New-York tribune., 1908-12-13
AWAITING ACTION ON HIS
NESS1GE.
Censure Hill DrdIC Fire from Uhite
Housc-Use of the Secret
SerJice Defended.
lE.rom n. r-itun. Rnreaa. ]


regard TO that portion of his annual message
which dealt with the Secret Service Tne mers
appointment Of committees TO consider Wnst ac-
tion should be taken regarding the message VIII
not /be noticed b. him. but any act Whlch par
takes Of the nature Of censure ~ the E1xecutiV7
will draw tie fire Of the White House. and tnere
u-iI1 he nothing uncertain about Mr- RoOsevelts
aim.
This does rot mean, as some appear to thinN'
that the President IS vindictive. nor tnat Ne
purposes 20 vent any spleen on members OF
Congress for criticisinz his message Ine
run1ors that the President has employed tns
Secret Service men to shadow members OF con
gress and that he has list OF their persohaI
peccadilIoes. or that he purposes TO hold thelr
private lives up obloquy are. OF course simply
absurd Neither is the inference warranted th4C
the President has evidence against members o.
congress of crimes which it is his duty as Chisf
Executive to prosecute.
The facts are simply these, The Presldeht
stated in his message that 1t s not too much
TO say that this amendment tthe one insisted
upon bv the House, has been OF benefit only.
and could be Of benefit only. TO the crlmlhal
classes" and further. that the chief argument
in favor of the provision was that congressman
did not themselves wish to be investigated oy
Secret Service men, etc
MAY REPLY IN SPECIAL MESSAGE
Ho1- if either house Of Congress shall see At
% take action which implies censure on the
president for these statements. ne will deem
II NOT only his right but his duty 70 adVlss
Congress in a special message OF all the re4-
sons which prompted him TO make the ooserFa-
tions and to urge the removal Of the restrlc-
tions which the House was responsive Ior
placing on the usefulness Of this branch OF the
government The facts which the President
ffCr1 of
and incidentally make public, in so far as tney
deal with the conduct OF members OF Congress.
will touch only their official lives, and Wnlie
his friends say that II is unlikely that ne VIII
show any absolute malfeasance in ONCE on tnelr
part he will be compelled TO show relationships
between certain members and certain large m
terests which made necessary some inrestisa-
ton by the Secret Service 1t may be further
stated that in the -onIy instance <Shere II TVas
deemed necessary to employ Secret Service men
to shadow a member Of Congress. he vas m
dicted and subsequently convicted
The correspondence which William r Hearst
saw ft TO publish during the campaign Is
pointed TO as indication that some members
of Congress have questionable relations Tnat
certain facts have come 10 the attention or the
President which placed upon him the necessity
Of utilizing the Secret Service men to protect
the interests of the government is equally true
Those in possession Of the facts assert that
there will be no doubt whatever in the mind
of the public. once II has learned the course and
the motives of the President. that the conduct OF
the Secret Service has been right and proper and
that the Chief Executive wholly warranted
in the remarks contained IN his message In
any event, the President is entirely willing TO
leave the verdict to the American people It ts
realized Of course. that Congress may expungs
the entire special message the subject from
f+s hrrrr fyK-iIT
difference TO the President He holds himself
responsible TO the people. not to Congress and
II he is satisfied that the people understand that
his course has been in all respects justiha5ls
and proper it will be a matter Of compIets in
difference to him what action Congress NAV
take For the present the Executive Is merely
waiting TO what the course of Congress viii
be. but if it undertakes TO 'impeach- the ac-
curacy Of his statements he WILL II Is said,
promptly proceed to make good"
USE OF SECRET SERVICE FORCE
Incidentally. it is Of interest to note that
lawyers hold that the violations Of law in the
employment Of the Secret Service men have ex-
listed only in the imaginatiOns Of the lawmakers
The law provided a certain sum for the sup
preston Of coUnterfeiting and the protection OF
the President" II contained no provision how
ever. which forbade the employment Of the sans
IN
pressing counterfeiting from ferreting out land
frauds or investigating the Beef Trust the
next Congress also placed at the disposal OF
several departments funds with which to carry
on the suppression Of frauds and violations of
the federal statutes. Most of the Secret Service
men are per diem employees. When. for instance
the Department OF Justice required men 70
obtain evidence Of the violations of federal stat
utes, il called on the chief Of the Secret Services
for men. and ne detailed such operatives as he
could spare. their remuneration for the time
they were working for the Department OF Jus
tiCe being paid out Of the fund appropriated for
its purpose, which avoided any violation OF the
law. This the custom before the House pro-
vision OF last year was enacted It was not only
in violation of no law. but it operated for the
utmost economy. For instance. in the fiscal wear
of 19CT the cost Of the Secret Service. for its
combined work for the Treasury. suppresssnx
counterfeiting. etc. and for the Department OF
Justice. amounted 70 S14S. .OO0 while in the last
year the Department Of Justice being unable.
under the House provision. 20 obtain the use ,f
Secret Service men and thus compelled to en-
poy force Of its own the cost Of the two forces
exceeded that OF the year before by approxt-
nately 100000
The rumor that the President employed secret
Service men 10 watch the personal conduct oe
members of Congress appears 10 have grown
out Of the misguided enterprise OF a member 81
IN, local police force. This man sought to OBJ
tain an increase Of pay for District OF Columbia
policemen. Failing 10 do so. he undertook 70
shadow a number OF members Of Congress He
obtained evidence. as he believed TO insure ths
increase OF pay. but when he laid 1t before his
superior he was dismissed from the services.