Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-31
Need Not Testify Regarding
Secret Service Operations.
SENATOR HALE SAYS so
Senate Committee Investigation Not
to Be Sensational.
careful AND Deliberately
No Purpose to Make President APP
pear Before It After March 4.
Message Is Explained.

Message Is Explained.
| Senator Hale. acting chairman of the
committee on appropriations, which has
in charge the investigation of the meth
DDS of the secret service, said today that
there was no intention. so far as he knew,
of summoning President Roosevelt before
| the committee after his retirement on
March a. as was intimated in some pub
lished reports.
The senator gave out the following
statement:
My attention has been called to an in
teresting but imaginative statement in
this mornings Washington Post. as to the
object and conduct of the investigation
into the secret service which has been
committed by the Senate to the commit
| tee on appropriations Of that body. So
far as my knowledge or my intentions as
to the investigation go there is no foun-
dation whatever for any of the state
ments made in the article In the Post.
No Sensational Investigation.
1.-The investigation will be conducted in
no sensational way, but after the fashion
of care and elaboration that generally
characterizes Senate Investigations.
The extent and use and the kind of
work performed by the secret service, un-
der the direction of the heads of certain
departments, have greatly and starti'nsiy
been amplified during the past few years;
1t is this situation which has attracleo
the attention of the Senate and Is the
foundation of its investigation.
1.-The Presidents message Is only sec
ondary in It's Importance as affecting this
investigation. The course to be pursued
by the committee Is in no respect an in
vestigation of the President. and IS not,
by any means. the result Of his message.
Nor will the work of the committee be IN
any way limited an answer TO that
message. Nor is there any intention, as
the Post article intimates, of prolonglns
the investigation until after March 4.
And ] doubt whether 1t has ever entered
into the mind of any Of the most mag
NATIVE of senators that it is the intention
to prolong the investigation and to call
upon President Roosevelt as a witness
when he becomes private citizen.
Departments Asked to Tell.
Before l left Washington. on the adj
iournment of Congress for the holidays,
as acting chairman of the committee on
appropriations I sent copy OF the Sen
ate resolution directing the investigation
to the heads of the five different depart
ments covering those which believed
were employing and extending the work
of the secret service force of the gov
ment / asked that specific information
under the different heads OF the resolution
be sent at as early day as possible 10
the committee on appropriations
1.-The work covered by this In the de-
come to the committee. But / have no
reason to believe that the head OF any
department. either by his own motion or
by instruction. will decline to furnish the
facts which are sought for.
SHOULD there be any undue delay. now
ever the committee will undoubtedly see
to it that a resolution be presented To thu
Senate directing the heads OF the di1tefe''
departments to furnish the informal.
already sought for, thus giving it the
force of a formal direction by the Senate
as customary in all such cases.
"When this Information Is received
and / have no reason to believe that IL
will be withheld-the committee will thor
oughly examine Into it. and. either by
subcommittee or by action Of the whole
committee, arrange it in form for re-
port to the Senate as to the facts, which
ought to show the complete extent and
ramification of the secret service In all
parts of the government.
Subject One Of Magnitude.
THE subject is of that magnitude that
it demands a thorough exposition of all
this comparatively new feature in our
government. for the information Of Con-
gress and for the public at large.
"The very limited secret service of the
government began in small appropriations
and small force. almost entirely directed
to Investigations into counterfeiting and
frauds upon the currency. But it is said
and believed by many that this has been
greatly departed from and that the eX-
tension of this service is alarming and
dangerous and beyond the legitimate
functions of the general government.
Whether this is or Is not SO the investi-
CATION ought to disclose.
There is little in the Senate investfga-
ton that has to do with intimations that
members of Congress in either house have
been Swallowed or spied upon by emlssa-
ries in the secret service. / doubt whether
the President believes that senators and
representatives are unduly sensitive upon
this.
His message. when carefully read, does
not bear out the proposition that members
of Congress were improperly influenced
in their votes restricting the secret serv-
ice because of any criminality on their
part, the exposure of which was feared.
Whenever the results of the investlga-
ton by the committee are laid before the
Senate the whole subject will be for the
action of that body. While, as / nave
said, the investigation will be conducted
in no sensational way, it will. 1 think,
furnish to the Senate a great body Of i'm
portant information upon which the SEN
ate will act in its wise discretion.