The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-01-07

this agitation against the secret service,
1t was a special article of abong S,ou9
words, written. as l was then Informed
and now understand, by Nj. l.. w. Bus-
hey. at that time private secretary to the
speaker of the House. I enclose a copy
of certain extracts from the article.
married Appendix s.. 1t contains an III,
service division OF the treasury depart
Nnent as its chief. The opening
includes, for instance. statements IKE the
following:
"He Nhe chief of the division> and his
men are DESTROYS of doing the secret de-
tective work for the whole government
and arc not particular about W the
line between the lawmakers and The law
breakers. They arc really to shadow the
former as we'll as tic latter"
Then after saying THAI congress will in
si.t that tine men shall only be ;scd TO
stop counterfeitins. the srticic goes on:
Congress docs rot intend 10 have a
Fourhe or any other kind of minister OF
police to be uset. by the executive de-
p%artn,ents against The legislative branc
of the government. 1t has been So used,
aud it is suspected that it has been SO
of the government will not tolerate the
u%.eddling of detectives. whether they rep
resent the president, cabinct officers. or
only ' me- ssare, ;ntsrso Gengrs oG me See ,ss
service men, who for weeks Swallowed
some OF the most respected members of
the House nnd Senate. sWhcn it was
discovered that the secret service men
we're shadoWins congressman there was a
storm of indignation ut the capitol and the
bureau came near being abolished and the
t,rfeitins cut off. 1t another time
the chief OF the secret service had his MEN
hadow congressman with q view 70 In
volving them in scandals that would eli
able the bureau to dictate to them as the
price of silence. y . = Tho secret service
men nave shown an inclination again to
shallow members 81 congress, knowing
thnm to be lawmakers. aud this is no
joke. Several OF the departments have
asked congress for secret funds for inves-
tigation., and the treasury department
appropriation for suppressing counterfeit
ing. This shows a tendency toward
Founchelsm and q secret watch or other
officials than themselves"
Tho Land Frauds.
At the time OF this publication the work
of the secret service, which was thus as
sailed. included especially the investlga-
a nnh t e. s seesrin lan of , evidencc IN 10 'h he,D VEST she
department of justice in the beef trust
Investigations at Chicago. which resulted
in successful prosecutions.
In view of Mr.. Busbey'S position, I have
accepted the above quoted statements as
fairly expressing the real meaning aud ami
nus 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 eo,ngressmen on
~ discussed this particular matter with
members of congress-: and on such occas-
ions the reasons alleged to me for the
both by those who did and By those who
did not share this hostility. We're almost
Invariably the same AS those set forth il,
Mr.. Eusbcy's article. may add. by the
ret service are wholly without foundation
in fact.
The Main Issue.
Rut ali 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 ut
it's disposal the most efficient instrument
vention nnl punishment OF crime. or does
it not? The action of the House last MAY
was emphatically an action against The
OF law-abiding people. and in its effect
of benefit only to !awbreakers. I am NOT
now dealing with motives: whatever may !
have been the motive that induced Tho
action OF which l speak. this was beyond |
all question the effect of that action. Is
the House now willing to reyned. the
wrong?
Since 1901 the Investigations covered by
the secret service tlivision-under tine
practice which had been for many years
recognized as proper and legitimate. and
highest law officers of the government
have covered Il wide range of ofGcn&cs
against the federal laMi BY far
to the public domain as to which
there was uncovered a far-rcaching
and widespread system of fraud
legal acquisition and the Illegal fencing OF
government land: and, in connection with
both these offcnses, the crimes of perjury
and s~ubornation 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 lawlcss character of some of their
employees. made the Investigations not
only difficult but dangerous. In Colorado
one of the secret service men was ASA ssi,l-
remove q United States attorney and a
United States marshal before satisfactory
progress could be made in the prosecution
of the offenders.
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 We're indicted: and of tho 80
cases thus far brought to trial IS have re-
Messrs. Comstock and Richards. men OF
wealth and wide influence. bein. sentence
ed to - months in Jail and find s. $50 each.
The Iowa Case.
The following secret service 'nemoran-
DUN made in the curse of u pending case
Illustrates the ramitications of interest
with which the government has to deal:
"Charlcs u. Stewart. of ounci bluffs.
was indicted at Omaha for conspiracy to
defraud the government OF the title to
public lands i'll Mcpherson county. Ne
braska: also indicted for maintaining an
unlawful inclosule of the public lands. and
also under indictment for PERJURY in con-
ncction with final proof submitted by him
OF lands filed on by hina as a home
stead. In his final proof he sworc that he
and his family had resided on the lands in
Mcpherson county (Which are within hts
unlawful inclosuIe). when rs u matter OF
fact his Family has at all times resided in
Council Bluffs. In. He is engaged in the
wholesale grocery business. his store he
ing located In Omaha. In the wholesale
district there. Tie is reprtel to be quite
wealthy. Stewards attorneys are Harl e.
Tiniey. of Council Bluffs, Ia. Who are also
attorneys at that place for the Omaha and
Council Bluffs Street Railway company. in
which compan Hart holds considerable
stock, Stewart being also a ~stockholder
and possibly ~ director of the company.
lie is also represented in Omaha by W
j. O'Connell, one of the attorneys there
for the same company. Stewart is also
represented in his perjury ease by "Rilr,
Gurley. of Omaha, Neb.. who at one time
was quite closely connected in IL political
way with the l.. =. X. r. company: Stew
art is also closely associated with C.. p.
HaEleton, postmaster at Council Bluffs.
Ilarl IL Tinley and HaZleton are all mem
bers OF the same lodge. Another close pnl.-
sonal friend of Stewards is I'D Hart. alias
.s\VutcrwnrES' Hart nIeSilapt ne tbo