The National tribune., 1908-12-17
THE BLACK CABINET.
.(Continued from PAGE ona.i

lHE bLACk CABINET.
CONTINUED from page onsj
II understood that Mr.. wilkie was d.
rected to prepare statement, and that
say In justification Of his action. Speaker
Cannon and some 9enators have also
been called to the White House in re-
gard to the Secret Service situation.
The President VIII Fisht Back.
dent intends to fight back. and that he
will make It uncomfortable, indeed, for
number OF Congressmen, II anything
like censure OF him is undertaken.
Many think this IL something Of a biufY
on the Presidents part to scare the
Senate and the House and to deter
them from any vigorous action. AS
matter OF fact, the purpose of the SEN
ate and the House apparently is to aot
as mildly. and in as dignifed o way as
possiDle, but at the same time to leave
no doubt Of their ofilcial disapproval
A half dozen different ways have been
suggested for accomplishing this Some
want to vote to lay the Secret Service
portion OF the message upon the table.
That would be taken az indicative Of
the Congressional displeasure. Others
want to pass resolution declaring that
the Presidents charges have been in
vestfgated, and that there Is nothing In
them to warrant the language he has
| used Probably the Senate and the
House will both agree upon some such
course Of action. altho II the President
should send in hot special message
and attack the records Of some Con-
gressmen, as he is represented as PLAN
ming to do. 1t Is quite within the prob
abilities that there would be formal
censure of the President
At any rate, high state Of mind
exists at the White House and also
high state Of mind at the Capitol. The
old ones have been barking back to
find some precedents by which to be
guided. They find nothing like 1t more
recently than the Administration of
President Andrew Johnson. When he
sent message that Senate and House
thought was insulting, they voted to
lay the message, or the offensive por-
tons Of it. upon the table. There was
a somewhat similar occurrence during
the Administration Of President jack
son, Of whom President Roosevelt Is q
great admirer.
Origin Of the Secret Service.
If all the facts about the operations
of the Secret Service in recent years
and about the proceedings in the Sem
ate and House for securing the restric-
tions are brought to light, the public
will have some interesting reading
| Originally the Secret Service Bureau
was organized for the purpose of de-
tecting and Furnishing counterfeiters.
Soon after the civil war counterfeiting
began to increase, and the Government
had to take some heroic action 70 pro-
tect itself and its currency. In more
| recent times 1t became necessary to
protect the President from cranks and
dangerous persons. The assassination
| nf PrpSf6enf MpKin1du q vad hof
necessity, and ever since President
Roosevelt has been in Office there has
been detail Of about half a dozen
Secret Service men, who do little else
than watch out for his safety. An ef-
fort was made to authorize a body
guard for the President, but Congress
thought that smacked too much of Old
World monarchs, and preferred that
| the Secret Service detail, aitho not
strictly legal, should continue.
There were many complaints about
the aggrandizement Of the Black Cab
met long before last year. Representa-
| tive Tawney was one of the foremost
In declaiming against the growth of
the big Special Agents Service in sew
eral Departments, and when this Spe-
| cial Agent Service was augmented by
details of Secret Service men he ar
gued that 1t was time to call a halt.
When Chief Wilkie was before the Ap-
proprfations Committee to explain the
appropriations that his Secret Service
Bureau needed Mr.. Tawney hauled MIN
1 over the Goals, and asked questions
| that Mr.. Wilkie was willing to answer
] not be taken down by the stenograph-
I er and printed in public document
| form, as happens with all the appro-
priation hearings. There was an agree
ment that Mr.. Wilkie should tell all he
knew. but that it should not be made
public.
Versions as to what Mr.. Wilkie said
differ. Some say he declared the Presi-
dent had embarrassed him greatly by
insisting upon Secret Service men doing
certain work, but that there was moth.
ing for him to do but obey Or to re-
sign. In any event the Appropriations
Committee voted the restrictions into
the appropriation law as proviso
When the bill got over TO the Senate
that proviso was struck out by the Sen
ate Appropriations Committee, of which
Mr.. Hale now one of the most insisten
for a censure of the President, was Act
ing Chairman. However, when the bill
went into conference Mr.. Tawncy was
able to have it restored, and so 1t be-
lcame law.
Anger Mt the President.
The resentment at the Presidents ac.
ton in going ahead and doing his vii
without regard especially to- the stat
utes has long been very strong with tn,
} Senate and House Appropriations Com
} mittees. They have to watch the ex'
| penditures of the Governments moneys
and as abuses are constantly springint
up the annual appropriations bills ar'
constantly hedged about with proviso
calculated to make the Executive De
partments observe the laws. and NO
take the making of laws into their owl
hands. 1t is therefore not the frs
, time that the Appropriations Commit
tees have felt very angry at the Presi