to have attained we'll defined
relations to the general public, 1t has become
| as much a matter Of public convenience
and Of public necessity as was the stage
coach and sailing-vessel a hundred years
| ago, or es the steamboat. the railroad
and the telegraph have become in later years. 1t
has already become an important instrument of
commerce. No other known device can supply
the extraordinary facilities which it affords 1t
may, therefore. be regarded when relatively
considered, as an indispensable instrument of
commerce. The relations which 1t has assumed
towards the public make it q common carrier
of news. commonsoarrier in the sense in
which the telegraph is common carrier,
and impose upon it certain welldefned obliga
tions OF public character. All the instruments
and appliances used by telephone company in
the prosecution of its business consequently,
in legal contemplation, devoted to a public USE
It is now q well settled legal proposition that
property thus devoted to public use becomes
legitimate subject Of legislative regulation and
| control. In recognition of that doctrine the
case of Mum vs. Illinois. [94 U. S., 113 has be-
come q leading case. It was in general terms,
| held in that case that when the owner of prop
erty devotes it to use in which the public has
an interest he, in effect, grants to the public
interest in such use and must TO the extent of
that interest. submit tSbe controlled by the public
| for the common good so long as he maintains the
use to which he has so devoted his property, and
that he can only escape such public control 5y
Withdrawing a.s grant AID diseouEtinuing the
| use In support of that conclusion the court
said it hos been customary in England from time
! immemorial, and in this country from its first
colonization. to regulate ferries common carriers,
hackmen. bakers. millers, wharfngers inn
keepers and the like, and in 30 doing to
| fix maximum of charges to be made
for services rendered. accommodations ex-
| tended and articles Sold This case has been
the subject of much unfriendly comment, and
has encountered some very sharp criticism but
its authority as a precedent remains unshaken.
This State regulation and control of property de-
voted to public use is not the taking of prop
erty for public purpose within the meaning of
Section 66, Article l. of the Constitution of this
| reference with the guaranteed rights Of the
citizens in private property. Numerous eta
| tions are here given
| The obvious deduction from what has been
| said, as well as from the authorities cited. Is
that the power of State Legislature to pre-
scribe the maximum charges which telephone
company may make for services rendered facili-
ties afforded or articles Of property furnished
| for use in its business is complete.
| 1t was made to appear by the evidence that
fhAMn - L.
use by telephone companies. each known
as telephone-one as the hand tele-
phone another as the box telephone,
| third as the switchmans head telephone,
phones that the first known also as the Bell hand
or telephone, consists CT bar magnet,
with q helix OF wire at one end, a diaphragm
suitably mounted in front of the helix, and hard
poles for making connection with cord from
twenty-four to thirty inches long, and through
it with magneto-bell; that this
telephone will both transmit and
receive sounds or words carried
electrically over connecting wire; that this i'm
strument was at first. with the assistance Of the
magnetic, used in transmitting, as well in
ceiving telephone messages; that come time
after this Bell hand telephone had thus come
into use, the battery transmitting telephone.
known as the Blake trausmitter was introduced
and generally accepted very decided i'm
provencnt in the transmission of words and
sounds over wires used by telephone
companies, words and sounds, being trans
mitted through it in louder tone and
with greater effect. than through the Bell hand
telephones; that for some time previous to the
18th day Of April 1885, this Blake transmitter
had come into general use in the transmission of
messages with that class Of patrons. and sub
scribers who desired the best available telephon-
ic service; that since the Blake transmitter had
come into general use, as stated, the Bell
hand telephone had been chiefly used as q re-
ceiver of messages, only comparatively few
persons continuing to use 1t also for transmit
ting purposes; that on the day last-named
and for considerable time previously. a fully
equipped organization for the convenient and
ready transmission and reception of messages
over telephone wires. consisted, as it still con-