Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-04-01

We have in our possession letter written
some three years ago to a gentleman in this
State by Elmer Washburn, who was then chief
of the United States ssecret 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. 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 il 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 C aid raid
them and obtain the leading men with evidence
that would efectually crush the gang
The public will learn with 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 matter of surprise to the public when tho
GLOBE states further, that the government
officials are well 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 a 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 a raid is made and the great impor-
lance of the bureau is heralded throughout the
country. These ''put up jobs are what tho
secret service rely upon to secure their appro-
priation.
It will be remembered that something over
three years ago raid was made upon house
in the upper part of this city and two men AZ
rested with great flourish of trumpets. It
will be remembered further that the leading
man, the man who did all the counterfeitine
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 arrested7
Certainly not. BE is known; it is known that
he bought the press to print the bills. It il
known that he bought engravers' tools: that he
bought chemicals; that he actually printed the
bills-in Short that he did all the work for
which two men were tried and one was con-
victed.
District Attorney Bllson knows this. Mar
shall McLaren knows this. Secret Service
Officer J. P. McIlrath knows it. The bureau 1t
Washington said these men were wanted"
but instead of being arrested they are hobnoh-
bing with the officials in st. Paul who know
their guilt, and will, in all probability, again
become employees of the dastardly secret service
bureau.
There is no more rascally department of the
government than this relic of the war-the se.
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
duc'ng Others to become criminals. When the
victim is we'll 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.
It is time that Congress cut off this secret
service excres cence and there is sufficient evil
the whole bureau. There will be good chance
for Gen. McLaren to vindicate the 'sburcau"
by arresting the Billiards. when they come III to
hob-uob with him to-day.
The expenditure of one hundred thousand
dollars per year to make criminals. employing
expert professional criminals to induce men to
commit crime or to convict innocent men, IL
one of the infamies which is blotch upon tho
government.