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 Son 102 416 fl 
 
THE CASE OF ROLLIN "WHITE. 
 
 V STATEMENT OF FACT 
 
 Copy 1 
 
 Srief ioi' >if . Wl\ite 
 
 By Geo. W. Dyer, 
 
 Of Counsel. 
 
 -< 
 
 "X 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 GIBSON BEOTHERS, PEINTERS, 
 
 1874 
 
-v 
 
 
 
STATEMENT OF FACT. 
 
 In this application fur a reliearing of five different [)atents, 
 it will be observed that all the opposition is ai'i'ayed against 
 the extension of one of them, that numbered 12,04:8, and the 
 attention of the committee IkS invited more particnlarh' to this 
 patent. 
 
 The invention described therein principally consists in ex- 
 tending the chandlers of a revolving cylinder all the way , 
 from the front to the rear, so that the arm is loaded from the 
 rear, instead of from the front, as in the Colt revolver. 
 
 What are known as Smith and A'V^esson's pistols illnstratc 
 the invention referred to. 
 
 It appears from the record in one of the suits, in which 
 Mr. White was constantly engaged during a great part of 
 the life of this patent, snits which l)ecame necessary in order 
 to assert his rights, which were constantly infringed, that 
 this applicant commenced work in 184:9, for Samnel Colt, in 
 the manufacture of fire-arms, and from that time to Decem- 
 ber, 185-1, remained thus employed, having alone, and in 
 connection with his brothers, certain contracts for details of 
 work. 
 
 During this ])eriod, commencing as early as 1849, he nuide 
 certain experiments in constructing a p)istol witli a rotating 
 cylinder, having cluunbers bored all the way throngh. 
 
 In the opinion of the conrt expressed in the snit of White 
 against Allen, (2 Fisher, 4-10,) White completed this branch 
 of his invention late in 1849 or earl}' in 1850. 
 
 He did not, liowever, make application for a patent until 
 early in 1855, for the reasons that Mr. Colt did not favor in- 
 ventions in fire-arms l)y any of his employees ; had discharged 
 workmen for ex])crimenting in i-evolving pistols, and that he 
 
(White) was (lit>sucided by his brothers from luukiiig liis inven- 
 tion public so long as they were in Mr. Colt's employ. 
 
 The patent on this invention, as well as npon two other 
 inventions, was granted on April 3, 1855. 
 
 Mr. Colt's revolver patent of 1836, liaving been once ex- 
 tended for seven years, expired finally by limitation in 1857. 
 While this patent of Mr. Colt's was in existence, it having 
 an exclusive claim to automatic revolving cylinders. White 
 could not put liis invention in use Avithout infringement, as 
 Mr. Colt refused to giv&any license under his patent. 
 
 In view of the ex[)iration of the Colt patent. White made 
 his arrangements for manufacture, by giving Smith 6z AVes- 
 son, on Nov. 17, 1856, an exclusive right to manufacture lire 
 arms under his patent No. 12,608. 
 
 Under this agreement with Smith Sz Wesson, these parties 
 went on manufacturing lire-arms under the p;itent named, 
 paying a small royalty on each. 
 
 By the terms of this agreement, Iiowever, Mr. White was 
 to prosecute infringers at his own expense. 
 
 Such infringers sprang up at once upon the intJ'oduction 
 of the White pistol, and in the prosecntion of them all the 
 remaining life of the patent was cunsnnied, and nearly all of 
 the ro3'alty paid to the inventor. 
 
 At the proper time Mr. White made his application for the 
 extension of the several patents referred to in the bill, Avliich 
 extension was refused by the Commissioner of Patents. 
 
 Pending this application for extension, and a short time 
 before the hearing, Mr. Charles M. Keller, who had been 
 long the attorney for White in the litigation of the patent, 
 and was entirely familiar with everything connected with it, 
 was taken ill, and was unable to be present at the hearing, 
 which was conducted on the part of Wliite by new counsel. 
 
 Just before the hearing certain important exhibits and evi- 
 dence of Mr. Wliite were stolen, and by reason of tlie illness 
 of Mr. Keller some important testimony', in the nature of ac- 
 counts, were not forwarded to the Commissioner of Patents. 
 
The follu\viiii>' cxti'acts from tlic I'ecords will c\|)l;iiii more 
 ^slearly these stateineiits and the l)euring' upon the decisions 
 of tlie Commissioner : * 
 
 Testbnony of Hamilton M. Keafc, Crier of the U. S. Circuit 
 
 Court. 
 
 Northern District of New York,) 
 City and County of New Yoyk. j 
 
 Hamilton M. Keefe, of the city of New York, beinii; duly 
 sworn, deposes and says : 
 
 I am crier of the United States circuit court for the south- 
 ern district of New York, and have charge of all the models 
 dnring examinations in said court. Kenneth G. AVhite, Esq., 
 United States commissioner, before whom tlie testimony in 
 the matter of the application of Rollin White, for an exten- 
 sion of his patent of iire-arras, w-as taken, instructed me to 
 lock nj) the models which had been put in evidence in this 
 case. I did so, put some of them in the trunk, and the rest 
 in a carpet-bag, and locked them up in a room adjoining the 
 United States circuit court-room, and to which room no one 
 had access but myself. I liad occasion to go into the room 
 oh the afternoon of the ITtli of March, as late as 5 P. M., 
 and then saw that they (the models) were all tliere safe. I 
 came out and locked the door. 
 
 On the morning of the 18th of March, I visited the room, 
 and found that during the night it had been opened by some 
 one, and the trunk broken open, most all of the models taken, 
 and the carpet-bag had been taken aw^ay altogether, said car- 
 pet-bag having in it exhibits. There was also a valise which 
 contained books and papers in the case, which had been 
 dragged out of tlie room, through the court-room, through an 
 open window, where I found it in the morning. In the room 
 where these models and papers were kept were also a num- 
 ber of valuable models in other cases, and a quantity of 
 clothes belonging to this deponent, none of which had been 
 disturbed. I assisted in packing up all the pistols and ex- 
 hibits that I found left after the robbery, and I liave this day 
 delivered all of them to the express couq3any to be forwarded 
 to the Commissioner of Patents, at Washington, D. C. 
 
 HAMILTON M. KEEFE. 
 
 Subscril)ed and sw(»i'n to before me, this 23d day of March, 
 1870. 
 
 J. F. STILLWELL, 
 U. S. Court, Southerti District of New York. 
 
From office of Kellar &, Blake. 
 
 Chas. M. Kellek, ^ 
 
 CiiAs. F. Blake, j' , '' 
 
 No. 16 MuKRAY Street, New York, 
 
 ^ April 20, 1872. 
 
 Hon. Leonard Meyers, ^ 
 
 Chairman of the Committee on Patents : 
 
 Dear Sir : At tlie request of Mr. Rolliii White, I beg to 
 state to yon tliat pending liis application for the extension, 
 before the Committee of Patents, of his patent for improve- 
 ments in lire-arms, he furnished me with an account of the 
 sums expended in litigating the said patent, amounting to 
 $38,329.09 ; but before I could put it into form to forward it 
 to the Patent Office I was suddenl}^ taken sick before I could 
 prepare it, and for six weeks no one was permitted to enter 
 my room. I had no partner in bnsiness at that time, and 
 this, with other things which should have been attended to, 
 was neglected by those who took charge of the matter in my 
 place. Yours truly, 
 
 CHAS. M. KELLER. 
 
 Fxam in ers ReiJort 
 
 In the matter of tlie application of RoUin White for the 
 extension of the patent granted to him for re})eating fire-arms, 
 dated. April 3, 1855. No. 12,648. 
 
 The questions which arise in this case are : 
 
 1st. Is tlie invention novel ? 
 
 2d. Is it useful? 
 
 3d. Is it valuable and important to the public '{ 
 
 4:th. Has the inventor been adequately remunerated for his 
 time and expense in originating and perfecting it ? 
 
 5th. Has he used due diligence in introducing his inven- 
 tion into general use % 
 
 To the lirst question I have to state, that this ])atent has 
 been declared to be "good and valid" by Judge Nelson, in 
 the case of R. White et als. vs. II. Booker et als., and that 
 I am unable to find any valid references which were not in 
 evidence in this case. I, however, call your attention to a 
 clerical or typographical error in page 29, in the printed state- 
 ment of this case, filed by consent, where the number of the 
 patent adjudicated upon is printed 12,649. It should be 
 12,648, wliich is the number of the patent in evidence in the 
 case. 
 
The evidence filed by the ajyj^llcant in this case is almost 
 uniiitelligible, owing to the entire absence of the exhibits to 
 lohich the witnesses refer. 
 
 I ain informed verbally that these exhibits were abstracted 
 from tlie office of the magistrate before whom the testimony 
 was taken after they were packed up for transmission to tliis 
 office. That the Invention is useful., valuable and impor- 
 tant to the public Is aiyparent to my mind., and ujion the lat- 
 ter point there Is sufficient testimony from disinterested 
 p)artles. 
 
 The question of sufficient remuneration belongs exclusively 
 to your honor's judgment and discretion. $64,899 is credited 
 to this patent. Tlie applicant has not kept separate and dis- 
 tinct accounts of the expenses attendant upon his iire-arm 
 patents, Imt lie estimates the expenses upon this patent 
 (12,648) at $17,381.68. There is sufficient evidence that due 
 diligence has been used in -the premises. 
 Respectfullv submitted. 
 
 CHAS. EVERETT, 
 
 Examiner. 
 
 Tlie examiner, General Everett, whose business was almost 
 exclusively on fire-arms, and who was tlioroughly posted in 
 these arts, and knew all the records in the Patent Office in 
 relation to fire-arms, and who had cliarge of this class in the 
 Patent Office, and on whom the Commissioner must depend 
 in a great degree for the inspection of the records and ascer- 
 tainment of the facts in the art, made the foregoing report. 
 
 Upon the testimou}^, the argument, and the examiner's re- 
 port, tlie Commissioner of Patents refused the extension 
 asked, in the following opinion : 
 
 Commissioner s Opinion. 
 
 " The extension of tlie patent for an improvement in re- 
 peating lire-arms, granted to Rollin AVhite, April 3d, 1S55, 
 and numbered 12,648, is liereb}" refused. 
 
 " ELISHA FOOTE, 
 
 " Commissioner.''' 
 
 Congress then being in session, Mr. White made immediate 
 application for a. rehearing l>efore the Conimissionei". 
 
6 
 
 His application was favoral)lv considered, and a bill for 
 his relief passed both houses and went to the President for 
 signature. 
 
 This bill was vetoed for the reasons. which appear in the 
 following exti-acts from the records, and which tlie President 
 eniltodied in his veto message. 
 
 Z,etter of General Dyer. 
 
 Ordnance Office, War Department, 
 
 Washington, December \l, 18G9. 
 
 Sir : In the year 1855 Rollin Wliite obtained letters patent 
 for improvements in repeating pistols, in (among other things) 
 extending the chambers of the rotating cylinder throngh to 
 the rear, so as to enable the chambers to be charged at the 
 rear by hand or by a self-acting charger. 
 
 Some time afterward, and prior to the l)reaking out of the 
 rebellion, he assigned this patent to Smith & AVesson, of 
 Springfield, Massachusetts, for the sum of $500 in cash and 
 their obligation to pay him twenty-five cents royalty on each 
 pistol manufactured under the patent, binding himself to ap- 
 ply for and to use his influence to procure a renewal of the 
 patent. He afterward surrendered this original patent and 
 obtained a reissue in three divisions. Two years before the 
 expiration of the latter he applied to the Commissioner of 
 Patents for an extension, upon the ground of insufficiency of 
 compensation. The Commissioner rejected the application 
 for an extension without assigning any reason, and the patents 
 expired by limitation on the 3d of April, 1869, and the in- 
 vention became public property. 
 
 On the 9tli of April, 1869, a bill authorizing the Commis- 
 sioner of Patents to reconsider the application of Rollin 
 White for extension of his patents was introduced in the 
 Senate, and passed without debate. It passed the House 
 without debate on the 10th of April, but failed to receive the 
 signature of the Vice-President before Congress adjourned. 
 It IS understood that it has now been signed by that oflicer, 
 and only awaits the approval of the President to become a 
 law. 
 
 Unless the ends of justice require the extension of this 
 patent, it should not be renewed. So far as I am able to as- 
 certain, justice to the Government and to the public forbids 
 
this patent from l)eing renewed. The validity of the patent 
 lias heen (piestioned for many years, and it is nnderstood that 
 it was only atHrmed by the Snpreme Court by a tie vote, four 
 of the justices voting affirmatively and an equal number 
 negatively. 
 
 Its renewal is urii:ed bv Rollin White ui)on the <!;round that 
 he has not l)een sufficiently compensated for liis invention. 
 Rollin White has received nearly seventy-one thousand dol- 
 lars as royalty. Smith & Wesson, for the years 1862, 1863, 
 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1868, returned incomes amount- 
 ing in the aggregate to about one million dollars. This was 
 derived cliiefly from the manufacture of fire-arms under Kol- 
 lin Wliite's patent, that iirm holding the exclusive right to 
 manufacture under it, and l)eing engaged almost exclusively 
 in their manufacture. 
 
 It is believed that the Government suft'ered inconvenience 
 and embarrassment enough during the war in consequence of 
 the inability of manufacturers to use this ]^atent, and that its 
 further extension will operate prejudicially to its interest by 
 compelling it to })ay to })arties already well paid a large roy- 
 alty for altering its revolvers to use metallic cartridges. 
 
 For these reasons I respectfully request that you will call 
 the attention of the President of the United States to this 
 subject before he acts upon the ])ill which is now before 
 liim. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 A. B. DYER, 
 Brevet Major-Qeneral, Chief of Ordnance. 
 
 Hon. W. W. Belknap, Secretary of War. 
 
 \_Etidorsemeoit^ 
 
 Ordnance Office, December 11, 1869. 
 Brevet Major-General A. B. Dyer, Chief of Ordnance, asks 
 that the attention of the President be called to the patent of 
 Rollin AVhite, and recommeiuls that it l)e not renewed. 
 
 War Department, December 13, 1869. 
 Respectfully forwarded to the President approved. 
 
 WILLIAM W. BELKNAP, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 The whole matter ])eing brought thus afresh before the 
 Senate, Commissioner Foote, displaced from the Patent Office, 
 
liowever, at that time, wrote tlie following letter to Senator 
 Ferr3', of Connecticut: 
 
 T,€tter of (Jotninissioner Foote. 
 
 Washington, National Hotel, 
 
 January 17, 1870. 
 
 Dear Sir : For the purpose of answering the inquiries in 
 your letter of the 14tli instant, I have re-examined the pa- 
 pers on file in the Patent Office to refresh my recollection. 
 
 On the hearing of Mr. Rollin White's ap})lication for an 
 extension of his patent, Mr. Harding, of Philadelphia, and 
 Mr. Stoughton, of this place, appeared as his counsel. Mr. 
 AVhite spoke in his own behalf, and Mr. Harding was heard 
 two or three times, and to those acquainted with that gentle- 
 man I need not say that the cause was argued with much 
 ability. 
 
 It was stated that Mr. Keller, of New York, who liad acted 
 as counsel for Mr. White in suits upon his patent, and in 
 taking testimony to be used on his application, was absent on 
 account of sickness. 
 
 Several persons (perhaps they could not ju'operly be called 
 " counsel ") seemed to be much interested in Mr. White's 
 behalf, and strongly pressed the granting of the extension. 
 
 Soon after Mr. White's application was nif^de (in 1866) 
 objections to the extension were filed in the Patent Office by 
 several persons, and testimony in support of them was taken. 
 Afterward the opposition of some was formally withdrawn, 
 and at the hearing no one appeared to oppose the extension. 
 
 I was not aware that Mr. White had failed to obtain all the 
 testimony he desired. I do not now recollect that any com- 
 plaint was made in that respect. The time the application 
 was pending, about two and a half years, would seem to have 
 been sufficient to probate all needful evidence. 
 
 At the hearing it Avas stated by Mr. White that a part of 
 his models, intended to illustrate his inventions, had been 
 lost or stolen, and it appeared to him to be a source of much 
 regret and disappointment. I do not think, however, that 1 
 had any difficulty in fully comprehending his inventions and 
 other devices referred to without them, from the ])atents and 
 models in the latent Office. 
 
 The principle I had adopted for my own action, and which 
 I thought accorded with the design and intent of the statute, 
 was to grant extensions in those cases only in which tlie in- 
 
9 
 
 vention had effected a decided and inanifeBt improvement, 
 aiid while great benefits liad been bestowed npon the public, 
 I was qnite liberal in respect to the compensation received. 
 Mr. White's invention did not appear to me to come up to 
 my requirements. Their object was to improve the Colt pis- 
 tol, and the leading idea seems to have l)een to attach to it a 
 magazine of cartridges, one of Mdn'ch shall l)e forced from the 
 rear into tlie chamber by a plunger, operated by the cocking 
 of the pistol. To prevent tlie explosion of cartridges l)y an 
 escape of fire laterally, a spring guard was ]>rovided; and a 
 shield also was placed in front to arrest any ball that might 
 be accidentally shot from a chaml)er not in line with the bar- 
 rel. In his experiment a leather plug or packing was put in 
 the rear of the charge, and that seemed to prevent the escape 
 of fire and the explosion of all his cartridges. 
 
 For the several devices tliree patents were granted, in one 
 of which the claim was broadly made for boring through the 
 cylinder, Avhether loaded b}^ hand or by the plunger. 
 
 In the form in whicli Mr. White made his pistol, it is be- 
 lieved to have little or no practical utility. Indeed, breech- 
 loaders generally were then failures. They encountered prac- 
 tical difiiculties that seemed insurmountable. Fire would 
 escape from the joint at the breech and rapidly wear it away. 
 Or if made gas-tiglit, expansion by heat and other causes 
 would obstruct the operation. The object seemed hopeless 
 and unattainable until the introduction of the metallic cart- 
 ridge. When that was perfected, witli its flange and fulmi- 
 nate and machinery to manufacture it, the ditliculties were 
 removed, and tlie breech-loader sprang at once into extensive 
 use. 
 
 It was then tliat tlie claim in Mr. White's patent, for borino; 
 through the cylinder instead of nearly through, as Colt had 
 done, became of great pecuniary value. But before White, 
 other arms had been bored through — pistols, muskets, and 
 rifles. In one a cluster of revolving barrels, much like Colt's 
 chambers except in length, had been l)ored through. The 
 metallic cartridge necessitated a boring through, and wlien its 
 use became desirable in the Colt's pistol, the boring through, 
 as other arms had been bored through, it seemed to me, would 
 have followed as a matter of course, as well \^1thout as with 
 Mr. White's devices. 
 
 I did not, therefore, regard his inventions as liaving inate- 
 rially advanced the a,rt to whicli they related. He ha<l re- 
 
10 
 
 ceived, accordino- to his own statements, in license fees, from 
 tlie three patents, $70,899. His expenses, lie states, were 
 $22,457, a large portion of which were expenses of litigation, 
 from which no proceeds were credited. His rewards, I thonght, 
 had been ample, having reference to the benefits conferred 
 upon the public. 
 
 In view of the facts detailed I do not think that more argu- 
 ments or more illustrations, or indeed, more testimony, wonld 
 have altered the conclusions to which I arrived or the decision 
 which I made. 
 
 Ver}^ respectfnllv, yours, 
 
 ■^ELISHA FOOTE. 
 
 Hon. O. S. Feery, United States Senator. 
 
 Extracts from Remarks of Senators in favor of 3Ir. White s Rill. 
 
 On May 31st, last, the bill for the relief of Rollin AVhite 
 passed tlie Senate, the " reasons set forth 1)y the Chief of 
 Ordnance,'' in his communication accompanying the Presi- 
 dent's message, to the contrary notwithstanding. In the final 
 discussion which preceeded the vote in the Senate, only two 
 Senators (coming from the same State) spoke in opposition to 
 the passage of the bill over the veto. In favor of the bill 
 the following extracts from the remarks of Senators are cited: 
 
 Mr. Cragix said : 
 
 Mr. White applied for an extension of his patent under 
 the existing laws of his country, just as any man might apply. 
 He had five distinct patents and fourteen claims, and all 
 these were pending at the same time before the Commissioner 
 of Patents. The whole argument of the Senator from Con- 
 necticut, the whole argument of the Commissioner of Pat- 
 tents, the whole argument of General Dyer in his letter to 
 the Presidents, is aimed against one single patent; and I 
 venture to say that there is not another case on record where 
 a man having five patents about to expire made an appli- 
 cation for the extension of all of them, and met a refusal in 
 every single case. The fact is that the Commissioner of 
 Patents at th^t time did not examine this case carefully and 
 critically. I know what I say. He did not examine the evi- 
 dence, for the evidence was not there, or at least was there in 
 snch a shape as to be uiiintelligible. Mr. White asks for a 
 
11 
 
 new hearing before the Commissioner because his exhibits and 
 models were lost or stolen- before the former liearing, so that 
 the Commissioner could not understand the merits of his case. 
 For instance, here was evidence before the Commissioner: 
 
 " Question. Look at exliibits C, D, F, and Gr, and state 
 whether you have before seen them or cartridges like tliem ; 
 and if so, when first and by whom they were sliown and ex- 
 hibited to you." 
 
 " Look at exhibits C, D, F, and G ;" the witness' attention 
 is called to them. Those exhibits were stolen ; they w^ere 
 not in the office of the Commissioner of Patents, and it is 
 not strange at all that the Examiner should have said tliat the 
 testimony was really unintelligible, because these exhibits 
 are referred to by letters, and the witnesses in New York 
 testify having these exhibits before them ; but they were not 
 in the Patent Office, and the examiner could not see and the 
 Commissioner could not see them. Hence tliere is a reason, 
 and a strong reason, why this applicant should have another 
 chance, why he should bring the exhibits which were stolen, 
 which were absent, and I assure the Senator from Connecticut 
 that there was something more than a cylinder bored through. 
 There was one claim for that, but there were fourteen 
 claims, thirteen claims upon otlier devices ; thirteen claims 
 upon devices that could not be and were not represented be- 
 fore the Commissioner, from the fact that they had been stolen 
 in New York. 
 
 The Senator from Connecticut says that the Connnittee on 
 Patents have uniformly rejected every case of this kind. I 
 have before me a bill which has passed this Senate and been 
 approved by the President since the passage of this bill for 
 tlie relief of Kollin White, " A bill for tlie relief of Polly 
 HuJit." The Senator from Coilnecticut probably recollects 
 that case. It is a case for a rehearing precisely like this ; a 
 case that was rejected by Mr. Stout, the acting Commissioner, 
 just before Mr. Foote came into the office. Application was 
 made to Congress to grant to Polly Hunt a new hearing be- 
 fore the Connnissioner, and the bill passed botli houses of 
 Congress, and was approved l)y the President on the fifteenth 
 day of March last, a precedent precisely like.this ; and the 
 wording of the bill is word for word like the bill for the re 
 lief of Rollin White, except the change of names and tlie 
 description of the patent, and in this case there was no pre- 
 
12 
 
 tence. wliatever that tliei'o was anv loss of exhiltits or mod- 
 els. 
 
 The main reason why the President vetoed this bill was the 
 i-eason stated by General Dyer, that tlie Go-vernment was in- 
 terested in this patent. I wish to bring before the Senate tlie 
 fact distinctl}^ and clearly tliat the Government has now no 
 interest whatever against the extension of this patent, that an 
 assignment to the Government has been made from all the 
 parties interested in this patent, every one of them releasing 
 the Government in the past and giving it the right to nian- 
 nfactnre and use these arms in the future ; so that tlie rea- 
 sons which induced the President to veto tliis bill are en- 
 tirely removed, and to-day the case stands as though the 
 Government had no interest in it whatever, as it certainly has 
 none. 
 
 This case only asks for fairness; it only asks for justice; 
 it only asks that a man who through misfortune was denied 
 a fair trial, his exhibits and models stolen from him before 
 the hearing of his application for an extension, shall have a 
 new chance, a new hearing before the Commissioner of Pat- 
 ents. It does not impl}' that the Commissioner will extend 
 this patent. It gives every person interested a chance to come 
 and oppose the extension of the patent just the same as in 
 the original application. 
 
 Mr. Sumnior said : 
 
 I desire to say that with me tlie statement of the Senator 
 from New Hampshire is sufficient to determine my vote. He 
 speaks from his knowledge of this case, and that is enough 
 for me. I shall vote to sustain the bill. 
 
 Senator Carpenter said : • 
 
 I do not desire to waste any of the time of the Senate, but 
 simply to say that while I am not ordinarily in favor of re- 
 newing of patents, I think this is the strongest case that has ever 
 been presented to Congress since I have known anything of 
 its proceedings. I think Mr. White makes out a case which 
 would induce any judicial court in the land to grant him a 
 new trial ; and it is perfectly clear that the veto message was 
 sent here under a total misapprehension as to what the bill 
 was, supposing the bill renewed the patent, whereas the bill 
 merely granted a new trial. I l)elieve there never was a 
 stronger case presented to any tribunal having jurisdiction to 
 
13 
 
 grant a new trial than is presented here l»y the ])etitioner in 
 this case. 
 
 Now, the only thing submitted to the Connnittee on Pat- 
 ents, and the only thing considered in the Senate, and the 
 only thing concluded by this bill, was the right of Mr. White 
 to have a hearing before the Commissioner of Patents. If 
 upon that hearing he cannot satisfy the Connnissioner that 
 this patent ought to be renewed, then, of course, his ap])lica- 
 tion will be denied. Congress has not attempted to exercise 
 that jurisdiction which the law vests in the Commissioner ; 
 nor should it in any case do so. Bnt it is indispensable that 
 Congress should grant this new trial, aiul should exercise in 
 a proper case this power, because the power exists nowhere 
 else. As I understand, and as I remember the facts of this 
 case, this hearing of Mr. White's before the Connnissioner 
 was on the last day within the term during which by law he 
 (ujuld pass upon the application ; and in consequence of the 
 absence of his models, which had been stolen from an exam- 
 iner's offi(;e in New York, where they had been lodged to take 
 testimony, and the sickness of his counsel at the hearing, Mr. 
 White claims that his case was not properly' presented. Tiie 
 Senator from Connecticut answers this by a letter from that 
 Commissioner, which in substance says that nothing whatever 
 in the way of proof could have changed his opinion. 
 
 Is that an answer to Mr. White's application to be heard 
 again ? If it is to be taken in the broad language in which 
 that Commissioner's language states it, that was a sufficient 
 reason why Mr. White should have a hearing before a Com- 
 missioner with whom proof would make a difference. 
 
 I know iu3thing about the merits of that hearing ; I know 
 nothing about Mr. White ; I know nothing about the question 
 whether he ought or ought not to have a renewal of his pat- 
 ent ; but I do undertake to say that the case made b}^ him is 
 such as would induce any colu't in the United States to grant 
 a party a new trial ; and whether that new trial shall r(?sult 
 in any benefit to him or not will depend upon the merits of 
 the case as he shows them at the new trial before the Com- 
 missioner. 
 
 Senator Willey, chairman of the Senate Connnittee on 
 Patents, said : 
 
 Now, Mr. President, I think we ought to pause before we 
 allow a military officer of this Government upon his own 
 
14 
 
 niL'i-e luotiuii to interpose and arrest tlie legislation of Con- 
 gress by substituting himself for the legally authorized and 
 appointed otheer of the Government whose duty it is to ex- 
 amine into all such questions. What right had General 
 Dyer to interpose his autliority here? And if he had the 
 right or assumed the right, why did he not proceed according 
 to the law in the case ? If he is to substitute himself as the 
 Commissioner of Patents to examine into such matters, why 
 did he not give the other party notice to come before him to l)e 
 heard ? Why did he assume not only to discharge the duties 
 of another officer of the Govei'nment, duties not pertaining to 
 his position at all, but to do it upon ex parte testimony, with- 
 out giving the other party any notice of what he was doing ? 
 I think, sir, that we ought to pause before we allow ourselves 
 to l)e influenced by the action of an officer of this Govern- 
 ment in sucli a summary and unauthorized mode as this. 
 What does he assume to do ? He decides upon exj^arte tes- 
 timony that Mr. White has received $71,000 as his compen- 
 sation growing out of this patent, and that that sum is a suffi- 
 cient compensation for the value of the invention. 
 
 Well, now, sir, is that a fact ? It may be a fa(;t that Mr. 
 White has received that sum in the aggregate ; but that is but 
 one side of the case. General Dyer does not appear to have 
 taken into consideration at all the expenses of Mr. White ; 
 he does not attempt to ascertain what his net receipts have 
 been, what his net compensation has been after deducting ex 
 penses. He does not, so far as I can see, allow anything for 
 expenses at all in estimating White's net receipts ; but simply 
 advises the President that Mr. White has received $71,000 of 
 compensation, and that this sum is ampl}^ sufficient" (-ompen- 
 sation. 
 
 But what are the facts in the case ? Here is Mr. Wiiite's 
 affidavit, showing that although he received $71,000 compen- 
 sation, he has been at an expense of about sixty thousand 
 dollars. That is his affidavit, and he gives the items showing 
 the im}>ortant fact that the net compensation he has received 
 amounts to little over ten thousand dollars. 
 
 Now, sir, this is the result of an ex parte examination by 
 an officer wlio had no official authority to make the examina- 
 tion, and who, from the nature of his education and of his 
 duties, was not prepared to make a proper and scientific or a 
 satisfactory examination at all in such a case. The law has 
 provided the officer who is to make such examinations. I 
 
15 
 
 think, then, that the Senate ought not to allow these officers 
 of the Government to assume a jui-isdiction that does not be- 
 long to them, and to attempt to advise the President of the 
 United States in regard to matters which the}' do not under- 
 stand, and that, too, upmi ex 2)(irte testimony. 
 
 Now, sir, as to tlie real grounds of this application here, 
 what are they 't They are grounds that would appeal to a 
 judge of a court for a new trial, and nothing more.. The 
 ground of the a])plication is, shall we allow this applicant to 
 have a fair opportnnity of making his application, which he 
 was prevented from doing l)y providential dispensations, hy 
 the theft of his models and his testimony, as he has stated ? 
 
 If the Connnissioncr shall be of the opinion, as some 
 Senators seem to think is the fact, that there is no value in this 
 patent, that he is not entitled to have it extended, that is a 
 question for him to decide. He is appointed and selected for 
 that purpose, and it is to be presumed that he can dec^ide that 
 question better than any other officer ; better than the Senate ; 
 better than General Dyer ; better than the President of the 
 United States. He is the officer appointed to make such ex- 
 aniinations. All that is asked on the part of the applicant is 
 that he may have a fair opportunity to be faiidy heard ; to 
 supply before the Commissioner the lack of testimony 
 which he wanted before ; to supply the nu:)dels that were 
 stolen, and to supply the depositions and other testimony 
 which were stolen at the time he made his former application. 
 Is that unreasonable 'i Is it not such a case as any court 
 under the circumstances would grant a new trial ? I think it 
 is, and therefore, without going into the examination of this 
 case an3^ further, I feel disposed to submit it to the Senate. 
 
 Senator Howakd said : 
 
 I wish to say but one word on this subject. The object of 
 the bill upon which we are to vote is, as I understand it, to 
 allow the patentee, Mr. White, an opportunity^ to make 
 anotlier application to the Commissioner of Patents for a re- 
 newal of his patent, but gives to the patentee sim^jly the 
 right of making another application for a renewal to tlie 
 ])roper officer, who is the Commissioner of Patents ; and this 
 ought to be understood by the Senate. The patentee alleges 
 that for some reason or other he was not able, witliin the time 
 prescribed by the statutes, to proceed before the Commis- 
 sioner of Patents to ol)tain a renewal of his patent ; and he 
 
16 
 
 ap[)eals to Coiii^ress simply to g-rnnt him an opportunity of a 
 ]iew trial ; in short, to give him the inestimable privilege, as 
 he seems to consider it, of having another lawsuit ; and for 
 one, if a party pnts himself in tliat predicament and thiidvs 
 he is to gain l)y having a lawsuit, I am entirely willing to 
 gratify him. I shall therefore vote for the bill. 
 
 Senator Morrill said : 
 
 / 
 
 I ain, as a general rule, entirely opposed to a renewal or 
 extension of any patent, but, having examined this question, 
 like the Senator from West Virginia, I am fully satisfied that 
 injustice has been done this patentee. 
 
 Mr. President, I confess that my sympathies are excited 
 in his behalf. He has been persecuted the last ten or fifteen 
 years by these rich and well-fattened companies tliat have en- 
 croached on his rights, and I have no donbt they robbed him 
 of neai'ly all that he should have received for his patent; at 
 any rate, the amount he has actually received, by his own tes- 
 timou}' here, to which, I think, no objection will be made. 
 
 Now, Mr. President, it seems to me that the Commissioner 
 of Patents cannot have made up his judgment upon the re- 
 port of the examiner. Every point made by the examination 
 was in favor of the petitioner with only a single exception, 
 and that was in relation to the evidence being unintelligible 
 on account of the absence of the exhibits to which witnesses 
 refer, and which only makes the claim of the petitioner for a 
 new trial still stronger. It seems to me that this testimony 
 of General Dyer's, made two daj's before the bill passed, 
 ought to be thrown out of the case. It is no more than jns- 
 tice to the party to throw that entirely out of the case ; and 
 if we do throw that out, it will take away the wdiole founda- 
 tion of the veto. Mr. White should not be defeated by Gen- 
 eral Dyer. I therefore shall be compelled to vote in this in- 
 stance against snstaining the veto. 
 
 Senator Howell said : 
 
 Mr. President, this is a very peculiar case it strikes me. 
 As a general rule, I am not in favor of the extension of pat- 
 ents ; but here comes in this case a poor man and a lame man, 
 who has . invented a pistol that far excels anything Colt 
 ever brought before the public, and he complains that he had 
 a hearing tendered him before the Commissioner of Patents 
 when tlie counsel who was present did not understand his 
 
17 
 
 case, the one who did especially understand it being absent; 
 that he himself was detained away at the time the case was 
 called, so that he could not give his ])ersonal attention to it ; 
 that his models were lost or stolen, and that therefore it was 
 impossil)le for him to make, or for his lawyer, who is not 
 posted in regard to the case, to make out a fair case and to 
 have a fair hearing before the Commissioner of Patents. 
 Then we have the organ of the Committee on Patents here 
 time after time making zealous and earnest and lawyer like ar- 
 guments against this poor man, and telling us here to-night 
 that the Government is interested against him, and that the 
 manufacturers of Connecticut are interested against him, and 
 therefore he should not have a hearing before the Commis- 
 sioner of Patents. Is this a proper consideration to luring 
 before the Senate of the United States ? 
 
 Following right upon that we have, in a letter from the 
 Commissioner himself, the statement that this invention of 
 Rollin AVhite is a nuitter of no great consequence ; that there 
 is no particular value in it. How, then, is the Government 
 interested in it ? Why sliould the Government prevent the 
 extension of the patent that it may have the benefit of this 
 fine instrument ? And how are the manufacturers of New 
 England so greatly interested in it if this invention of liollin 
 White is an invention of no particular value ? It is a matter 
 of particular value. It is the nicest and finest instrument of 
 the kind that was ever invented in any country on the face of 
 God's earth. What is the use of saying it is of no particular 
 value ? Let that allegation come from whatever party it may 
 the Avhole circumstances of the case shoM' conclusively that 
 it is of particular value, that it is of great importance, and 
 that a comlnnation of Government officers and manufacturers 
 in New England are here in the Senate chamber seeking to 
 deprive this poor man, this lame man, this honest man, who 
 by accident could not obtain a fair hearing before the Com- 
 missioner of Patents, of the poor chance of a new hearing 
 under the circumstances, w^ith all this pressure of power and 
 of interest and of money against him. 
 
 I say it is a case that appeals to the justice and the com- 
 mon decency of the Senate of the United States to stand l)y 
 and give Kollin White a new hearing and a fair chance — as 
 fair at least as under the circumstances can be had by a poor 
 man before the Commissioner of Patents ; and for that reason 
 I shall vote for the bill. 
 
18 
 
 The Senate paj^sed the bill over the President's veto l)j a 
 vote of 41 to 13, but the measure failed in the House of 
 Representatives and went over for that session. 
 
 Mr. White lias since that time pressed his application be- 
 fore each session of Congress, but, although uniformly get- 
 ting favorable consideration of counnittees, has been unable 
 to bring his measure to a vote. 
 
 In the last session of Congress, after consultation with the 
 committee, Mr. White concluded to present a lull in a new 
 draft, M'hicli is here appended: 
 
 A Bill for the. relief of RoUln White. 
 
 Be, it enacted hy the Senate and lionise of Rejyresentatives 
 of the United States of America in Congress assembled., That 
 the Commissioner of Patents be, and hereby is, authorized to 
 rehear and determine the applications of Rollin White for 
 the extension of his letters ])atent for improvements in fire- 
 arms, issued A]U'il third, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, num- 
 bered twelve thonsand six hundred and thirty-eight, twelve 
 thousand six hundred and forty-eight, and twelve thousand 
 six hundred and forty.-nine, (numl)er twelve thousand six hun- 
 dred and thirty-eight having been reissned May first, eighteen 
 hundred and sixty-six, inimbcred two thousand two hundred 
 and thirty-six, and twelve thousand six hnndred and forty- 
 nine having been reissued Octol)er twenty -seventh, eighteen 
 hundred and sixty-three, in divisions, numbered one thousand 
 five hundred and fifty-seven, one thousand five hnndred and 
 fifty-eight, and one thousand five hundred and fifty-nine,) upon 
 the evidence, in the same manner and with the same etiect as 
 if they were original applications made within the time pre- 
 scribed by law for said extensions, before the Commissioner 
 of Patents, and as if no hearing had ever occurred; and if 
 any of said patents shall be extended, it shall be for a period 
 of seven years from the date of such extensions : Provided.^ 
 That in case of such extensions being granted, no damao;e 
 shall be recovered for infringejuents thereof between the date 
 of the expiration of the original patents and the date of sucli 
 extensions : AndjJrovided also, That the Government of the 
 United States shall have the right to manufacture and use all 
 tlie improvements included in said patents, in case of such 
 extensions, freely and withont charge, aiul \vithout liability 
 
19 
 
 for daniagos for the use of said patents: And j^i^ovlded also, 
 That in case said extensions shall be granted, any person, 
 firm or corporation that, since the expiration of said patents 
 and prior to the passage of this act, shall liave constructed 
 ina(;hinerj for the manufacture of the inventions described in 
 said patents, or have engaged in the manufacture of said in- 
 ventions, nsing machinery previously constructed therefor, 
 shall have the right to apply for and be entitled to receive a 
 a license from said Rollin AVliite to manufacture and sell the 
 iire-arms described in said patents for and during the extended 
 term thereof, upon reasonable conditions as to security for 
 payment of the royalty hereinafter mentioned, and as to mak- 
 ing report on oath of manufacture and sales, and upon pay- 
 ment of a roj-alty to said Rollin White of fifty cents in quar- 
 ter-yearly payments, n])on eacli and every fire-arm so manu- 
 factured and sold. 
 
 Also a copy of tlie Keport of the Committee on Patents, to 
 which attention is invited, as it presents a compact history of 
 the case, and presents cogent arguments for the passage of 
 thel)ill: 
 
 The CoriDulttee on J^atents, to vj/iout vy is referred the X)€,t'ition of 
 RolUn White for leave to apply to the Commissioner of Patents 
 for the extension of certain, jjatents granted to him in 1855, and 
 the bill entitled " An act for the relief of Rollin White" have 
 given a full hearing to all the parties interested, and beg leave 
 to subynit the follovytng report : 
 
 Rollin White having certain patents for improvements in fire- 
 arms, issued April 3, 1855, and numbered 12,638, 12,648, and 
 12,649, (number 12,638 having been reissued May 1, 1866, num- 
 bered 2,236, and number 12,649 having been reissued Octo- 
 ber 27, 1863, in three divisions, numbered 1,557, 1,558, and 
 1,559,) made seasonable application to the Commissioner of 
 Patents for extensions of the same. He employed as his at- 
 torney JVlr. Charles M. Keller, of New York, an eminent 
 patent lawyer, who had long been his counsel, and was en- 
 tirely familiar with his inventions, having been engaged in 
 several suits upon them. Mr. Keller prepared Mr. White's 
 papers in his application for the extension, and attended to 
 the taking of the greater portion of the testimony in his be- 
 half. Just before the time for closing testimony, and three 
 or four weeks before the dav of hearinsji; l)y the Commissioner 
 
20 
 
 of Patents, Mr. Keller was taken sick, and was incapacitated 
 for business until after the hearing hereinafter mentioned. 
 By reason of this sickness he failed to forward to the Patent 
 Office a quantity of testimony, including a certain account of 
 Mr. White, showing the expeiiditure of $38,321.09 as a charge 
 against the patents. About the same time, and just before 
 the day of hearing by the Commissioner of Patents, the office 
 of the United States commissioner in New York city, before 
 whom much of the testimony in l)ehalf of Mr. White had 
 been taken, was broken into, and the testimony and numer- 
 ous exhibits referred to therein were stolen and carried away, 
 and have never been recovered. No other property liaving 
 been taken, it inay be inferred that this offence was commit- 
 ted by or in l)ehalt' of some opposing party. 
 
 Under these circumstances, with new counsel not accpuiinted 
 with the facts or with the intentions of Mr. AVhite, and with- 
 out most important testimony and exhibits, and without the 
 account before referred to of $38,321.09 of expenditures, a 
 hearing was had before the Commissioner of Patents, who, 
 on April 2, 1869, refused the extensions without assigning 
 any reason for his action. It will be remembered that this 
 hearing occurred on the day before tlie patents expired. As 
 the Commissioner had no jurisdiction to act in the matter 
 after the day of expiration, he could not grant a postpone- 
 ment of the hearing until Mr. White could remove the diffi- 
 culties under which he labored. 
 
 Mr. White made at once before Congress, then in session, 
 the usual petition for a rehearing of his applications for ex- 
 tension before the Coimnissioner of Patents, and upon such 
 petition Senate bill No. 273, entitled "An act for the relief 
 of Rollin White," passed both branches of Congress just be- 
 fore the final adjournment, but not in season to be signed by 
 the President of the Senate. Being signed at the ensuing 
 December session, the bill was vetoed by the President Jan- 
 uary 11, 1870, at the request of General A. B. Dyer, Chief 
 of Ordnance, as fully set forth in Senate Ex. Doc. No. 23, 
 Forty-first Congress, second session. 
 
 The objections made by General Dyer would seem to be 
 quite proper for the consideration of the Commissioner of 
 Patents had there been a rehearing under tliat act, but quite 
 insufficient, in the opinion of the committee, to justify an ex- 
 ecutive veto. They were objections to the granting of exten- 
 sions ratlici- tlian to a rehearino-. 
 
21 
 
 In tlie Senate the bill was subsequently passed, notwith- 
 standing tlie veto of the President; but in the House it was 
 defeated. 
 
 At the next (being the present) Congress Mr. White re- 
 newed his petition, which is the subject of this report. 
 
 It will be observed that Mr. White does not ask for an ex- 
 tension of his patents by Congress, but for permission to have 
 another hearing befcjre the Commissioner of Patents, where 
 there can be a more full and thorough investigation of all the 
 questions involved than Congress can possibly have time to 
 make. At the hearing,- of which the law requires due notice 
 to be given, all opposing parties can be present and have a 
 foil consideration of all reasons why the extensions sliould 
 not be granted. 
 
 It should also be stated that opposing parties at the hear- 
 ing before the committee claimed and offered evidence tend- 
 ing to show that certain important features of Mr. White's 
 inventions were not really invented by him, and that his pat- 
 ents, so far as they embrace those features, were never valid. 
 The committee do not feel called upon to decide these diffi- 
 cult mechanical questions. The Commissioner of Patents is 
 the proper tribunal for the decision of such questions, and 
 the committee are confident that the present Commissioner 
 will never order an extension of either of these patents un- 
 less, upon the law and the evidence, Mr. Wliite shall estab- 
 lish his right to such extension. 
 
 It appears to the committee that, by reason of the illness 
 of Mr. Keller, the abstraction of important testimony and 
 exhibits, which, according to the report of the examiner, ren- 
 dered the evidence " almost unintelligible," and the non-pro- 
 dnction of the account' of expenditures alluded to, which 
 would have reduced Mr. White's profits to but little more 
 tlian a third of the amount the Commissioner assumed them 
 to be, as hereafter appears, Mr. White has not had that full 
 and fair hearing which it is the intent of the law to grant to 
 inventors upon their applications for extension. 
 
 But while the committee tlius favor the prayer of Mr. 
 White for a rehearing, they are aware of the fact that certain 
 manufacturing interests, upon the belief, as claimed by them, 
 that Mr. White's inventions had become public property, 
 have made investments of capital for the manufacture of the 
 same, and for this reason are of the opinion that such manu- 
 facturers maybe entitled to consideration. Tliey have, tlierc- 
 
22 
 
 fore placed in the bill rei)orted l»y tliem, by way of relief to 
 such parties, a provision whicli will give the right of manu- 
 facture and sale under certain conditions named. 
 
 The committee have not reported in detail upon the value 
 of these inventions and the amount of compensation received 
 by Mr. White, because it appeared to them that for the rea- 
 sons named Mr. White was clearly entitled in equity and fair 
 dealing to a new hearing before the Commissioner of Patents 
 upon the ground that he cannot be regarded as really having 
 had a hearing at all. The committee do not base their de- 
 cision upon the ground that the Commissioner did not prop- 
 erly weigh the testimony before him, nor that lie did not cor- 
 rectly decide the case as it appeared before him ; but the 
 ground is that Mr. White, through accident and misfortune, 
 and without fault on his part, was unable to lay his case prop- 
 erly before the Commissioner. The committee consider the 
 application of Mr. White quite similar to a petition for a new 
 trial in a court, and have so decided it. As has already been 
 stated, the Commissioner in refusing these extensions did not 
 assign any reasons ; but he wrote a letter to Senator Ferry, 
 of Connecticut, on the 17th of January, 1870, for the purpose 
 of defeating the passage of the bill over tlie veto of the Pres- 
 ident, in which, after describing the inventions, he summed 
 up by stating that the patentee had received $70,899 and ex- 
 pended $22,457, and decided that his rewards had been ample, 
 having reference to the benefits conferred on the public. But 
 it does not appear what his decision would have been had ev- 
 idence of the additional expenditure of $38,321.09 been be- 
 fore him, except as it may be inferred from the following con- 
 cluding paragraph of his letter: "In view of the facts de- 
 tailed, I do not think that more arguments, or more illustra- 
 tions, or, indeed, more testimony, would have altered the 
 conclusions to which I arrived, or the decision whicli I 
 made." 
 
 The committee, while not attempting to base their action 
 on this ground, are of the opinion that Mr. White was (to say 
 the least of it) unfortunate in not having his case heard be- 
 fore a commission whose "conclusions" might be " altered" 
 by "more arguments," "more illustrations," or "more 
 testimony." 
 
 It appears sufficiently clear to the committee that these in- 
 ventions are of great value to the pul)lic, not only by direct 
 testimony, but by the zefil, energy, and cliaracter of the op- 
 
pusitiun iirruycd ;ig;iiiist them. It also ;i[)|)eiii*t5 that l)y roa- 
 son of the doininaiit charaetcr of certain inventions of Mr. 
 Colt, Mr. AVhite was unable to bring liis inventions into pub- 
 lic use until two or three years after liis patents were issued, 
 and therefore has had the actual 1)enefit of his inventions for 
 only about eleven and a lialf years. It further appears that 
 Mr. White is in feeble health, a cripple for life, and is pos- 
 sessed of very moderate pecuniary means. The committee, 
 therefore, in view of all the foregoing facts, recommend the 
 passage of the accompanying l)ill as a substitute for the bill 
 referred to tlie committee, whi<;li, it will be observed, aims 
 not only at providing for Mr. White a very moderate com- 
 pensation for his inventions, in case the extension shall be 
 granted by the Commissioner of Patents, but seeks to make 
 an equitable arrangement for what are considered opposing 
 interests, and wliolly avoids the ol)jections raised by the veto 
 message of the President before alluded to, by granting full 
 authority to tlie Government to manufacture and use all the 
 improvements included in said patents freely without cliarge. 
 If more could be necessary for tlie protection of the Gov- 
 ernment it may be found in tlie following assignment, executed 
 •by Mr. White on the ITtli of December, 1869 : 
 
 License to the Oomrmnent to «.sr, free of cost, ptitenti< for iui prove nwnts iri, 
 
 fire-arms. 
 
 Know all men by these presents, that I, Ilolliu White, of Lowell, Massa- 
 chusetts, for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar to me in hand 
 paid, (the receipt whereof I hereby acknowledge,) have remised, released, 
 and forever discharged, and I do hereby, for myself, heirs, my executors, 
 administrators, and assigns, remise, release, and forever discharge the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States of and from all debts, demands, claims, ac- 
 tion, and causes of action, which I now have in law or equity, or of what- 
 soever nature, or which hereafter or at any other time I may have, from 
 any and all use by the Government of the United States of my improve- 
 ments for lire-arms patented in 1855, being the same improvements included 
 in a recent act of Congress for my relief. 
 
 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this seven- 
 teen day of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine. 
 
 [seal.] ROLLIN white. 
 
 Witnessed by — 
 H. A. Snow, 
 
 C. D. GiLMORE. 
 
 The undersigned members of the committee concur in this 
 report. The chairman, having on a former occasion acted as 
 counsel for Mr. AVhite, did not take any part in the hearing. 
 
 E. A. HIBBAED, 
 H. W. BARRY, 
 M. M. WALDEN, 
 E. I. GOLLADAY, 
 C. C. ESTY. 
 
24 
 
 After tlii^s ro[)i)i-t was iiuule, the session \v;is so far s[)eni 
 that the cuiiiuiittee was not called again, and the question in 
 this particular form lias never been presented to Congress 
 for action. 
 
 The matter is now before this committee, upon the bill as 
 printed in this statement. 
 
BRIP:F for ROLLIIN WHITE. 
 
 This is not an extension of patents nnder an act of Con- 
 gress, but an antlioritj to the Commissioner of Patents to re- 
 hear and determine as if they were original applications, now, 
 for the first time, brought before him. 
 
 Upon such rehearing, the law and tlie rules of the Patent 
 Office recpiire — 
 
 1st. That ample notice shall l)e giveu, so that any person 
 who desires may become a party, with all the rights of a party 
 in a' suit at law, to be present at the taking of testimony, to 
 cross-examine witnesses, to produce his own witnesses, and 
 to have an opportunity to argue all pertinent matters at the 
 hearing. 
 
 2d. The application is examined by the principal examiner 
 of the class to which the invention belongs, and a re-exam- 
 ination is made by the Commissioner himself, upon the fol- 
 lowing points, viz : 
 
 First. Was the invention new and useful when patented? 
 
 Second. Is it valuable and important to the pnblic, and to 
 what extent % 
 
 Third. Has the inventor been reasonably remunerated for 
 the time, ingenuity, and expense bestowed upon it, and tlie 
 introduction of it in use ? 
 
 If not, has his failure to be so remunerated arisen from 
 neglect or fault on his part ? 
 
 Foni'th. What will be the effect of the proposed extension 
 upon the public interests % 
 
 Upon all these questions, the judgment of skilful men, 
 trained for the particular business, is had, and the result, at- 
 tained after a careful and deliberate examination and consid- 
 eration of tlie cpiestions involved, in the light of the testi- 
 
26 
 
 moiiy, and assisted by tlie arguments of able counsel, is far 
 more apt to be right and proper than would be the case if all 
 these questions were to be determined by a committee of 
 Congress in the limited time and witli tlie attention wdiich 
 tliey would be able to bestow. 
 
 Hence the practice now almost universal upon the part of 
 Congress to refer the questions named to the Patent Office 
 for consideration and judgment of the proper officials 
 
 The sole questions, tlien, properly coming before this com- 
 mittee are — 
 
 1st. Has Rollin White already had a full, fair, and intelli- 
 gent hearing before the Commissioner of Patents ? 
 
 2d. Has he failed to have such a hearing witliout fault 
 upon his part ? 
 
 Upon the first proposition it is submitted that the facts 
 show conclusively that at the date of hearing, and for some 
 time previous, his regular counsel was sick and unable to at- 
 tend to business ; that important written testimony w^as, by 
 reason of such sickness, never forwarded, or presented to the 
 Commissioner ; that other important testimony and exhibits 
 were stolen just before the hearing, and were never before the 
 Commissioner. 
 
 Either the sickness and unavoidable absence of counsel 
 under such circumstances, the loss of material testimony under 
 such circumstances, or the robl)ery of most important papers 
 and exhibits, would have been sufficient cause for a new trial 
 in a court of law ; and certainly, where all are combined, as 
 in this instance, there can be no doubt upon this point. 
 
 It is, moreover, apparent from the examiner's report, as 
 printed herewith, that the want of the abstracted exhibits 
 and papers were a serious inconvenience to him, although 
 they did not affect his report, which was favorable to White, 
 and it is possible, in spite of the closing statement in ex- 
 Commissioner Foote's letter, that had the nn'ssing testimony 
 been before him, his judgment in tlie premises might have 
 been ditfercnt. ' 
 
If, however, the statement of Mr. Foote, referred to, is 
 taken as his jndgment, after mature reconsideration and ex- 
 amination of the ease, it is apparent that he possesses that 
 class of mind which comes to conclusions in advance of testi- 
 mony, and that Mr. White did not have that full and fair 
 hearing to which he was entitled hj law. 
 
 Upon the other proposition, as to the failure of White to 
 have a proper hearing, without fault upon his part, the proofs 
 are conclusive, as certainly he could not liave prevented the 
 illness of Mr. Keller and the unfortunate results which fol- 
 lowed it, or the robbery, which, curiously enough, took only 
 the articles w^iich affected the pending extension and over- 
 looked all other valuables. 
 
 Should this bill become a law, then for the lirst time in the 
 history of special legislation upon patents all parties will be 
 protected. 
 
 Those wdio have been infringing these inventions since the 
 date of their expiration go scot-free until these patents shall 
 be extended by the Commissioner of Patents ; those who, 
 upon the belief that the patents were bej^ond revival, have 
 invested their money in the manufacture of such fire-arms, 
 can keep on in their manufacture upon very reasonable terms ; 
 the possible necessities of the Government are provided for 
 without charge of royalty ; and the inventor, in his decrepid 
 old age, can have assurances of a modest support for seven 
 years. 
 
 The features of this bill are believed to give to inventors 
 rights within reasonable bounds to restrain patents from be- 
 coming obnoxious monopolies, and to provide for the equit- 
 al)le claims of enterprising rivalry to a degree which should 
 commend it to a favorable consideration. 
 
 It would seem as if the opposition from a particular (puir- 
 ter, which has arrayed itself either openly or covertly against 
 Mr. White and his inventions for a quarter of a century, and 
 now seeks by its action to break down and destroy all other 
 manufacturers of fire-arms in this country, should not be al- 
 
28 
 
 lowed longer to deprive this petitioner of ;i right nceorded 
 under the law to the humblest eitizen — his right to a new 
 trial where the former trial was unfair and ineomplete through 
 his misfortune and without his fault. 
 
 GEO. W. DYER, 
 
 Of Counsel for Bolliii White. 
 
 Washington, D. C, 3Iarch 20, 1874. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 0017102 416A