Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-04
Advantages of System.

1885, p. 121D"
Advantages of System.
The requirements of his department are
/ of so uncertain and varied a nature that
at times during the year four or five men
can take care of the work, while at other
times in emergencies. twenty-five or thir-
ty may be required for short periods. 1t
! would seem to be impracticable to require
that he should have to employ these men
haphaZard. and it is a Self-evident propo-
SltiOn that no competent man would be
willing to accept employment for few
| weeks with no certainty as to how much
time might elapse before he would be
needed again: and if a permanent force
were to be maintained by the Department
of Justice it would necessarily have to
consist of the maximum number of men
that would be needed at any one time,
though the records show that there are
many periods of the year when only a
few men are necessary to conduct the
work.
borrowing men from the secret service
has been found the best solution of the
! problem. Within the last two years. dur
ing which these temporary employees have
/ been most active in the investigation and
prosecution of land frauds. there has de-
| veloped opposition to the leaning of
these trained investigators to the other
| departments. Ii has been asserted that
terfeiting specifically provided that the
men employed for suppressing counterfeit
ing should be employed for no other pur-
pose whatever. and that therefore the
loanins of these agents was direct VIC
lation of law. The act for suppreSsing
| counterfeitnS reads follows:
| For expenses incurred under the
! authority or with the approval of the
Secretary of the Treasury in detecting.
arreStng and delivering into the custody
jurisdiction dealers and pretended deal
ers in counterfeit money. and persons en-
gagged in counterfeiting Treasury notes.
bonds. national bank notes and other Sc
| curities of the United States and of for
eign governments. well as the coins
of the United States and of foreign gov
ernments. and other felones committed
against the laws of the United States
relating tosthe pay and bounty laws. in
| Guiding one thousand dollars to make
| the necessary investigation of claims for
reimbursement of expenses incident to
the last sickness and burial of deceased
pensioners under section 471S of the Re-
vised Statutes. the act of March >, 1890
and for no other purpose whatever ex
| cept in the protection of the person of
the President of the United States. $50.
coo: Provided That part of this
amount be used in defraying the ex
penseS of any person subpoened by the
! United States courts to attend any trial
before United States court or preim-
I
States commissioner. which expenses
shall be paid from the appropriation for
| Fees of witnesses, United States
courts "
Application of Law.
1t seems to me that a careful reading
of this act discloses that the phrase land
for other purpose whatever applies
and can only apply to the expenditure
of the money. and does not and cannot
apply to a prohibition against employing
the agents elsewhere so long they are
not reimbursed from the appropriation
for suppressing counterfeting.
In order to comply with every possible
| technical requirement ii recently has
been the practice of the department to
have these agents resign from the secret
service division and receive regular ap-
pointments in the department in need of
their services for periods sufficiently long
to enable them to accomplish the work for
which they are required Not a dollar of
the appropriation for suppressing counter
feiting is expended for any other pur-
pose. and cannot be under this arrange
ment. but the proposed amendment to
the sundry civil act would operate to dis
qualify officer who had been trained
in the secret service division from giving
the benefit of that experience 10 any
other department OF the government un-
der any circumstances, and il is thus
sought to confine the work of these skilled
men to one particular branch of the gov
eminent service.
ment of the services OF these men under
any conditions. and will operate to ham,
per and embarrass some of them. notably
the Department of Justice. in the contin-
uance of current wOrk-pendng prosecu-
tons which may not be reached until we
shall have entered upon the fiscal year
OF 1909. Should this proposed amend
ment become law. the only gamer would
be the WrongdOer and the government
would be the loser.
;, / might point out to you that the Serv-
ices of these men are never utilized in
seeking possible violations of the stat
Gtcs, but are employed for the purpose
of obtaining evidence and completing
cases where viola tons of the federal stat
utes are known to exist. In other words.
they are assigned to specific cases and are
not given rowing commissions to go pry-
ing about in the hope Of disclosing posi-
BILE nfractions of law.
lnasmuch as there is no question TO
the efficiency of these men and their
value to the prosecuting officer. | can only
suggest that If the methods by which
their services are now extended to the
other departments objected TO on
technical grounds. then. having the pub
lie welfare solely in view. some action
should be taken by the legislative branch
of the government which Wilt enable the
other departments to obtain the services
of these officers as they may be required
from time to time.
| cannot impress upon YOU too en-
! phatcally my conviction that any modi-
fication of the statutory rights accorded
to the Secretary of the Treasury by sec
ton l6ti of any restriction upon the use
of these men by other departments will
be wholly and solely of advantage to the
enemy of public welfare and government
interests.
| append brief reference 10 certain
matters other than suppressing counter
feitng, some of them in the Treasury
Department and others outside of 1t, in