Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-21
PRAISED ROOSEVELT LOAN OF DETECTIVES
Sentiment of New Hampshire Proposed to Stop Depart
Republicans Today mental Practice.
AT STATE CONVENTION SOME FACTS BROUGHT OUT
Early Revision Of Tariff Schedule Revelations Made by Assistant Chief
Favored Moran.
TAFT RESOLUTION TABLED EXAMINED BY MR.. TAWNEY
Stringent Secret
Bureau to Be n
he Meeting. Sundry
Proposed to Stop a Depart
mental Practice.
SOME FACTS BROUGHT OUT
Revelations Made by Assistant Chief
Moran.
EXAMINED BY MR.. TAWNEY
Stringent Restriction on the Secret
Service Bureau to Be Put in the
Sundry Civil Bill.

1t is all up with the black cabinet OF
Washington. Alarmed b. the institution
here in the National capital Of secret
service spy system similar to that OF the
hated black cabinet OF st. Petersburg the
House appropriation committee has In
cluded In the sundry civil appropriation
bill which will be reported this week. a
drastic and stringent provision prohibit
ing the detailing. assignment or loan OF
any member OF the government secret
service force TO any other department OF
the government for any purpose what
soever.
The hearings on the sundry civil bill,
which have not yet been made public.
contain a deal of Interesting information.
extracted after considerable effort. from
Assistant Chief w. H. Moran Of the Sc
cret service. This section Of the hearings
which contains Mr.. Moran's testimony
shows that In detailing secret service
operators to other departments of the
government for detective purposes the
law now on the statute books has been
repeatedly violated.
Used In Divorce Proceedings.
But 1t was learned today that there 10
a great deal more In the matter than ap-
pears In the hearings. It Is known that
these secret service men loaned to other
departments have been used In all sorts
OF ways; and some Of the ways, even by
the most liberal Interpretation, cannot bs
construed to be. In any degree. intimately
related to the actual business Of the gov-
ernment Offlcials Of the departments hero
In washington, Offic ais Of high and low
degree who for one reason or another
a taA trl. 10 elAt.s
superiors. have been followed night and
day by these secret service agents of the
government, detailed from the secret serv-
Ice. division to this, that or the other de-
partment and paid out of that department
fund with the good gold Of Uncle Sam.
1t Ia said that any number OF cases OF
this kind could be cited but the most re-
narkable Of all, and the one which. 50
far as the appropriation committee Is
concerned, was the straw that broke the
camel's back. was the employment by the
Navy Department o. q secret serv. .ce man
to gather evidence Of the kind that or
dinariiy Is used only on one side or tlrs
other In sens ational divorce case. Upon
this kind OF evidence gathered by a Sc
cret service man. paid by the government
drastic action was based, a mideh pman
at the Naval Academy being dismissed
from the service. which dismissal was
followed by suit for divorce In naval
circles.
To show to what an extent the practice
among the various departments OF
using secret service men for all purposes
has grown 1t is necessary only to state
that In the fiscal year 1907 the secret
service division supplied seventy y-eight de-
rectives to the other departments Of the
government here in Washington. Sixty.
one OF these men went to the Department
Of Justice. seven to the State Department,
three to the War Department, four to the
Navy Department, and three to the De-
partment OF Commerce and Labor. From
I fr, Tnf
six detectives were supplied to the de-
partments by the secret service Division
dfty-one going to the Department OF
Justice. five to the State Department. four
TO the War Department, five to the Navy
Department and one to Porto Rico.
To Stop the Practice.
According to Chairman Tawuey ana
other members Of the House committee
on appropriations. nothing more foreign
TO every fundamental principle Of the re-
publican form Of government could be
imagined than this gradual growth and
extension of the espionage system here
in the National capital. The members OF
the committee are a unit in the determi-
nation to stop the practice here and now,
and the provision which they have In
cluded In the sundry civil bill is intended
to accomplish this end. They believe that
they will have the support Of a majority
of the members of the House of Repre-
Sentatlves In their efforts, and Chairman
Tawney expects that after he and other
members Of the committee have called
attention to the utterances Of Assistant
Chief Moran of the secret service and
have explained the situation and the re-.
medal paragraph the legislative restric-
tion in question will be permitted to re-
main in the BILL thus effectually putting
a Quietus on the local black cabinet"
The appropriations committee had some
<rnx, Ia in A
to admit that the law was being violated.
"Are these men detailed to the o. her de-
partments?" asked Chairman Tawney OF
Mr. Moran when the latter appeared be-
fore the committee.
NO" replied Mr.. Moran, they are not
detailed"
could they be detailed:"
"No sir; not lawfully"
Replying to Mr. Tawney's questions, Mr..
Moran then admitted that when the secret
service men were detailed or loaned or
assigned, or whatever It may be called. I"
other departments they did not resign
their position as secret service men, and
that brought forth a query from Mr.
Tawney il the word detailed was used
In the ordinary way.
II don't think you intend that said
Mr.. TRwney. because ii you have de-
tailed them you have violated the law
1--WE do not detail them," said Mr..
Moran. correcting himself. "What 10
done, we separate them entirely from our
service; in other words, their pay and al
lowance is stopped the moment they un-
dertake any other work for any other
department.
Mere Evasion.
But. taking this statement as a basis,
Mr.. Tawney demonstrated, by extracting
informa ION p!ccemeal from Mr.. Moran,
that although these men were not ID
tailed" yet the difference from actually
detailing them and leaning or assigning
them amounted to little more than a
technical fvasion of the law. Not only
that. but these secret service men sent to
other dep rtnents do not cease reporting
to their 81 scret service chiefs. nor do they
take the oath Of office under any other
department, as is required by STATUTE. All
thess matters were brought cut In full.
1t also came out that when the secret
service force was not sufficient to supply
all the demands for men from the varf-
Gus departments outside detectives from
private agencies were employed. although
this has been expressly forbidden by
statute ever since the Homestead strike.
"If q department made request upou
the Treasury Department for secret serv-
ice employees asked M. Tawney. land
you were not able TO meet that reouesS
WITH the force sou then had In tie EN-