The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1909-01-04

Of criminals and the prevention and
punishment Of crime, or does it not?
The action Of the house last May was
an action against the in
terest of justice and against the inter-
est Of law abiding people and in It's eff
feet of benefit only to lawbreakers. I
am not now dealing with motives.
Whatever may have been the motive
that induced the action of which I
speak, this was beyond all question the
effect of that action. Is the house now
willing to remedy the wrong?
For long time contented myself
with endeavoring to persuade the
house not to permit the wrong, speak
ing informally on the subject with
those members who, believed, knew
Of the matter and commu-
nicating officially only in the ordinary
channels, as through the secretary of
the treasury. In letter to the speaker
on April 80. protesting against the cut
ding down of the appropriation vitality
necessary if the interstate commerce
commission was to carry into effect
the twentieth section Of the Hepburn
law, 1 added: "The provision about
the employment Of the secret service
men will work very great damage to
the government in it's endeavor to pre-
vent and punish crime. There is no
more foolish outcry than this against
Spies Only criminals need fear our
detectives" q inclose copy of the
whole letter, marked Appendix c."
The postscript is blurred in my copy
book, and two or three Of the words
cannot be deciphered.) [Appendix @
Is letter dated April 80, 1908, from
President Roosevelt to Speaker Can
non protesting against the cutting
preparation for secret service work.
'"The only people benefited would be
the very worst of the big railroad men
whose misdeeds we are trying to pre-
vent or correct" were the words Of the
PRESIDENT These methods proved un-
availing to prevent the wrong. Messrs.
Tawney and Smith and their fellow
members on the appropriations COM
mittee paid no heed to the protests,
and as the obnoxious provision was
incorporated in the sundry civil bill it
was impossible for me to consider or
discuss it on it's merits, as l should
have done had it been in a separate
bill. Therefore I have now taken the
only method available, that of discuss
ing it in my message to congress, and
as all efforts to secure what l regard
as proper treatment of the subject
without recourse to plain speaking had
failed I have spoken plainly and d.
rectly and have set forth the facts in
explicit terms.
Here the president gives instances
in which the secret service men have
been instrumental in securing convic-
lions of ofenses against federal laws,
citing especially the land fraud cases. !
In connection with the Nebraska
prosecution the government has by de-
cree secured the return to the govern
ment Of over a million acres Of graz
ing land, in Colorado Of more than
1000 acres Of mineral land, and suits
are now pending involving 10000
acres more
Departments Agents Dishonest.
All these Investigations in the land
cases were undertaken in consequence
Of Mr.. Hitchcock, the then secretary
Of the interior, becoming convinced
that there were extensive frauds COM
mitted in his department, and the
ramifcations of the frauds were so
farreaching that be was afraid to trust
his own officials to deal in thorough
going fashion with them. One of the
secret service men accordingly resign
department to carry on this work. The
first thing he discovered was that the
special agents division or corps Of de-
tectives of the land Office Of the inte-
rior department was largely under the
control of the land thieves, and in con-
sequence the Investigations above re-
ferred to had to be made by secret
service men.
If the present law, for which Messrs
Tawney, Smith and the other gentle
men have above mentioned are re-
sponsible, had then been in effect this
action would have been impossible and
most Of the criminals would unques-
tionably have escaped. No more strik-
ing instance can be imagined Of the
desirability Of having a central corps
Of skilled Investigating agents who can
at any time be assigned, If necessary
in large numbers, to investigate some
violation of the federal statutes, in no
matter what branch Of the public serv-
ice. In this particular case most Of
the men investigated who were public
servants were in the executive branch
Of the government. But in Oregon,
where an enormous acreage of fraudu-
lently alienated public land was recov-
cred: for the government, a United
States senator, Mr.. Mitchell, and a
member Of the lower house, Mr.. Will
obtained by men transferred from the
secret service, and another member Of
congress was indicted.
Stopped Naturalization Frauds.
From 1901 to 1904 a successful inves-
tigation of naturalization affairs was
made by the secret service, with the
result Of obtaining hundreds of convic-
lions of conspirators who were convict
ed of selling fraudulent papers of nat
uralization. subsequently congress
passed a very wise law providing a
special service and appropriation for
tho nrovonfiOD If ma t11ra liza tion fro ,11S