dge to be lacking in invention. In the motion-picture art,
infringements began with its very birth, and before the inevitable
litigation could be terminated no less than ten competitors were in the
field, with whom compromises had to be made.

In a foreign country, Edison would have undoubtedly received signal
honors; in his own country he has won the respect and admiration of
millions; but in his chosen field as an inventor and as a patentee his
reward has been empty. The courts abroad have considered his patents in
a liberal spirit and given him his due; the decisions in this country
have fallen wide of the mark. We make no criticism of our Federal
judges; as a body they are fair, able, and hard-working; but they
operate under a system of procedure that stifles absolutely the
development of inventive genius.

Until that system is changed and an opportunity offered for a final,
swift, and economical adjudication of patent rights, American inventors
may well hesitate before openly disclosing their inventions to the
public, and may seriously consider the advisability of retaining them as
"trade secrets."

CHAPTER XXIX

THE SOCIAL SIDE OF EDISON

THE title of this chapter might imply that there is an unsocial side
to Edison. In a sense this is true, for no one is more impatient
or intolerant of interruption when deeply engaged in some line of
experiment. Then the caller, no matter how important or what his
mission, is likely to realize his utter insignificance and be sent away
without accomplishing his object. But, generally speaking, Edison is
easy tolerance itself, with a peculiar weakness toward those who have
the least right to make any demands on his time. Man is a social animal,
and that describes Edison; but it does not describe accurately the
inventor asking to be let alone.

Edison never sought Society; but "Society" has never ceased to seek
him, and to-day, as ever, the pressure upon him to give up his work and
receive honors, meet distinguished people, or attend public functions,
is intense. Only two or three years ago, a flattering invitation came
from one of the great English universities to receive a degree, but at
that moment he was deep in experiments on his new storage battery, and
nothing could budge him. He would not drop the work, and while highly
appreciative of the proposed honor, let it go by rather than quit for
a week or two the stern drudgery of probing for the fact and the truth.
Whe