St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-04-20
THE TELEPHONE TANGLE.
Attorney General Garland Explains
HIS Connection with il.

THE TELEPAONE r. TANGLE.
Attorney General Garland Explains
HIS Connection with il.
WASHINGTON. April 19.-The announce
ment that Attorney General Garland was
to appear before the Telephone investiga-
ton committee, caused larger attendance
than usual this morning, and this fact, to-
gether with the warm spring day, made the
atmosphere of the arch-like room, where
the committee meets very oppressive. 1t
was nearly three-quarterS of an hour after
the regular hour of meeting when the at
tOrney general appeared, looking pale and
rather feeble. With courteous salute to
the committee, he Immediately took the
stand and on the invitation of the chair
man, began to make a statement of his
connection with the Pan-Electric company.
He wished. he said, to lay before the COM
mittee, and reafflrm, the matter contained
in his statement to the President on Oct. s
last. In addition. he wished to explain
two or three points of that statement. In
February, 1888, Gen. Atkins had said to
witness that he believed the Rogers inyen-
tions were of great utility if properly
handled and that money could be made out
of them. Being poor man, like himself,
Gen. Atkins had desired witness to enter
into this.
II told him." said the witness, ''that had
never undertaken to make any money, except
by law and poker. 1 had always
LOST AT POKER,
and generally won at law. 1 was willing to
go into this If he thought it offered any in
ducements-"
Continuing, the witness said that sena-
tor Harris made substantially the same
cfo
three Gavs afterwards he (witneSs) was in
troduced to Mr.. Rogers and his son at their
home. He briefly told of their organiZa-
tion of the Pan Electric company as detailed
by Senator Harris and other witnesses, and
then stated his attention to the applications
made to him TO bring suit against the Bell
company. 1t was inference, and not a
fact, he said, that the Pan Electric company
had made the application. The inference
was founded on two reasons:
First-Tnat Col. Young came with the other
gentlemen Gn the latter part of july and
witness know him to be secretary and treas
urer OF the Pan Electric, and
Second-Becauso witness on May % re-
oeived letter from DR.. Rogers, requesting
suit 20 bo brought as a 5tockholder of that
company Coupling these facts together,
witness took IL for granted that the Pan Elec-
trio made the appIcation-it was simply an
Witness had treated DR.. Rogers letter as
personal, and he knew Rogers had no
authority to make the application-that
such IN application must come from the
PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY.
Therefore, the letter had remained unan-
swered, and personal paper had not been
filed. In July Van BOnthuysen mad pre-
sented his application for a suit, basing it
on the law which, lie stated, had been
passed at the last session of congress. The
witness had heard of the law before that
and had some search made, but could not
find the act. The application, however,
was so well written and apparently set out
the passage of the bill So positively that
witness felt that there must be some mis-
take and that the bill had become law.
The application had been referred by wit
ness 10 the interior department, where it
should have gone in the first instance, and
witness had heard no more Of it until it had
been returned last January with the other
papers. After receiving Van Bonthuysen's
letter witness had set to work to examine
into the matter, for, though he had no in
timatiOn to that effect. he was satisfied
other applications would be made. Looking
over the authorities he had concluded he
could
NOT ORDER 4 SUIT
and when the gentlemen came Won Bon
thuysen, Young and the Others), he had
determined he would not touch it at all
under any circumstances. When witness
was sitting in the senate. Senator Platt had
come to him one day with the bill to author
iZe government suits and had asked his
opinion of it. Witness had looked it over
and said he regarded it as unnecessary, that
it would do no good. That was all he ever
said OF ever heard of the bill until it had
been brought to his attention through the
application. In the early part of the fall, a
Mr.. Humphreys of the Globe Telephone
company had called upon him at the depart
ment about the application.
''I thought he was going to jump over on
me-" said the witness.
Humphreys had insisted that he (wir-
neSs) order a suit and had said it was very
curious that because he (witness) was in
another company that his (Humphreys)
should be disregarded.
"He got mad because would not do any
thing about IL" said Witness land we parted,
not with mutual respect and admiration ALL
Witness denied that he had ever
GIVEN AN OPINION
about it. The opinion he had given, and
the only opinion, was to the effect that the
ments; that they were improvements upon
telephones, that were differently patentable
"a well-reeognized principle. While a
stockholder he had been very derilict in at
tending meetings, for the reasons that the
place of meetings was inconveniently situ-
ated, and that they were held at night,
when witness rarely went out Of his house.
Although witness was attorney for the
company, yet Mr.. Young and Senator
Harris usually drew up the legal papers,
and when they were referred to him, wit
ness made such alterations as seemed to be
necessary. Those papers had been sub
mitted to witness in the senate judiciary
room, but it was a mistake TO say that any
board meetings had been held in that room.
Witness was satisfied that he had never at
tended a meeting of the company since the
last presidential election.
Turning his attention to the MemDhis