Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, January 5, 1909, Page 6

4 : - S ' Indicates that Moist Sections on .of Westerl y Town Council of Town are to be Made Dry —Appropriation Voted Police Committee — Additional Constable Appointed—Town Solicitor Busy—Rumor- " The monthly meeting of the Wester- Wy town council was called to order on Monday morning by President William IL. Clarke, with these councilmen in mttenddhce: Albert H. Langworthy, (Clarence Maxson, Horace E. Burdick, Willlam Culley, M. H. Scanlon and xnyhnd Saundérs. The records of the P r meetings were approved as gead by Clerk Everett E. Whipple. Wyank Cordner antered complaint rel #ive to the removal of the bridge about halt a mile from the Niantic station, wn the road from Niantic to Clark's wfll. He stated that the raflroad com- 1 pany bad purchased the Ashaway farm I get rid of this bridge, and closed a ublic driftway, and that now his land being used by the public. He main- fained that the railroad company had mo right to close the driftway. If it was to be permitted to exist, he asked Sor Hie privilege. férred to a committee composed of the bighway co o2, minittee and topn solic- | si of Pierce street ng that a pol. man be stationed in that street from 6 p—:’.nunmh: :‘_ m., ind order to ]pre\ ;Vnt 1 shooting and stone throwing | and u:hu life there unbearable. Chief | Bransfield explained the condition o understood it, and said that the p Ice were ready to respond to telephone ¢all at any time and put an end to the | er. In the discussion it was ly intimated that many residen the street sold beer, and that the @amd¥tions were nevar ‘so bad as at| t. The petition was referred to police committee, with power. Chief Bngineer Cottrell presentel a| W1 of $7.13 received from the West- erly Automatic Telephone company for the moving of a section of the fire | ®darm, and believed the blll should be said by the town rather than by the ‘fie district. The bill was ordered raid Town Solicitor Kingsley of the com- appointed to procure tin signs ealling attention to the law prohibiting tting on the sidewilks, made report. o #aid the cost would be 40 cents for #ach sign, and the committee was au- thorized to pulichase fifty of these signs. Counolnman Scanlon made yeport that the gulde boards recently painted were ready to be put in place. They will be piaced in position under the n of the highway committee. Horace Chapman presented his plan for a change of roads m the Weeka- paug section, which had been before the oouncil several times without « reaching definite conclusion. The mat- ter was referreq to the town solfcitor for examination &nd report. Angelo Aol » an employes of the . wtreet department, whose 14jht eye was Injured while at work on the stone erasher, and was finally removed, ask- o4 for Telief from the town. He said he had been out of work for two months, had no money, was not in con- dition to return to work, and had no eoal or anything to eat in his house. | overseer of the poor was allow- ing the family $2 a week and coal at| #pecified periods, but It was not ample for their support. Dr, Seanlon said that all corpora- tlons, and even individuals. were #ponsible for the provision of first sistance to the injured in their emplo; and it was but decent that the town ‘Westerly should do the same. He had | antended the man and had aided him in other ways and was not seeking recom- re- The matter was re- | | chased and the ed Trolley Extension to Weekapaug. house had not paid any license fees, but had applied for a license. He said that the law fixed the fee at from $1 to 18100 for each perfoymance. Michael R. Sheedy, was a responsible man and wished to comply with the law. After considerable discussion it was voted, on motion of Dr. Scanlon, r. Sheedy license and that ed the minimum fee of $1 ormance. The town clerk was au*horized to is#ue the license and collect the fees. | Health Officer Lewis Stanton report- | ed that there had been a case of con- | sumption and typhoid fever investigat- ed during the month. Chief of Police Bransfield reported | that during the month there had been ten arrests for drunkeniess, ome for | perjury, one liquor seizure, and three store doors were found open. James A. WelchaHorace C. Lanphear and John T. Edmond, the committes the new road between White olhouse and the J. Borden Bab- cock place, made their report, and the public hearing was fixed for the next regular meeting. Coungilman Burdick of the- police committee stated that the committee required a fund to carry on work they had mapped out, and requested that $100 be made available for the com- mittee’s use. Mr. Burdick said the committee had 'plans that could not be carried out without the use of a lit- tle money, By vote $100 was placed at the disposal of the committee. Upon motion of Councilman Burdick, Joseph A. Grills was appointed a con- stable, the councilman stating that Mr. would be of assistance to the Grills police, there ing in regard to the payment of his bill. for worksdone in Highland ave- nue. He said there was a balance of about $400 due him, and he asked t he be paid $200 and that the th alance be held until spring when the objections to some of the work could be removed and the work in the ave- nue done to the full satisfaction of of the committee. It was voted that the hway committee make such payment to Mr. Loudon as they con- | sidered fair to him and to the town, pending the satisfactory completion of the work. The council then adjourned. There is suspicion that the police commi fund provided for at the meeting of the town council, Monday, is to be used In service, or kindred purpose. picion is based on the fact that in the latest liquor seizures case, the actual sale which formed the basis for ac- tlon was obtained on the spotter plan. The story is in effect that a resident of Wepterly who knows the™ ropes fairly Gell was engagod as the detec- tive or liquor spotter. He met an ac- quaintance whom he asked to go with him to get a drink, and the invitation was accepted. The drinks were pur- detective nlso bought a flask of whiskey After the evidence was secured, the friend of the detective was forced to become a part of the spotter service, regardless of his personal wislies, He was called upon to certify to the cor- rectness of the statement of the de- tective and also summoned into court to give evidence for the prosecution, very much against his will. the liquor spotter This sus- pence, but belleved the town should Assist a man who was so serlously in- | Jured while in the town's employ, espe- | cfally a3 no suit had been instituted for es. While no action was tak the sentimant of the coun the fnjured man and his family receive needed support from the town A communication was received from AHee ‘A. Burdick setting forth that by reason of damage to her rerty nw | reason of overflow of su grom Granite street and ( | nue, she refused to pay t property. The matter was the town solicitor. . Town Solicitor Kingsley, who was ap- | g e i ol swinging doors law, reported that had Inspected nine halls and ordered change In doors. one hotel, one mill | and all the churches. He =aid the the- | ater had not complied with the law, | and that there were other places to be | ngpected. Judge John W. Sweeney ing Michael R. Sheedy, lessee of Blven Opera house.asked In what p: ticular the laws had not been comy e town solicitor replied that the exits had not been marked by 1[ represent- the lights, thers was no automatic sprink- ling system, no asbestos curtain and 10_ventflator back of the stage Judge Sweeney said the report was daficlent, as it did nit show the viola- \tiom of law. nor did it show the respon- &ibifitles of owner or lessce of the the- | ater..and which things should he done by sach to conform to law. The re- port id not show the defects of law | @nd was therefore not complete. | The report was accepted us one of progress, Mr. Kingsley stating that his | noxt report would be more specific, Town Solicitor Kingsley then made | raport for the committes to the oliection of thea e sald the lesses of A Horrible Hold-Up. About ten yaars ago m ‘eld up’in his work, healil piness by what was belie hopeless ~ consumption Lipscomb of Washing 100k all kinds of ment from severa ve help till he Lrfcovery and was wholly cured Tottles. He is a well 1 aulek to relieve and th weak or sore lungs voughs and colds, bron ana doctor d 1 vial bo e & Osgood 2ed by The La: 1 Co. President Helps Orphans. Hundreds of orphans helped by the president ¢ trial and Orph4ns’ home a o writes: “We h ~ Hitters in_this institi years. It has prov inedicine for stomach troubles. ki it , li We regard it a st family medicine gorates the vital o blood, aids digestion, cr To strengthen anc build up weak children or run-down people It has no equal. Best for female com- rlaints. Only &0c at The Lee & Os- £o0d C A Religious Author's Statement. For several years | was affficted w kidney trouble and last winter | was waddenly stricken with 4 severe pain in ny kidneys nad was confined to bed e\ght days unable 1o gel up without as sistance. My urine contained a thici white sediment and I passed same fre- 1 duently day and night. menced taking Foley’'s Kidney Remady and the pain gradually abated and finallv ged and my urine became norial | recommend Folev's Kidney oThe Les & Osgond o, | the Ttallan colony The town council on Monday ap- pointed a third constable, with power to serve civii writs, and clothed with more power than re police offi- cers. The new Grilts, stables are als, ing the appointm M. it was sall in co 1z that he would be of considerable assistance to the p Th; onnection with the newly 1 nd. aces which I 1 the MNquor law Local Laconics. The Ttalian y burfed in a_ gravel bank 1 hursday. was about the streets Monday apparently uninjured, The regular January meeting of the board of of Westerly will be omitted, and the banquet to be held next Saturday evening is substituted. M. H. Scanlon, district deputy its of Columbus, accompanied by Sullivan, installed the off of La Salle council in Provi- dence Monday evening. It is said that the Norwich-Westerly trolley company is soon to award con- tract for extending the line from Pleasant View to Weekapaug, which was a part of the plan when the Pleasant View branch was built. The funeral services of Mrs. Helen Yennen, who was run down by a team and fatally injured early Friday morn- 1 Mystic, were held in St. Pat- church Monday, Rev, C. A. Led- dy offic at the requiem mass. eld parents Rev. Mr rst Hopkinton chu scted these officers treasurer indall, H "urnbull a isha C. Frank Burdick I Wells auditor. Thomas trustees a Mar k1o as a rail- foreman, « died Monday g at his home in Westfield Ma Mr. Par d served in the town council of Richmond, as asses- sor, and represented fhe town in tI 1 Mr. PArks was 72 ssembly Hogan, P, Ledwidge and John Gilmore. The members of Neptune Hose company attended In"a body. Greenwich.—Representative, Charles Burnes will hardly, be able o a tend the republican ' caucus today Tuesday) in Hariford, and he may ng e up in time for the senatorial caucus on Janua . as lie has just under- gone an operat appendiclts Stratford. etor of the p his place of picce of ive, with the result that- he now at his home with a brokan leg. Judge Sweeney said that the lessce, | SERVICE President Replies fo Congres- slonal Resolution. | SAYS HE DID NOT HIT AT HOUSE Language In_Annual Communication Called Objectionable by Representa- tives Will Stand Analysis, Declares Executive — He Renews Argu- ment For Repeal of Law Limiting Activities of Treasury Agents—Cites Cases In Which They Have Aided In Punishment of Violators of Fed- eral Laws. Washington, Jan. 4—In a special message to the house of Tepresenta- tives today President Roosevelt says: | To the House of Representatives: | 1 have received the resolutiof of the | housd of representatives of Dec. 17, | 1908, running as follows: Whereas, There was contained in the sundry civil appropriation bill which passed congress at its last session and be- came a law a provision in reference to the employment of the secret service in the | treasury department; and, Whereas, In the last annual message of | the president of the United States to the two houses of congress it was stated in reference to that provision, “It is not too much to say that this amendment has been of benefit only and could be of bene- fit only to the criminal classe: was further stated, “The chlef argument |in favor of the provision was that the congressmen did not themseives wish to be investizated by secret service and it was further stated, “But if this is not considered desirable a special excep- | tion could be made in the law prohlbiting the use of the secret service force in in- vestigating members of congress,” It | would be far better to do this than to do | what actually was done and strive to prevent or at least to hamper effective action against criminals by the executive branch of the government; and, Whereas, The plain meaning of the sbove words is that the majority of the congressmen were in fear of being inves- tigated by secret service men and that congress as a whole was actuated by that motive in enacting the provision in ques- tion; and, Whereas, Your committee appointed to consider these statements of the presi- dent znd to report to the house cannot find in the hearings before committees nor in the records of the house or sen- ate any justification of this impeach- ment of the honor and integrity of the and, . Your committee would prefer in order to make an intelligent and com- prehensive report, just to the president as well as (o the congress, to have all the information which the president may have to communicate; now, therefore, Be it resolved, That the president be requested to transmit to the house any evidencs upon which he based his state- ments that the “chief argument in favor of the provision was that the congress- men did not themselves wish to be in- vestigated by secret service men” and also to transmit to the house any evi- denco connecting any member of the | | | house of representatives of the Sixtieth congress with corrupt action in his offi- clal capacitygand to inform the house whether he has instituted proceedings for the punishment of any such individual by the courts or has reported any such alleged delinquencies to the house of rep- resentatives. % “l Cannot Understand Resolution.” ® | am wholly at a loss fo understand the concluding portion of the resolu- tion. T have made no charges of cor- ruption against congress nor against any member of the present house. If I had proof of such corruption affect- ng any member of the house in any matter as to which the federal gov- erument has jurisdiction, action would at once be brought, as was done iff the | cases of Senators Mitchell and Burton | and Representatives Williamson, Herr- | mann and Driggs at different times since I have been president. This would simeply be doing my duty in the execution and enforcement of the laws without respect to persons. But I do not regard It as within the province or the duties of the president to report to the house “alleged delinquencies” of members or the supposed “corrupt action” of a member “in bis official cax pacity.” The imembership of the house is by the constitution placed | within the power of the house alone. In the prosecution of criminals and the enforcement of the laws the president must resort to the courts of the United States. Portion of M e Quoted. In the third and fourth clanses of the preamble it is stated that the meaning of my words Is that “the majority of the congressmen are in fear of being investigated by secret service men,” {and that “cougress as 2 whole was ac- tuated by that metive in enacting the | provision in question,” and that this i |is an impeachment of the honor and | | tntegrity of the congress. ments are not, I think, in accordance | with the facts. The portion of my message referred to runs as follows: year an amendment was incor- | porated in the measure providing for the ret servica which provided that there should be no det from the secret serv- {fee and no transfer therefrom. It is not too much to say that this amendment has besn of benefit only and could be of bene- | fit only to the criminal classes, If deitb- | oly duced for the purpose of di- These state- | minianing t ectivenass of war against | {crime it could not have been better de- vired to this end. It forbade the prac- ticex that had been followed to a greater or less extent by the executive heads of | various departments for twanty years. To | these practices we owe the securing of ")\» vidence which enabled us to drive great lotteries out of business and secure | or of a milil of dollars in fines | These practices over some of the in connection ent land and { Bovernment timber by great corporations ard by individuals. These practices have enabled us to get some of the evidence in- @spensable in order to secure the convie- "on of the wealthiest and most farmida- ble criminals with whom the Rovernment has to deal, both those operating in vioia~ tlon of the anti-trust law and others. The | smendment in q¥cstion was of beneflt to no one excepting to these criminals, and it seriously hampers the government in the detection of crime and the securing of | Justice. ‘Moreover, it not only affects de- | partments outside of the treasury, but it | tends to hamper the secretary of the treasury himself in the effort to utilize | the employees of his department 50 43 to best meet the requirements of the public service. It forbids him from preventing frauds upon the customs service, from in- vestigating {rregularities in branch minis and assay offices and has serfousty crip- | pled him. It prevents the premotion of smplovess in the sierst service. and thls | ator and a congressman in Oregon. I do not in the public interest inals in any branch of and, exactly as'we have tion could be made in the law prol ing the use of the secrst service force investigating members of the It would be far better to do do what actually was done prevent or at least to hami action against criminals by the executive branch of the government. Asks Careful Reading of Message. rant the statement that “the majority of the congressmen were in fear of being investigated by the secret serv- ice men” or “that congress as a whole was actuated by thet motive.” I did not make any such statement n this message. Moreover, I bave never made any such statement about congress as a whole nor, with a few inevitable ex- ceptions, about the members of con- gress in any message or article or speech. On the contrary, I have al- ways not only deprecated, but vigor- ously resented, the practice of indis- criminate attack upom congress and | indiscriminate condemnation of all congressmen, wise and unwise, fit and unfit, good and bad alike. No one real- izes more than I the importance of co-operation between the executive and congress, and no gne holds thé au- thority and dignity of the congress of the United States in higher respect than T do. I have not the slightest sympathy with the practice of judging men for good or for 1l not en their several merits, but in a mass, as mem- bers of one particular bedy or orfe caste. To put together all men holding or who have held a particular office, ‘whether it be the office of president or judge or senator or member of the house of representatives, and to class | them all, without regard to their in- dividual differences, as good or bad seems to me utterly Indefensible, and it 1s equally indefensible whether the good "are confounded with the bad in a heated and unwarranted champion- ship of all or in a heated and unwar- ranted assauit wpon all. T would nei- ther attack nor defend all executive officers In & mass, whether presidents, | governors, cabinet officers or offic! ot lower rank, nor would I attack or | defend all legislative officers in a mass. The safety of free government rests very largely in the ability of the plain, everyday citizen to diseriminate be- tween those public servants who serve him well and those public servants who serve him 1ll. He cahnot thus discriminate if he is persuaded to pass judgment upon & man not with refer- | ence to whether he §s a fit or unfit | public servant, but with referénce to whether be 1s an executive or legisia- tive officer, whether he belongs to one | branch or the other of the govern: Bays Meseage Is Misunderst This aHegation in the resolution, | therefors, must certainly be due to an entire failure to understand my mes- sage. The resolution continues, “T'hat the president be requested to transmit to the house any evidence upon which he based his statements that the ‘chief argument o favor of the provision was that the congressmen did not themselves wish to be investigated by secret service men.'” This statement, ‘which w: n attack upon mo one, still less upon the congress, is sustained by the facts. If you will turu to the Congressional | Record for May 1 last, pages 5558 to | 5560, inclusive, you will find the de- bate on this subject. Mr. Tawney of | Minnesota, Mr. Smith of lowa, Mr. Sherley of Kentucky and Mr. Fitzger- ald of New York appear in this debate as the spectal champions of the pro- vision referred to. Messrs. Parsons, Bennet and Driscoll wers tie le-dcn] of those who opposed the adoption of the amendment and upheld the right of the government to use the most effi- cient means possible in order to de- | tect criminals and to prevent and pun- ish crime. The amendment was car- ried in the committee of the whole, where no votes of the individual mem- bers are recorded, so I am unable to discriminate by mentioning the mem- bers who voted for and the members | who voted against the provisiom, but | its passage, the journal records, was grested with applause. I am well aware, however, that in any ease of this kind many members who bave no | particular knewledge of the point at izsie are content simply to follow the ead of the committee which had con- sidered the matter, and I have no doubt that meuy mensbers of the house simply foliowed the lead of Messrs. Tawney and 8mith without having had | the opportunity te know very much as to the rights and wrongs of the ques- tion. 1 wouid not ordinarily attempt in this way to diseriminate between members | of the house, but as objection has been | taken to my language, in which I gim- ply spoke of the actios of the house as a whole, and as apparently there is @ desire that I should thus discrim- inate 1 wiil state that I think the re- sponsibility rested on the commitiee on appropriaiions under the lead of the members whom I have mentioned. Repliss to Reguest For Evidence. Now as to the requeet of the con- gress that I glve the evidence for my siatement that the chief argument in favor of the provision was that the congressmen did not themselves wish to be Investigated by secret service men. The part of the Congressional Record to which I have referred above en- tirely supports this statement. Two | distinet lines of argument were fol- lowed in the debate. Ome concerned the questfon whether the law war- ranted the employment of the secret service in departments other than the treasury, and this did uot temch the merits of the ssrvice in the least. The other line of srgmment went to the EEEies T iégsg HHH E | counterfeiting (and one or two other matters which ean be disregarded) and that such language was now to be used as would effectually 'prevent all such “violation of law” hereafter. Mr. fined to the statement that it was in “viclation of law.” Of course such a statement is not in any way an argu- _ment in favor of the justice of the provision. It is not an argument for the provision at ali. It is simpiy a statement of what the gentiemen mak- ing it conceive to have been the law. There was both by imphcation and direct statement the assertion that it was the law and ought to be the law, that the secret service whoukl only be used to suppress counterfeiting and that the law shouid be made more rigid than ever In this respect. No Restrictions on Service. Incidentally I may say that in my Jjudgment there is ample legal author- ity for the statement that this appro- | priation law to which reference was | made imposes no restrictions whatever upon the use of the secret service men, | but relates solely to the expenditure of | the money appropriated. Mr. Tawney | In the debate stated that be bad in his i possession “a letter from the secretary | of the treasury received a few days ago” in which the secretary of the | treasury “himself admits that the pro- | visions under which the appropriation | bas been made have been violated yeay | after year for a number of years in | his own department.” I append here- | with as Appendix A the letter re- ferred to. [Appendix A is a letter from | Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou to | the chairman of the committee on ap- | propriations of the house of represent- | atives, dated April 29, 1908, protest- | Ing against the proposed law abridg- | Ing the right of the secretary of the treasury to detail secret service men to work in other divisions of his de- | partment. Such abridgement, he de- | clared, would be “distinctly to the a | vantage of violators of criminal stat- | utes of the United States.”] It makes | no such admission as that which Mr. i‘l‘-wney alleges. It coutains, on the | contrary, as you will see by reading it, -an “emphatic protest against any such the secretary of the treasury by ex- isting law” and concludes by assert- ing that he “Is quite within his rights in thus employing the service of these agents” and that the proposed modifi- cation which Mr. Tawney sueceeded in carrying through would be “distinctly to the advantage of violators of crimi- | nal statutes of the United States.” 1 call attention to the fact that in this | letter of Becretary Cortelyou to Mr. | Tawney, as In my letter to the speaker quoted below, the explicit statement | is made that the proposed change will | be for the benefit of the criminals, a | statement which I simply reiterated In | public form in my message to the con- gress this year and which s also con- tained in effect in the cefort of the | secretary of the treasury to the con- | gress. | “Private Conduct” of Members. A careful reading of the Congression- | al Record will also show that practical- | 1y the only arguments advanced in fa- | vor of the lmitation proposed by Mr. | Tawney's committee beyond what may be supposed to be contained by impii- | cation’ In certain sentences as to “abuses” which were not specified | were those contained in the repeated | statements of Mr. Sherley. - Mr. Sher- ley stated that there had been “pro- nounced abuses grdwing out of the other than those intended,” putting bis statement in the form of a question, nd in the same form further stated | that the ‘“Private conduct” of “mem- | bers of congress, senators” and others | ought mot to be luvestigated by the secret service and that they should not tuvestigate a “member of con- | grese” who had been accused of “con- | duct unbecoming a gentleman and a | member of congress™ Ian addition to these agsertions, couched ae questions, | he made one positive declaration that | “this secret sérvice at one time was used for the purpose ef looking iuto the personal conduet of a member of congress.” This argument of Mr. Sher- | 1oy, the only resi argument as to the | merits of question mede on bebalf of the committee on appropriations, wilk be dound im columns 1-and 2 of page 5556 and column 1 of page 5557 of the Congressional Record. Inm col- | umn 1 of page 5556 M. Sherley refers to the impropriety of permitifug the | secret service men to juvestigate men in. the departments, officers of the | army and navy and senators and con- | gressmen. In eolumn 2 be refers to officers of the navy and members of congress. In eolumu 1, page 5557, he | refers ouly to members of congress. | His speech puts most weight on the investigatioa of members of congress. Newspaper Article Reproduced. ‘What appears in the record is filled out and expiained by an article which appeared lu the Chicago Inter Ocean | of Jan. 3, 1904, under a Washington | headline and which marked he begin- ning of this agitation against the se- cret service. It was a special article of about 3,000 words, written, as I was then fuformed and-mow understand, by Mr. L. W. Busbey, at that time private secretary to the speaker of the house. I inciose & copy of certalm extracts from the asticle, marked Appendix B. | [Appendix B comsists of an artiele from the Ghicago Jater of Jan. & 1904. In this Jebn E FWikla chicf abridgement of the rights delegated to | use of the secret service for purposes | bureau exists without warrant of con- gressional acsion and that congress has always been antagonistic to the bu- roau.] It contained aun utterly unwar- ranted attack on the secret service division of the treasury department and its chief. The opening paragraph includes, for instance, statements like the following: He (the chief of the division) and his ‘men are desirous of doing the secret de- tective work for the whole and are not partioular about drawing the line between the lawmakers and the law- breakers. They are ready to shadow the former as well as the latter. Then, after saying that congress will insist that the men shall only be used to stop counterfeiting, the article goes on: Congress does mot Intend to have a Fouche or any other kind of minister of police to be used by the executive de- partments agaimst the legislative branch of the government. It has been so used, and it is suspected that ¥ has been so nsed recently. ° * * The legislative branch of the government will not toler- ate the meddling of dstectives, whether they shadowed some Of the most respected members of the house and senate. * * * men were shadowing congress- men there was a storm of indignation at the capitol, being abolished and the appropriation for the guppression of counterfeiting cut . ¢ * At another time the chief of the ‘secret service had his men shadow congressmen with & View to involving them in scandals that would enabl silence. * * * The mecret service men have shown an Inclination again to | shadow members of congress, knowing | them to be lawmakers, and this is no | Joke. Several of the departments have asked congress for secret funds for in- vestigation, and the treasury department wants the limitation removed from the | appropriation for suppressing counter- feiting. This shows a tendency toward | Foucheism and a secret watch on other | officials than themseives. ! At the time of this publication the | work of the secret service which was | thus assafled included especially the in- | vestigation of great land frauds in the | west and the securing of evidence to | help the department of ‘justice in the beef trust investigations at Chicago, | which resulted in successful prosecu- tions. In view of Mr. Busbey's position I | have accepted the above quoted state- "mentx as fairly expressing the real meaning and animus of the attacks made in general terms on the use of the secret service for the punishment ! of criminals. Furthermore, in the per- ;fnrmnnve of my duty to endeavor to ‘find the feelings of congressmen on | public questions of note I have fre- | quently discussed this particular mat- | ter with memibers of congress, and on | such occasions the reasons alleged to me for the hostility of congress to the secret service, both by those who did |and by those who did not share this | hostility, were almost invariably the same as those set forth in Mr. Busbey’s {article. I may add, by the way, that | these, allegations as to the secret serv- |ice are wholly without foundation in | fact. Real Issue Named. | Baut all of this is of insignificant im- portance compared with the main, the real, issue. This issue is simply, Does | congress desire that the government | shall have at its disposal the most | eficient instrument for the detection of criminals and the prevention and punishment of crime, or does it not? The action of the house last May was | emphatically an action against the in- terest of justice and against the inter- | est of law abiding people and in its ef- | fect of benefit only to lawbreakers. I (am not mow dealing with motives. | Whatever may bave been the motive that induced the actlon of which I speak, this was beyond all question the | effect of that action. Is the house now | willing to remedy the wrong? For a long time I contented myself with endeavoring to persuade the house not to permit the wrong, speak- !ing informally on the subject with those members who, I belleved, kneW | anything of the matter and commu- | nicating offiefally only in the ordinary | | channels, as through the secretary of | the treasury. In a letter to the speaker | 5n April 20, protesting agalnst the cut- | ting down of the appropriation vitally necessary if the interstate commerce commission was to carry into effect the twentieth section of the Hepburm |law, I added: “The provision about the employment of the secret service men will work very great damage to the government in its endeavor to pre- vent and punish crime. There is no wore foollsh outery than this agatst ‘sple’ Only crimimais need fear our detectives.” (I inclose copy of the The postacript is biurred In my copy book, and fwe or three of the words eanuot be deciphered.) ppendix © im a letter dated Aprii 1808, from President Rooseveit to Speaker Can- non protesting agaimst (ie cuiting down ia the sundry ctwil bili of the ap- propriation for secrat service work. “The only people benefited would be the very worst of the big railroad men whose misdeeds we are trylug to pre- veut or eorrect,” were the words of the president.] These methods proved un- availing to prevent the wrong. Messrs. Tawney and Smith and their fellow members on she appropriations com- urittee paid wo heed to the protests, and as the obmoxious provisfon was ineorporated iu the sundry civil bill it ‘was impossible for me to consider or discuss it on its merks, as I should have done had it been In a separate bill. Therefore I have now taken the ounly method avaliable, that of discuss- ing it in my message to congress, and as all efforts to secure what I regard as proper treatment of the subject without recourse to plain speaking had failed 1 have spoken plainly and di- rectly and have set forth the facts in explicit terms. [Here the president gives instauces in which the secret service men have been tustrumental iu securing eeuvic- tions of offenses against federal laws, €iting especially e laad fraud cases.] In conneetion with the Nebraska prosecution the govermnent hus by de- cree secured the return to the govern- When it was discovered that the mecret | service and the bureau came near | | bureau te-dictate to them as the price of | whole letter, marked “Appendix C."| are now pending involving 150,000 acres more. Department’'s Agents Dishonest. All these ipvestigations in the land cases were undertaken in consequence of Mr. Hitchcock, the then secretary of the Interfor, becoming convineed ' that there were extensive frauds com- | mitted In his department, and the | ramifications of tbe frauds were so | farreaching that he was afraid to trust | his own officials to deal in thorough- golng fashion with them. One of the secret service men accordingly resign- ed and was appointed In the interior department to carry on this work. The first thing he discovered was that the special agents’ division or corps of de- tectives of the land office of the inte- rior department was largely under the | control of the land thieves, and in con- | sequence the Investigations above re- ferred to bad to be mage by secret service men. If the present law, for which Messrs. Tawney, Smith and the other gentle- men I have above mentioned are re- | sponeible, had then been in effect this action would have been impossible and most of the criminals would unques- tlonably have escaped. No more strik- | Ing fnstance ean be imagined of the | desirability of having a central eorps of skilled investigating agents who can | at any time be assigned, If necessary in large numbers, to Investigate some violation of she federal statutes, in no matter what branch of the public serv- ice. In this particular case most of the men investigated who were public servants were in the executive branch of the government. But in Oregon, | where an enormous acreage of fraudu- | lently alienated public land was recov- |ered for the government, a TUnited | States senator, Mr. Mitchell, and a | member of the lower house, Mr. Wil- | Hamson, were econvicted on evidence | obtained by men transferred from the | secret service, and another member of | congress was indicted. Stopped Naturalization Frauds. From 1901 to 1904 a snccessful inves- tigation of naturalizatiom affairs was made by the secret service, with the result of obtaining hundreds of convic- tions of conspirators who were convict- ed of selling fraudulent papers of nat- | uralization. (Subsequently congress | passed a very wise law providing a | special service and appropriation for | the preveutfon of naturalization frauds, | but, unfortunately at the same time | that the aetion agafust the secret serv- | fce was taken congress also cut down the apprapriation for this special serv- |dce, with the result of erippling the | effort te stop frauds in naturalization.) | The fugitives Greene and Gaynor, im- | plicated In a peculiarly big government | contract fraud, were located and ar- | rested in Canada by the secret service, |and, thanks to this, they have since | gone to prison for their crimes. The secret service was used to assist in the investigation of crimes under the peonage laws, and ewing partly thereto numerous convictions were se- cured and the objectionable practice was practically stamped out, at least in many districts. The most extensive smuggling of silk and epium in the history of the treasury ‘department was investigated by agents of the se- cret service in New York and Seattle and a successful prosecution of the of- fenders undertaken. Assistance of the utmost walue was rendered to the de- | partmept of justice in the beef trust investigition at Chicago; prosecutions were followed up and fines inflicted.; Thescotton leak scandal in the agri- cultural department was investigated: and” the responsible parties located. | What was dome in eounectfon with' Jottery investigations is disclosed in a letter just sent to me by the United States attorney for Delaware, running’ 96 toglows: | The destruction of the Honduras Na- | tional Lottery company, sucvessor to the' | Louislana Lottery company, was eotirely | the work of /the secret service. * * & l | This-exesllent work .wasaccomplished by | | Mr. Willds and his subordinates. I thought ft might bertimely to recall this | | prosecution. Lottery Cases and Others. Three hundred thousand dollars In | fines were collected by the govern ment in the lottery cases. Agaln, the ink contract fraud in the bureau of engraving and printing (a bureau of the treasury department) was investi- gated by the secret service and the guilty parties brought to justice. Mr. Tawney stated in the debate that this ‘was not investigated by the secret serv- ice, but by a clerk “down there,” con- veying the impression that the clerk was not in the secret service. As a matter of fact, he_was in the secret service. His name was Moran, and he was promoted to assistant chief for the excellence of his work in this case, The total expense for the office | and field foree of the secret service last year was $135000, and by this | one investigation they saved to the | government over $100.000 n year. | Thanks to the restriction Imposed by | congress, it is now very difficult for | the secretary of the treasury to use | the se rvice freely even In his own partment—for Instance, to use them to repeat what they did so | mirably in the case of this ink ¢ tract. The government is further crip- pled by the law forbidding it to em ploy detective agencies, Of course the government can detect the wost dau gerous crimes and punish the worst criminals only by the use either of the secret service or of private detectives. To hamper it in uslug the one and for- bid it o resort to the other can inure | to the benefit of none save the crimi- | nais. | Secretary Cortelyou Sustained. | The facts above given show beyond | possibility of doubt that what the sec- retary of the treasury and I had both written prior to the enactment of the }obnoxious prevision and what I have | since written in wy message to the | cougress state the facits exactly as they are. ‘lhe obuoxious provision is of benefit only to the criminal class and can be of benefit only to the crim- | inal class. If it bad been embodied in the law at the time wheu [ became president, all the prosecutivus above mentioned and wmauny others of the same genera! type would either mot have been undertakes or wouid have been undertsken with the government at & greut disadvautuge, und many and probably mest of the chief offend- of_being punished for their crimes. ers would have gome seat frae fustead | in different departments, is an absolute necessity,if the best work is to be done against criminals, 9t is by far the most efficient instrument possible to use against crime. Of course the more efficient an instrument is the more dangerous it is if ‘misused. To the afgument that a force like this can be misused it is only necessary to answer that the condition of its use- fnlness if handled properly is that it shall be so efficient as to be dangerous if bandled lmproperly. Any instance of abuse by the secret service or other investigating force in the departments should be unsparingly punished, and congress should hold itself ready at any and all times to investigate the executive departments whenever there is reasom to belleve that any such in- stance of abuse has occurred. I wish to emphasize my more than cordial ae- quiescence in the-view thet this is not only the right of comgress, but em- phatically its duty. single instance of such abuse duriag wy term as president. The President’s Appeal. laws wherever they may be whether in public or private Mfe, the action taken by the house last be reversed. When this action wae taken the senate committee, under the you Ifke that he had sent to Mr. Taw- ney, accepted the secretary’'s views, and the senate passed the bill in the' shape presented by Sevator Allison. In the conference, however, the house ‘conferees insisted on the retentiom of| the provision they had inserted, snd the senate yielded. [Appendix D eon- sists of a letter from Secretary Cortel- you to the late William B. AlMsony chairman of the senate commities appropriations, dated May 5, 1908, it the secretary protests vigorousty, agalnst the smendment to the sundry, civil bill probibiting the payment of “any person detafled or transferred from the secret service division.” He gives reasons for such detafls and n an appendix cites instances fm which the secret service mem have been de- talled. effectively in cases outside the| treasury department.} The chief of the secret service 1s pald a salary utterly inadequate te the importance of his functions andl to the admirably way in which he has performed them, 1 earnestly! urge that it be increased to $6,000 pee. annum, I also urge that the secret| service be placed where it properly. belongs and made a bureau in the! department of justice, as the chief of| the socret service has repeatedly re- guested. But, whether this is done or not, it should be explicitly provided: that the secret service can be used to! detect and punish crime wherever it! is found THEODORE ROOSEVELTY. The White House, Jan. 4, 1908, Members Mentioned Decline to Make Any Public Statement. Washington, Jan. 4—Members of the house who are mentioned in the mes- sage declined to make any publie state~ ment in reply. “I have no comment to make at this time,” said Mr. Fitzgerald. hatever comment I desire to make will be made from my place on the floor as a member of congress” was the only reply Mr. Shirley would miake. Representative Walter L Smith of Towa said Le would make a speech on floor of the house in reference to he mention of his name, but that he a question of privil- t such would recog- ived. He mntimated would n an injury rec his comments would be straight D T that to_the point. is mot in the ecity, but norrow ALL' RHEUMATICS INVITED TODAY TO TEST URIC-0 FREE A 75-Cent Bottle Given Free To All Who Apply. 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