Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-04-22
New York Tribune.
Pan--Electric Poker.

Mr.. Garlands defence contains one or two
faint flashes of forced humor. When he
was first approached by DIR. Rogers, he
remarked that h. had never made anv money
except at law aud poker. .'He always lost at
poker aud generally won at law As he
dsclaims having ever given an opilion re-
spectng the Bell patents or having ever tried
n patent case, and makes very little of the
letter to Meyer, regarding infringement, it is
evident that he does not consider his connec-
ton with Pan Electric in the light of legal
practice. He accepted the gift yeiephone
stock with the alacrity of an expert &Ef4nsas
poker PLAYER, and at once furnishedSeome
thing which stood for 'blind." This was
the opinion that the Rogers inventions did
not infringe the Bell patents On the strength
of this opinion local rights were sold in vari-
Gus States and several dividends were
declared by the company. The Pan Electric,
he says. "was simply an organization By five
or six very imp. cuni"us men, who wanted
to better their condition" IL was a
| 'poor mans game of poker, and so long as
! the dividends came in, it was very ice and
genial. But in the long run his luck, as was
generally the case in Hominy Hall, ran
against him. He lost-not his money, for
that he never put in; but something else
which he had invested very reckle ssly-even
his honor and his good name.
| But Mr.. Garland will not admit that he has
compromised his reputation as a public man
by his relations with the Pan Electric. He
| fixes his eyes ntentlv upon the brass knob of
the door of the committee room, and stand
| ing on tip-toes exclaims: II never used my
"otficial position TO promote the interests of
site company! In fact, as private citizen
"could have done much better for the company
| ,,,l 4 a., A Il
e. player is Mr.. Garland, and this is very pref.
ty attempt to bluff the committee and the
country. But it is not wholly success
full, for the simple reason that the
player does not appear to be as
guileless and innocent as Mr.. Goode. That
remarkable man had heard nothing about
Pan Electric, did not know telephone from
| buzz saw, and never had the remotest suspi-
cion why Senator Harris and Young were in
quiring about that Memphis suit Mr.. Gar
land was equally uninquisitive, but he admits
that he suspected what was going on. When
Mr. Young applied for Government interven-
ton, he inferred" that it was for the benefit
eff the Pan Electric Mr.. Goode would not
have been so injudicious as to infer anything.
He would not have been too preoccupied with
the routine of his office to have the slightest
inkiing of what it was all about.
| MT. GarIanu was wen aware last July t0Al
his business partners were cooperating with
Mr.. Van Benthuysen in an attempt to pro-
cure the intervention of the Government in
their interest. Why did he not give
warning to Mr.. Goode that the
Southern telephone ring was exerting
itself to make use of the Department,
and that nothing must be done without his
knowledge? Only two honorable courses
were open to him. One was to part with his
stock and separate himself from his business
associates; and the other was to prohibit any
official action by the Department in the tele.
phone cases on the ground that he had q
pecuniary interest in the transactions He
| did not adopt either course. He knew that
| Mr.. Young and Mr.. Van Benthuysen were
ANXIOUS to have the Government suit brought
and were working together for that end and
he got out of the way, in the nick of time
travelling off Homiuy Hall like turtle with
a live coal on its back, a day or two before
arrangements were made with the District
Attorney in Memphis for working" the De
partment of Justice. And now he has the
assurance to say that he could have done
more for the company if he had been a pri-
| vate citizen instead of the ATTORNEY General