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

are in fear of being investi-
gated by secret service men and that
Congress as a whole was actuateI by
that motive in enacting the provision IN
and that this is an Impeach-
ment of the honor and integrity of the
Congress. These statements are not, l
think, in accordance with the facts.
Refers to the Record.
The portion of my message referred TO
runs as follows:
Last year an amendment was ncor-
porated IN the measure providing ior
the secret service. which provided that
there should be no detail from the Sc
cret service and no transfer therefrom
1t Is not too much to say that this
amendment has been of benefit only.
and could be of benefit only, to the cr.m-
inal classes. If deliberately introduced
for the purpose of diminishing the eff
fectiveness of war against crime It
could not have been better devised to
this end. 1t forbade the practices that
had been followed to a greater or less
extent by the executive heads Of various
departments for twenty years. To these
practices We owe the securing of the
evidence which enabled us TO drive great
lotteries out of business and secure
quarter of a million of dollars in fines
from their promoters. These practices
have enabled us to discover some OF the
most outrageous frauds in connection
with the theft Of government land and
government timber by great corpora
tons and by individuals. These prac-
tices have enabled us to get some of the
evidence indispensable in order to Sc
cure the conviction of the wealthiest and
most formidable criminals with whom
the government has TO deal, both those
operating in violation of the antitrust
law and others. Thef amendment in
question was of benefit to no one ex-
cepting to these criminals. and it seri-
ously hampers the government in the
detection of crime and the securing of
justice. Moreover, it not only affects
departments outside of the Treasury but
II tends to hamper the Secretary of the
Treasury himself in the effort to utilize
the employees of his department so as to
best meet. the requirements of the pub
lie service. 1t forbids ehim from pre-
venting frauds upon the customs serv-
ice, from investigating irregularities in
branch mintS and assay Offices and has
seriously crippled him. 1t prevents thu
promotion of employees in the secret
service, and this further discourages
good effort. In it's present form the re-
striction. operates only to the advan-
tage- OF the criminal. of the wrongdoer
The chief argumen: in favor Of the
provision was that Gle congre essmen did
not themselves wish to be investigated
by secret service men. Very little of
such investigation has been done in the
past. but II is true that the work of the
secret service agents was partly re-
sponsible for the indictment and convic-
tion OF a senator and congressman for
land frauds in Oregon. I do not believe
: that 1t is in the public interest to pro-
tect criminals in any branch of the pub
lie service. and exactly as We have again
and again during the past seven years
prosecuted and convicted such criminals
who were In the executive branch of the
government, so in my belief we should
be giver ample means to prosecute them
II found In the legislative branch But
if this is not considered desirable a spe-
cial exception could he made in the law
prohibiting the use of the secret service
force in investigating members OF the
Congress. 1t would be far better to do
this than to do what actually was done
and strive to prevent or at least hamperi
effective action against criminals by Che
executive branch OF the government" -
A Sweeping Denial. :
A careful reading of this message will
show that / said nothing to warrant the
statement that ''the majority of the cou-
gressnien were in fear OF being investi
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