The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1909-01-04

4
as al Ghosts elpfe what feearl
rs ptoi,er tre slient 81 tho subject
Gsitiiout reeoure to plain spcai King had
fliled have spoken piiiiiiy ana n.
reetly and hive set forth tie facts IA,
explicit terms.
Here the president gives instances
IL nlIieil the secret serylce men have.
been ilis(fumental IN securing. eonyie.
lions q otfenses against federal lars.
citing especially the land maud cslses.I
In connection witii the Nebraska
prosecution the government has by de
cree secured the return 70 the govern
Inent Of over a million acres 81 graz
Ing land, IN Colorado q more than
1000 acres of mineral land. and suits
are now pending inyoiying 10000
acres more
Departments Agents Dishonest.
I All these investigations IN the land
cases were undertaken, in consequence
Of Mr. Hitchcock, tllc then secrelnry
OF the interior. becoming convinced
that there were extensive frauds com
mItted in his department. and The
ralnffcations OF the frauds were 40
farrearhing that he was affnid TO trust
his own officials 10 deal IN thorough
going fashion With them, one OF the
secret service men accordingly resign
ed and was appointed in the Interior
department to carry on this work. The
first thing he discovered WAS. that the
special agents, division or corps of de.
tectfvcs Of the land Office, Of the inte-
rior department was largely under the
control OF the land thieves, and IN con-.
sequence the Investigations aboTe re-
ferTed 10 had to be made by secret
service men,
II the present law. for which Messrs.
Tawney. Smith and the other gentle
men have above mentioned are re-
sponsible. had then beensiu effect this
action would have been Impossible and
most OF the criminals Would uuques-
lionnbly have escaped No more strik-
ing instance can be Imagined of the;
desirabillty of haying a central corps
Of skilled Investigating agents who can
at any time be Unsigned. IL NECESSARY
in large numbers, to Investigate some
violation Of the federal statutes in no
matter what branch of tile public scry-
leo. 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 recor-
cred for the government, United
States senator, Mr.. Mitchell. and a
member of the lower house, AR. ayil,.
hanson. were convicted OF evidence
obtained by men transferred from the
secret service. and another member of
congress was Indicted.
Stopped Naturalization Frauds.
From 1901 10 1904 successful inves-
tlgatiom OF. naturalization affairs was
made by The secret service. with the
result Of obtaining hundreds of conric-
lions Of conspirators who were convict
ed of-selling fraudulent papers of nat
uraltzation. subsequently congress
passed a very wise law providing
special service and appropriation for
the prevention Of naturalization frauds,
but unfortunately at the same time
that the action agJlinst the secret serv-
ice was taken cor grass also. cnt down
the appropriation for this special serv-
Ice, with the result OF Gripping the
fort 10 stop frauds IN Naturalization
The fuSiives Greene and Gnynor, i'm.
plici,ted in peculiarly big government
contract fraud, were located and ar
rested in Canada bt the secret service.
and. thanks 10 This, they have since
gone 10 prison for their crimes.
The secret service was used to assist
in lie Investigation OF crimes under
the peonagc laws. and owing partly
thereto numerous convictions werr Sc
cured and the Objectionable practice
was practically stamped out, ut least
in many districts. The most extensive
smuggling of silk and opium in the
history Of the, treasury department
was investigated by agents of the Sc
crct service in New York and Semitic
and n succcssfui prosecution OF the Of
ACuueTS uINlVItukCll. -tSSlStancc nI lile
utmost value was rendered 10 the de-
partmcnt Of Justice in the beef trust
Investigation At Chicago; prosecutions
were followed up and fines inflicted.
The cotton leak scandal In the agri-
cultural department was Investigated
and the responsible parties located.
What was done IN connection with
lottery Investigations IS disclosed iu n
letter lust sent to me by tho United
States attorney for Delaware, running
as follows:
The destruction or tho Honduras Ma
tional Lottery company. successor to tho
Louisiana Lottery company. was entirely
the work Of the secret service. ; +.
This excellent work was accomplished by
Mr.. Wilkie and his subordinates 1
thought It might he timely 10 recall this