Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-04-01
THE SECRET SERVICE.
CHANCE FOR MLAREN TO DIS
NGULSH HIMSELF.
Two Notorious Counterfeiters In st. Paul
They Invade the U. s. Marshaps ONCE and
Seek Employment in the Secret Service
Department-The ERascally Business OF
inalg.

We have in our possession letter written
some three years ago to q gentleman in this
State by Elmer Washburn, who was then chief
of the United States lsecret service bureau.
The following is an extract from that letter:
''Your favor in relation to John Ballard and
his gang of counterfeiters, their whereabouts
and operations, is received. I can say to you
that we have long known the dangerous charac-
ter of John Ballard and his gang: that we have
followed them much closer than is generally
supposed, and that 1t is no part of our plan to
let them escape punishment. The difficulty
has always been, not in making an arrest, but
to get them in a position where we could raid
that would effectually crush the gang"
The public will learn W. tn surprise that this
John Ballard, with his brother George, who are
wanted by the secret service bureau can be
found at this moment in st. Paul. It may not
be q matter of surprise to the public when the
GLOBE states further, that the government
officials are we'll aware of their presence here,
and that these distinguished brothers visited
United States Marshal McLaren's Office yester-
day with impunity. They have just been re-
leased from term at Saltwater, where they
were sent for stealing wheat, being convicted
under false name. They not only visited
Gen. McLaren. but they applied to
be- employed by the secret service
bureau to rope in parties and induce them
to commit crime. When they get the game
well in hand they notify the secret service Off
GERS, and raid is made and the great impor-
lance of the bureau is heralded throughout the
country. These ''put up" jobs are what The
| secret service rely upon to secure their appro-
priation.
1t will be remembered that something over
three years ago raid was made upon q house
| in the upper part of this city and two men ar
| rested with great flourish of trumpets. It
will be remembered further that the leading
| man, the man who did all the counterfeitinR
| work, was conveniently absent and could not
| be found.
That mans name was George Ballard, and
he is one of the brothers who called upon
Marshal McLaren yesterday. Was he arrested?
Certainly not. He is known; it is known that
! he bought the press to print the bills. It is
known that he bought engravers' tools: that he
| bought chemicals; that he actually printed the
| hills-in short, that he did alt the work for
which two men were tried and one was con-
victed.
! District Attorney Billson knows this. Mar
shall McLaren knows this. Secret Service
Officer J. P. Mc1lrath knows it. The bureau At
Washington said these men were wanted"
but instead of being arrested they are hobnob-
| bling with the officials in st. Paul who know
their guilt, and WILL in all probability, again
become employees OF Tue QastarQly secret service
bureau.
There is no more rascally department of the
/ government than this relic of the war-the &C.
| cret service bureau. It has of late years grown
infamous, and is now chiefly used to make
criminals. The government is asked for an an
nual appropriation of between one and two
hundred Thousand dollars to sustain the rotten
bureau. Some twenty or twenty-five men are
known, officially, as employees of the bureau.
These officers, or some of them, employ
criminals like Ballard, and pay them for in.
| ducng others to become criminals. When the
victim is well trapped the Ballard in the case
gives the signal and the arrest is made. The
secret service officers prove their efficiency and
come in for another appropriation to continue
their damnable work.
George Ballard was in the saloon when one
of his victims was arrested in this city. He was
| in LIE Sueur county when his victims were tried
and convicted. Pat. Terrill, the notorious
secret service detective. knew his whereabouts
but did not dare to produce him lest he might
be convicted instead of the innocent parties on
| trial. The bureau wanted to use the scoundrel
Ballard again and could not afford to expose
him.
1t is time that Congress cut off this secret
service excres cence and there is sufficient evi.
dence in this one matter in st. Paul to condemn
the whole bureau. There will be good chance
for Gen. McLaren> to vindicate the ''bureau'
by arresting the BILLIARDS. when they come III tc
hob-nob with him to-day.
The expenditure of one hundred Thousand
dollars per year to make criminals. employing
expert professional criminals to induce men fc
commit crime or to convict innocent men, Il
one of the infamies which is blotch upon the
| government