A KEVIKW 



99 



■' His track thus being entirely covered, 

 he proceeds with equal secresy to Con- 

 gress with his petition, and his wretched 

 excuse about ignorance of the s/.v/y days' 

 rule— but without any excuse for lus de- 

 hiy till A// diiys before the expiration of 

 his patent — it admitted ot none — and 

 prayeti an extension by their extraordi- 

 nary interposition. His petition nv?*^/ /n' 

 t/it' /ix^/i/ s/ti(/ upon it by l/ic facts, is as 

 follows:" 



" To the Honorable the United States 

 Senate and House of Representatives. 



" The petition of Obed Hussey respect- 

 fully represents: 



" That -our petitioner has, within the 

 last six weeks, attempted secretly to ob- 

 tain an extension of his patent, in viola- 

 tion of law, by eluding all means of that 

 examination into the facts which the law 

 retiuires — but has been unsuccessful. He, 

 therefore, prays that your honorable body 

 will exercise its extraordinary legislative 

 power, to aid him in this laudable under- 

 taking. 



" Your i)etitioner would have applied 

 in reasonable time to the proper tribunal, 

 and submitted to the proper investiga- 

 tions, but feared his case would not bear 

 the light. Your honorable body, how- 

 ever, can proceed i^'ithoiit notice to the 

 public, and your petitioner will thus be 

 screened from impertinent investiga- 

 tions." 



" Hussey's first petition to Congress 

 was presented about 6 weeks after his 

 conversation with the Ct)mmissioner 

 above mentioned. I am not aware that 

 it was known outside of the walls of the 

 Capitol by any one but C. H. McCormick. 

 — The committee of the Senate reported 

 favorably to the applicant, but the com- 

 mittee of the House did not — and no ex- 

 tension was granted." 



Note — In this paragraph there is clearly 

 an intended deception. The counsel 

 knew perfectly well, that the Petition 

 was not acted on by the Senate in 184S, 

 although favorably reported on; and of 

 course the "Committee of the House" 

 could not z.Q.\.\x-^o\\ it, until the bill was 

 passed by the Senate at the first session 

 of the present Congress. If the subse- 

 quent paragraph does not prove this de- 

 signed to deceive, it certainly does prove 

 that " if ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be 

 wise." 



///<^/r petiton " ;r(Z/^/At' the li^ltt shed 

 upon it by the/acts, is as follows:" 



To the Honorable the United States 

 Senate and House of Representatives. 



The petition of \V. M. P. p'itzgerald, 

 counsel for parties in the State of New 

 York, &c., i.\:c. 



That your (letitioners [.rofess to have 

 " invented millions of dollars " in the 

 manufacture of m;ichines, and are now 

 making "vast sums of money" by the 

 sale of them. 



We know very well, and inded have 

 always known that Mr. Obed Hussey's 

 invention does " embody some of the ge.a- 

 eral features," " embrace some of the 

 elements of the jiatent sought to be ex- 

 tended "to be more explicit, it certain- 

 ly does " embrace a sinifle Jcature " in 

 the " cutters " used in our machines, that 

 we cannot do without; for we never 

 could invent anything ourselves. 



We are alsowell advised that Mr. Hus- 

 sey has devoted many years to perfect 

 and introduce his machines into use; — 

 just in time for us to make money bv his in- 

 vention— and although he has made but 

 little by it himself, he " is now a man ad- 

 vanced in years, " and you know that 

 such a 



" Man wants but little here below. 

 Nor wants that little long; " 

 and as your petitioner are young in years, 

 and in this business, and greatly desire 

 to "become speedily rich," they there- 

 fore pray " your honorable body will ex- 

 ercise its extraordinary legislative power 

 to aid them in their laudable undertak- 

 ing." Your petitioners would hold out 

 the idea to Congress, and to the "inno- 

 cent public," that it is solely and e.vclu- 

 siiuly for the benefit of the Farmer and 

 for the "public good" that they have 

 erected these " vast establishments," and 

 " have [perhaps] invested their entire 

 means." 



Again, "be it remembered," that said 

 Hussey " has become the cats-paw of a 

 more designing and grasping man." who 

 is very adroit "in pulling the wires;" 

 and also that some others have made 

 large fortunes by infringing on Hussey's 

 patent -and which r.r are striving to ilo, 

 without iiaying him a single dollar as 

 'blade mail :' and it wouUi be gross injus- 

 tice to your petitioners not to allow them 

 the same, and an e(iual privilege. We 

 do not like to pay any ourselves, but con- 

 sider it perfectly right and fair ti) levy 

 " black mail" on others, who infringe on 

 our "improvement on Hussey's jMtent." 

 Our motto, as vou cannot fail to perceive, 

 is not wivry/cv/than patriotic : " millions 

 for defence, not a cent for tribute." 



