Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-01-04

O~~~.~~~-~~G~~.~
Loted below. the explicit statement
is made that the proposed change will
be for the benefit Of the criminals,
statement which simply reiterated In
public form in my message to the con-
gress this year and which is also con-
tanned in effect in the report Of the
secretary Of the treasury TO the con-
yress.
"Private Conduct" of Members.
A careful reading of the Congression-
al Record will also show that practical
ly the only arguments advanced in ia
| vOr Of the limitation proposed by Mr..
| Tawney's committee beyond what may
| be supposed to be contained by inlpli-
| cation in certain sentences as to
| abuses which were not specified
were those contained in the repeated
statements of Mr. Sherley. Mr.. Sher-
| ley stated that there had been pro
nounced abuses growing out Of the
use of the secret service for purposes
other than those intended" putting his
statement In the form Of question.
and in the same form further stated
that the private conduct of ''mem-
bers of congress. senators" and others
ought not to be investigated by the
secret service and that they should
not investigate member of con-
gress" who had been accused OF CON
duct unbecoming gentleman and
member Of congress-" In addition 70
these assertions, couched as questions,
he made one positive declaration that
this secret service at one time was
used for the purpose of looking into
the personal conduct OF member Of
congress" This argument OF Mr.. Sher-
ley, the only real argument as to the
merits Of the question made on behalf
Of the committee On appropriations,
will be found in columns and Of
page 5556 and column l of page 5557
of the Congressional Record. In col
umn l of page 5000 Mr.. Sherley refers
to the improperly OF permitting the
secret service men to investigate men
in the departments. officers of the
army and navy. and senators and con-
gressmen. In column ., he refers to
officers of the navy and members of
congress. In column l, page 1857, he
refers only to members of congress.
His speech puts most weight on the
investigation of members of congress.
| Newspaper Article Reproduced.
What appears In the record is filled
out and explained by an article which
appeared in the Chicago Inter Ocean
Of Jan. 3, 1904, under a Washington
headline and which marked the begin
ming Of this agitation against the Sc
cret service. 1t was IL special article
Of about 5000 words, written, rs l was
then informed and now understand, by
Mr.. L. w. Busbey, at that time private
secretary TO the speaker of the house
l tnclose copy of certain extracts
from the article, marked Appendix D
IAppendiX B consists of an article
from the Chicago Inter Ocean of Jan
3 1904. In this John E. Wilkie. chief
, Of the secret service of the treasury
department, Is described as ambitious
: of becoming 1.-The Fouche of the United
!. States" in imitation of Fouche. chief
Of the secret police of Napoleon l. The
article declares that the secret service
, bureau exists without warrant Of con
gressional action and that congress has
!, always been aptagpnistic to the bu
. reau.] 1t contained an utterly unwar
: ranted attack on the secret service
, division Of the treasury department
: and its chief. The opening paragraph
includes, for instance, statements like
the following:
!, He (the chief Of the division) and hi.
I | A. 80 at, . 1, a
tective work for the whole government
e and are not particular about drawing TIL
r line between the lawmakers and the law
, / breakers. They are ready to shadow tn
former as well as the latter
Then, after saying that congress vii
insist that the men shall only be uset
: to stop counterfeiting, the article goe
on:
n Congress does not intend to have
| Fouche or any other kind of minister o
! police to be used by the executive de
e partments against the legislative branc:
| CT the government. 1t has been so used
and It is suspected that 1t has been s.
used recently. The legislativ
? branch of the government will not toler
: ate the meddling of detectives, whe.he
!. they represent the president. cabinet Off
GERS or only themselves Con
. gressmen resented the secret interferenc
r Of the secret service men. who for week
l. | Swallowed some of the most respects
. members Of the house and senate.
When 1t was discovered that the .secre
y service men were shadowing congress
8 men there was a storm of indignation a
y the capitol. and the bureau came nea
, being abolished and the appropriate
for the suppression of counterfeiting Gu
off. At another time the chief O
> the secret service had his men shadoy
n congressman with a view to involvin
= them in scandals that would enable tn
Oil Do@-1@