The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1888-04-27
WASHINGTON LETTER
Prom our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, April 23, 1885,

WAsiilNGroN, hPIh 20, 1000.
Complaints against the present meth.
ods of doing business 10 the United
States Patent Office are becoming loud
and frequent. 1t is charged that the
ex aminers in the Office are extremely
careless, some cay criminal, in their eI.
animation Of applications for patents,
that they throw out many applications
without examining them to discover
whether they are patentsble or mott
that other applications are rejected
which the examiner knows should be
allowed.
These are serious charges against an
importsnt branch of the Government.
| have thoroughly Investigated the
matter in order to discover what, il
any, foundation there is for the char
ges and who is to blame. | soon
discovered that the charges were all
too true, or rather that many of them
were. l also discovered that the par.
ties who we're responsible for this, l
might almost say disgraceful, state of
affairs, were the republican examiners
who have been allowed to continue in
office under the present Aimiuistra
ton. And that is not all. am 6rm-
ly convinced that these hold-over rep
ublican examiners have conspi.ed to
gether to bring the Office into bad re-
pute, in order to help the republican
party in the Presidential campaign
this year.
In order to get some idea Of the pol
itical effec. of such conspiracy among
these republican examiners, just think
for a moment of the great number Of
people who are either directly or lndi-
rectly interested 10 the business of this
Office. Suppose you notice for one day,
everything you see, and you will find
how many of them are patented or are
the product of patented machine or
process. You will be surprised, for
you will discover that about nine-tenth-
of all the things either manufactured
or produced in this country are connec-
ted in some way with United States
patent.
After this discovery You will not lie
surprised to learn that this Govern
ment issues more patents every year
than all the rest of the world combin-
ed. Now you can more readily under
stand the amount Of damage that can
be done the Administration by the
conspirators. Every nam whose pat
ent is disallowed without a good and
sufficient reason therefor becomes
deadly enemy, not of the Examiner
but OF the democratic Administration,
which he believes has mistreated him,
and his idea of getting even is, nine
times out of ten, to work like blazes
for the republican party. This fellow
is not alone, there are, 80 to soeak,
thousands of him, and the republican
examiners of the Patent Office are to
blame for all this trouble.
In no branch of the Government is
the head of Department SO depen-
dent on his subordinates as in the Pat
ent Office. In 1885 President Cleve-
land appointed Mr., Montgomery,
Michigan lawyer, Commissioner of
Patents. At the time that was con-
sidered an excellent appointment. But
owing to lack of familiarity on the
part Of Mr.. Montgomery with the ex-
tremely complicated practice of the
office, his republican subordinstes vir-
tually ran it for him. The natural re-
suit was neglect and idleness ou the
part of the employees and complaints
on the part of the representatives of
the patentees of the country.
l am informed by a gentleman who
is in position to known whereof he
speaks that there are quite number
of ex-examiners of the Patent Office
now engaged in business here as pat
ent attorneys, whose sole capital with
which to begin business were long
lists of the names aud addresses of ap.
plicauts for patents whose applications
they had unjustly rejected for the sole
purpose of afterwards getting f,e IS
an attorney for procuring the patent
they had as an examiner Of the Uni
ted States Patent Office rejected
These men are republicans.
In order to break up this practice,
bills have been introduced in Congress-
several times to make Examiners of
the Patent Office Ineligible to act as
patent attorneys for two years from
the date of their designations or dis
missals from office. So far interested
parties have in some way been able to
prevent such bills from becoming laws.
Last year Mr.. Montgomery was sue
ceeded by ex-representative Hall. of
Iowa, as Commissioner of Patents.
Mr.. Hall is an able and honest man,
but like his predecessor, he too was un-
familiar with the workings of the Of
flee, and the republican examiners
succeeded in getting him to m Ike
series of rulings which have produced
much trouble and litigation. In the
mean time the republican examiners
are enjoying the situation and working
hard for the success of their party
next fall.
When Mr.. Villas, with his vigorous
business methods, succeeded MIR. Lam
ar as Secretary of the Interior, he at
once noticed the loose way of business
that was in vogue there, and issued an
order prohibiting employees gossiping,
smoking, writing private letters ETC.,
during office hours. This order cres.
ted big scare among the republican
examiners and outwardly there was
sudden transformation in the Office,
but in reality they are devoting more
of their time trying to bring discredit
on Mr.. Cleveland's administration, than
to the work for which they are paid.