The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-01-04
HIS MEANING
WAS GARBLED
Continued from page one.

no one excepting 70 these criminals, and
It seriously hampers the government In
tho detection OF crime and the securing OF
Justice. Moreover, II not only affects de-
partments outside OF the treasury, but II
tends 70 hamper the secretary OF tho
treasury himself ia the effort to utilize
the employees Of his department go as to
best meet the requirements OF the public
service II forbids him from preventing
frauds upon the customs service, from in
vestigating irregularities IN branch minis
and a@aay Offices and has seriously Grip
Piled him. II prevents the promotion OF
employees In tbs secret service and this
further Encourages good effort. In its
present form the restriction operates only
TO the advantage of the criminal, OF the
wrongdoor.
The chief argument In favor Of the pro-
vision Was THAI the congressman ala not
themselves wish 10 be investigated by
secret service men. Very little OF suoh
investigation has been done In the past.
But It ~ true THAT tho work OF the secret
service agents was partly responsible for
the indictment ana conviction OF sem
ator and a congressman for land frauds
In Oregon. ! do not believe that Il is
In the public interest 10 protect GRIM
inals IN any branch Of the public service
and. exactly as we have again and again
and convicted such criminals who were
IN the executive branch of the govern
ment 80 in my belief we should be given
ample means TO prosecute them X found
In the Legislative branch. But IL this ia
not considered desirable a special excep-
ton could be made in the law prohibit
ing the use OF the secret service force in
investigating members OF the congress
1t would be far better to do this than to
do what actually was done and strive to
prevent or at least to hamper effective
action against criminals by the executive
branch OF the government
Asks Careful Reading OF Message.
A careful reading OF this message
VIII show that said nothing to war
rant the statement that 'sthe majority
OF the congressman were in fear Of
being investigated by the secret serv-
ice men, or .'that congress as whole
was actuated by that motive" aid
not make any such statement in this
message. Moreover. have never made
any such statement about congress as
whole nor, with few inevitable ex-
ceptions. about the members Of con-
gress In any message or article or
speech. On the contrary, have al
ways not only deprecated, but vigor-
ously resented, the practice OF indis-
crfminate attack upon congress and
fndiscriminate condemnation of all
congressmdA. wise and unwise, &c and
unfit, good and bad alike. No one real
lies more than the Importance of
cooperation between the executive
and congress, and no one holds the au-
thorfty and dignity Of the congress Of
tie United States In higher respect
than / do. / have not the slightest
sympathy with the practice Of Judging
men for good or for I'll not on their
several merits, but In nlsss, as mem.
bers OF one particular body or one
caste TO put together all men holding
or who have held a particular Office.
whether 1t be the Office OF president
or Judge or senator or member Of the
house Of representatives, and to class
item all, without regard to their In
lifvfduai differences, as good or bad
seems to me utterly indnfensibIe, and
It Is equally indefensible whether the
good are COMPOUNDED with the bad In
d heated and unwarranted champions
ship Of all or In q heated and unwar-
Eanfed assault upon all. would nei-
Their attack nor defend al executive
officers in a mass, whether presidents,
governors, cabinet officers or officials
OF lower rank, nor would attack or
defend all legislative officers In q mass.
The safety OF free government rests
very largely In the ability Of the plain,
everyday citizen to discriminate be-
tween those public servants who serve
him well and those public servants
who serve him Ill. He cannot thus
discriminate If he is persuaded to pass
judgment upon man not with refer
ence to whether he Is a at or unfit
public servant, but with reference to
whether he is an executive or legisla-
tive officer, whether he belongs to one
branch or the other Of the government.
Gays Message Is Misunderstood.
This allegation In the resolution,
therefore. must certainly be due to an
entire failure to understand my mes
sage.
The resolution continues, 'sThat the
president be requested to transmit to
the house any evidence upon which he
based hts statements that the chief
argument Ia favor Of the provision
was that the congressman did not
themselves wish to be investigated by
secret service men," This statement,
which was an attack upon no one, still
less upoa the congress, is sustained BY
the facts.
If you win turn to the Congressional
Record for May last, pages SOB TO
$3.50. inclusive, you VIII find the DC
bate on this subject. Mr.. Tawney OF
Minnesota, AIr. Smith Of Iowa, Mr..
sharIey OF Kentucky and Mr.. Fitzger-
aid of New York appear IN this debate
as the special champions OF the pro-
vistou referred TO. Messrs. Parsons,
Bennet and Driscoll were the lenders
OF those who opposed the adoption OF
the amendment and upheld the right OF
the government to use the most efi-
csent means possible in order to de
tect criminals and to prevent and pun
tsh crime. The amendment was car
ried in the committee OF the whole,
where no votes of the individual mem
befs are recorded, so am unable to
discriminate by mentioning the mem
bers who voted for and the members
who voted against the provision. but
its passage, the journal records, was
greeted with applause. l am well
aware. however, that in any case Of
this kind many members who have no