The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-09
President Roosevelt Submits to the Senate Statement of
 the Land Deal
PULLMAN IS DECLARED
 ID BE MIXED UP IN DEAL
History of the Oregon Transaction Is Given as Report of Secret Service Men and Includes Copies of
 TiIlman's Letters.

Washington. January s.-President
 Roosevelt tonight made public the details
 of an investigation by postoffice inspec-
 tors and secret service agents of Senator
 Tillmans connection with an alleged
 Hand grab" in Oregon. AS he presents
 the evidence to Senator Hale, in response
 to the latter's request to the heads of
 the various executive departments for a
 statement of the operations of the secret
 service, the President undertakes to show:
 That MT Tillman used his influence as a senator in an effort to force the gov
 ernment to compel a railroad corpora
 ton to relinquish it's control of land grants from the United States in order that he and his family and his secretary J. B. Knight, might profit,through the pur- chase of some of the land; that the sen- ator used his government franlzing privil- eges in numerous instances for the con- duct of private business
 Comparatively few senators were fav-
 ored with the opportunity of reading the Presidents report to Senator Hale but
 those who did read the report took a se rious view of it, although most of the sen
 ators refused to believe that MT Tillman
 had ever done anything in violation of his
 oath as a senator
 Statement on Monday.
 Senator Tillman did not permit the fact | thar the President was giving out charges | against him to alter his determination to | make no statement until Monday He said | that he could not make his reply so com- l plete he would desire for tomorrow's 1 papers, and that he would therefore, withhol1 whatever remarks he might have
 to make until Monday, when he would
 irake statement to the Senate. No ef- 1 fort was made by him to conceal the fact 1 that when he had learned the facts con l ce,ning the railroad grant, he had made l an effort to obtain portions of the land in 1 the names of himself and members of his l fanilv but declared that as at most, he | could have gotten possession of only a 1 few hundred acres. his efforts were, after 1 all, also the public's and not especially in | his own interest.
 l Immediately after the conclusion of the 1 ohaplain's prayer Monday. MT Tillman l will ask the recognition of the chair on a | question of personal privilege. Departing | from his custom of extemporaneous l speaking he will read his statement, thus l insurng more careful adherence to what he desires to say than he would be able to give in en off-hand speech
 TIlman's Part in Deal.
 The communication to Senator Hale is | rearly 5000 words long and in addition l the.e are appended numerous exhibits in- 1 ciuding copies of letters written by Sem | ator TIllman and his agent, William E.
 Lee. showing that they did make an ef- l fort tc secure several quarter sections l of the Oregon land, and the reports of the 1 postoffco inspectors who investigated the | transactions of the land agents. It was 1 through this investigation that the alleged | interest of Senator Tillnan was brought l to liz ht and fatefully it appears that it was at his instigation the inquiry was 1 begun.
 Communication to Hale. l The Presidents communication to 1 Senator Hale is as follows:
 My Dear Senator Hale-I have re- quested the different departments of | the government. not only those to whom you sent requests, but those to
 whom you did not, to give me all the l information about the of special l attorneys. special agents. inspectors. | etc.. in their departments, which will enable me to put before you all the facts which, I understand 1t, your committee desire to have. I transmit these reports herewith I call es- Dec1aI attention LO the reports or the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the
 Treasury, and the Attorney General. Let me at the outset most earnestly express my cordial agreement with the view that it is not only the right, but the duty of Congress to investigate the
 workings of the secret service or de- tective agents, by which alone the
 government can effectually safeguard
 itself against wrong doing, punish crime and bring to justice criminals.
 I am well aware of the liability to abuse inherent in any effective detec- tive system or the secret service sys- tenn, for the measure of the efficiency of the system is also the measure of the seriousness of the abuses of the system. if it be applied to wrong purposes or directed in an improper
 manner. It is eminently to the public interest that there should be vigilant inquiry into the workings of this agency both by the heads of the execu-
 tive departments, and by Congress. System Is Necessary.
 'It neverthele remains true that 1 this system is absolutely indispensable, | if the public interest is to be ade- ] quately safeguarded, and wrong doers | taught to fear the law to show how 1 indispensable detectives are when im- l portant work of confidential char ! acter must be done, I refer you to the | experience of the immigration commits | sion. appointed by Congress and large lv composed of senators and repre- | sentatives. which has found it abso- | lutely necessary to employ detectives | in order to achieve the best results. 'In my communication of the 4th in- l stant to the lower house l have set | forth at length the reasons why, In my judgment, 1t is eminently desirable | that, in addition to the special detec- | tives or inspection service of each de- partment, there should be in some one | department, preferably the department | of justice. a service which can be used l at need in any department in order to achieve the ends l have described. Accusations Made.