Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-10
4 HUNDRED YEARS, PROGRESS
The Inauguration Of the Second Century
OF the American Patent Syptem


The Inauguration Of the Second Century
OF the American Patent System.
Tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock there will be
a meeting Of the inventors. manufacturers,
officials and business men of Washington in the
audience room OF the Arlington Hotel. The
object OF the meeting 10 explained in the fol-
lowing statement made by Mr.. James T. Du
Bots to representative of The EVENING STAR
this morning: when the commissioner Of
patents, Mr.. Mitchell, in q recent report said
No law or legal system in any age or land has
ever wrought so much wealth, furnished so
much labor for human hapds or bestowed so
much material blessing in every way'as the
American patent SYSTEM he sounded the key
note of the proposed meeting at the Arlington
Hotel tomorrow evening, for its object is to
impress upon the nation the truth that the
grand career of our country in manufactures
and the industrial arts virtually began with the
patent systematic creation OF the patent Of
ice-and that our magnificent progress stands
as the indisputable result Of that superb sys-
tenn. The conditions Of life in 1890 are no more
like those Of 1890 than the hand loom is like the
great cotton factory. and the ultimate object
of the meeting next Tuesday is to urge the
people Of the United States to show their APP
probation OF the deeds of that splendid broth
erhood Of men who have so revolutionized the
condition of life as to make ten years In the
land OF Columbia better than cycle in Cathsy.
WHAT THE WORLD OWES TO THE INVENTOR
cannot be estimated. Wemust credit him with
all that the world possesses of literature,
science and the arts. We must carry to his
credit all that has been achieved in agriculture,
mining and commerce. To him we owe the
difference between the world as it Is and what
1t must have been II invention had not supple
mented the work Of nature. Take for instance
the recent trip OF the President to the west
The food he ate. the clothes he wore, the pal
ace car, the heating and lighting apparatus,
the splendid steel rails over which the car
glided, the motor power that hurled it along at
the rate OF fifty miles an hour the famous air
brakes, the block system and the signal and
switch service that protected his person from
accident the musical instruments whose har-
monious tones greeted his ear, in fact a hun
dred things that helped to make that journey
safe, comfortable and pleasant owe their exist
ence to the inventive genius of America. In
Shakespeare's time so deaths out Of every 200
occurred annually, which made the average
life In England about twenty years; now the
average Is forty -nine years and the world owes
this great boon more to invention than all
other sources.
FIFTY YEARS AGO.
at was only fifty years ago that most of the
people Of this country were clothed from the
products of the domestic spinning wheel and
hand loom. Then the itinerant shoemaker
went from house to house, setting up his bench
and plying his vocation in the farmers kitchen.
There were no planning mills, no shops for the
of doors, sash and blinds all the
work OF the builder, including the carpenters
and jolners' work, was done by hand. The
railroad and telegraph had not added their
powers to the forces of civilization. Books
were scarce, newspapers were few and Of little
yalue and hOYna waa do if,1fo ~ O hons nd
things that now seem indispensable to u COM
Portable existence. In fifty years the inventive
genius OF our land has made q change in all
this more wonderful than some of the stories
which are told in the Arabian Knights 70
honor the men who have accomplished this
great change is ono of the objects of the pro-
posed celebration. The best friend of labor
is the inventor. He has given to the hands of
the toiling millions thousands of avenues to
comfort, luxury and wealth. He has opened
a continent for labor to enter and occupy. He
is still taxing his mind and body to devise new
ways Of beneftting universal humanity. There
are hundreds of thousands of well-tO- do fam
lilies in the United States today who owe their
good fortune to invention, and there is no one
under our flag who has been compelled to sac
riice anything for invention. unless the good
o; the community in general demanded such
sacrifice. All of these are under profound OBJ
legation to the inventor and should actively
help to make the proposed celebration signal
success.
IMPORTANCE OF THE PATENT OFFICE.
at is an uncontrovertibie fact that the pro-
gress Of the United States, the grand career of
growth that has been the marvel of the age,
did not really begin until the inventive talent
of the people was stimulated by the establish
ment Of our patent Office. The truth is, the
growth of the country in wealth, its progress
in art, literature and refinement has been not
only coincidental, but commensurate with the
development Of the patenfsystem, and yet,
for years, il has seemed impossible for Com
gressmen to understand the relations Of the
a sssss ss !:
Of ~ kd7ll1!q Esif a q treated it like a
charity patient in hospital, while it not only
pays its own bills, but has nearly 4,000, 900 Of
surplus funds now to Its credit in the treasury Of
the United States. Look at the room occupied
by division v in the patent Office. The floor
space is only 95x20 feet in extent. In it are
huddled ten desks, occupied by ten persons
Unwholesome book and file cases extend around
the room ON every side. This instance differs
only in degree from nearly all the rooms de-
voted to the patent bureau. To call to the at
tention of Congress the great injustice IN
ficted on this bureau and the ruinous impolicy
of such course is the duty OF all interested
in the welfare Of the nation. These are some
of the many reasons that have led up to the
initial steps already taken to secure grand
Inauguration of tho second century of our
patent system, and the promises are bright for