Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1909-01-15

tAAht ~ ~ 49,
hey. at that time private secretary to the
speaker of the louise l enclose a copy
of certain extracts from the article.
marked Appendix y. 1t contains an ut
service division of the treasury depart
ment as it's chief. The opening paragraph
includes, for instance, statements like the
following:
He dhe chief of the division) and his
men are DESTROYS of doing the secret de-
tective work for the whole government
and are not particular about drawing the
line between the lawmakers and the law
breakers. They are really TO shadow the
former as well as the latter
Then after saying that congress VIII IN
sist that the men shall only be used 10
stop counterfeiting the article goes on:
Congress does not intend to have a
Fouche or any other kind OF minister or
police to be used by the executive de-
partnents against the legislative branch
of the government. IT has been so used,
used recently. 49, The legislative branch
of the government will not tolerate the
meddling OF detectives, whether they rep
resent the president. cabinet officers, or
only themselves s*s Congressman re-
sented the secret Interference of the secret
service men, who for weeks Swallowed
some OF the most respected members OF
the House and Senate. ''sWhen 1t was
discovered that the secret service men
were shadowing congressman there was a
storm of indignation at the capitol and the
bureau came near being abolished and the
appropriation for the suppression OF coun-
terfeiting cut off. ..sAt another time
the chief of the secret service had his men
shadow congressman with a view to in
yolVing them I'm scandals that would en-
able the bureau to dictate TO them as the
men have shown an Inclination again to
shadow members OF congress-, knowing
them TO be lawmakers, and this Is no
Joke. Several OF the departments have
a oLaI onnuraGo for Sporpt funds for tnVNS-
tigation, and the treasury department
wants the limitation emoved from the
appropriation for suppressing counterfeit
ing. This shows a tendency toward
Founcheism and a secret watch on other
officials than themselves"
The Land Frauds.
At the time OF this publication the work
OF the secret service, which was thus as
sailed, included especially the investiga-
ton of great land frauds In the west,
and the securing OF evidence to help the
department OF Justice in the beef trust
Investigations at Chicago, which resulted
In successful prosecutions.
In view of Mr.. Busbey's position, / have
accepted the above quoted statements as
fairly expressing the real meaning and ami
mus of the attacks made in general terms
on the use of the secret service for the
punishment OF criminals. Furthermore, In
the performance Of my duty. to endeavor
to find the feelings Of congressman on
public questions OF note, ] have frequent
ly discussed this particular matter with
members of congress; and on such occas-
ions the reasons alleged to me for the
hostility Of congress TO the secret service,
both by those who did and by those who
did not share this hostility, were almost
invariably the same as those set forth In
Mr.. Busbey's article. I may add, by the
way, that these allegations as to the sec
ret service are wholly without foundation
in fact.
The Main Issue.
Put All Of this is of insignificant import
ance compared with the main. the real
issue This issue Is simply, does congress
desire that the government shall have at
it's disposal the most efficient instrument
for the detection OF criminals and the pre-
yention and punishment OF crime, or does
II not? The action of the House last May
was emphatlcally an action against the
interest of justice and against the interest
OF law-abiding people, and in its effect
of benefit My to lawbreakers. l am not
now dealing with motives; whatever may
have been the motive that induced the
action OF which / speak. this was beyond
all question the effect or that action. Is
the House now willing to remedy the
wrong?
the secret service division-under the
practice which had been for many years
recognized as proper and legitimate, and
which had received the sanction of the
highest law officers of the government
have covered "A wide range of offenSes
against the IeOCIdL law. by ldf
the most important OF these related
to the public domain, as to which
there was uncovered a ~far-reachlng
and widespread system of fraud
ulent transactions involving both the IL
legal acquisition and the illegal fencing Of
government land; and, in connection with
both these offenSeS, the crimes Of perjury
and subornation of perjury. Some of the
persons involved in these violations were
of great wealth and of wide political and
social influence. Both their corporate as
sociations and their political affiliations,
and the lawless character of some of their
employees, made the investigations not
only difficult but dangerous. In Colorado
one of the secret service men was assassin
ated. In Nebraska it was necessary TO
remove a United States attorney and a
United States marshal before satisfactory
progress could be MADE III the prosecution
of the offenders.
The evidence in all these cases was
chiefly secured by men trained in the sec
ret service and detailed TO the department
OF Justice at the request of that depart
ment and of the department of the inter-
ior. In the state of Nebraska alone 60
defendants were indicted. and of the 81
cases thus far brought to trial % have re-
suited in conviction; two of the principals,
Messrs. Comstock and Richards, men of
wealth and wide influence, being sentenc-
ed to IL months In jail and find $500 each.
The Iowa Case.
The following secret service memoran-
dunn made in the course of a pending case
illustrates the ramiications OF interest
with which the government has to deal:
Charles Z. Stewart, or Council Bluffs,
was indicted at Omaha for conspiracy to
defraud the government of the title to
public lands in Mcpherson county, Me-
braska; also indicted for maintaining an
unlawful Enclosure OF the public lands, and
also under indictment for perjury In con-
nection with final proof submitted by him
on lands filed on by him as q home
stead. In his final proof he swore that he
and his family had resided on the lands In
Mcpherson county (Which are within his
unlawful in%closure), when as a matter OF
fact his family has at all times resided In
wholesale grocery business, his store be-
Ing located In Omaha, In the wholesale
district there. He is reputed to be quite
wealthy. Stewards attorneys ara Harl &
| FINLEY, OF Council Bluffs, Ia, who are also
attorneys at that place for the Omaha and
Council Bluffs Street Railway I'm
which compan Harl holds considerable
stock, Stewart being also a stakeholder
and possibly a director of the
He is also represented In Omaha by w
J.. O'Connell. one OF the attorneys there
represented in his perjury case by Bin
Gurley, OF Omaha, Neb., who at one time
| was ouite closely connected In a political
way with the e.. =. II. r. company: Stew
art Is also closely associated with C.. Il.
HaZleton. postmaster at Council Bluffs
Harl q FINLEY and HazIeton ara all mem
| bers of the same lodge. Another close per
| sonai friend OF Stewards is Ed Hart, alias
"Waterworks" Hart. president OF the
Council Bluffs Water company, and In.
terested in the street railway. Stewards
4 father uynE infnraSfah In and nrnnttnatly