Evening star., 1909-02-15
LITTLE USE FOR BUREAU
Treasury Detectives Not Missed, Say
Department Heads.
SERVICES SELDOM REQUIRED
Considered a Failure by Chief Trow-
bridge of the Customs Revenue
Service After Fair Trial.

lection of crime in four different branches
of the government have just testified in
substance that the limitation on the use
of the secret service operators OF the
Treasury Department has not been in
furious to their respective services. They
are Chairman Knapp of the interstate
commerce commission: William l.. Soleau.
disbursing clerk of the Department of
Commerce and Labor: G. w Trowbridge
chief of revenue agents, and Assistant
Secretary James B. Reynolds of the
Treasury Department. in charge of the
customs service
Their testimony taken during hearings
on the sundry civil appropriation bill was
made public today by the House commit
tee on appropriations. With the testi-
mony of Secretary Garfield of the Interior
Department. and of Attorney General
Bonaparte. it is relied upon by the com
mittee to refute the claim that the limi
tation placed last year on the secret serv
ice of the Treasury Department has
worked to the interest of the criminal
classes.
All who were examined on the subject
disapproved of the suggestion of a CEN
trail detective bureau. and all expressed
satisfaction with existing conditions
None could recall a demand for secret
service operative of the Treasury De-
partment during the past year.
Mr.. Soleau explained that in the De-
partment of Commerce and Labor are i'm
engaged in investigating questions of vio-
lations of the law. So closely allied with
the administration are the services of
these investigators that he doubted very
much if the work could be done SO eff
GENTLY by a central bureau, controlled
by some one Independent of the depart
ment. He spoke Of an imaginary viola
tlon of the Chinese exclusion act.
Would Make Trouble.
1T seems to me it would cripple the
service to throw that case into an inde-
pendent bureau he said, when we al
ready have men on the ground who are
able to take up those cases and who know
what to do with them on account of their
familiarity with Chinese exclusion mat
ters
Il think II can be fairly said' con-
tinued Mr.. Soleau. that whenever we
have had man separated from some
service where he was an expert in doing
that kind of work. we take him in fairly
under the law. and when whatever little
work he was doing was accomplished he
place where he was before. We know very
well that the law does not permit the
detail from one department to another.
and as the fiscal and financial agent of the
body contradicting it. that accounts do
not pass my office in cOntraventiOn of
law. If the 'Oyercoat is in there some
body successfully hid it that my ex-
perts cannot find it and it passes. | hope,
Mr. Tawney, that service will not be
included in proposition like that. be-
cause it would make lots of trouble
Chairman Knapp explained that in the
interstate commerce commission are
few men employed to get information
..I, irfr Of he lou
DO you think ii would conduce to the
effectiveness of your administration to
transfer the work to some other depart
ment of the government? inquired Rep
resentative Fitzgerald.
VERY much to the contrary, Mr.. FitZ-
gerald" replied Mr.. Knapp.
Never Used Treasury Men.
He added that the commission had never
used a Treasury Department secret serv-
ice man for any purpose.
Assistant Secretary Reynolds described
the force of special agents and con-
fidential agents engaged in detecting
fraud upon the customs revenues. Since
he came into office in 1900. he said there
had been only two or three instances
where the secret service division had been
called upon for assistance. One was in
connection with the smuggling of opium.
We used secret service man once TO
watch man who had been convicted of
assisting in silk frauds in New York
while his case was being taken up to the
circuit court but unfortunately the ma
got away Mr.. Reynolds told the COM
mittee.
During the past year. he said his de-
partment had had no reason to desire
the detail of any secret service men,
Poor "Moonshine" Detectors.
Mr. Trowbridge expressed little faith
in operatives from the secret service divi-
sion of the Treasury for suppressing Illicit
distilling or ferreting out violations of
the oleomargarine act
They are a failure so far as our
bureau is concerned" declared the chief
of the revenue agents Il have
tried them. | gave them a fair test two
bright fellows. al $40 per day each and
expenses for TWO months. and they did
not meet with any success