Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-01-05

ton Of the anti-trust law and others. IT,
amendment In question was sof benent "
no one. excepting to these criminals, and
e seriously hampers the government In
thS detection or crime ard the securing Of
juetice. Moreover, It mot only affects de-
partments outside Of the treasury, but II
tends t. hamper tho Secretary Of the
treasury himself In the effort to utilize
the employees OF his department 80 as to
best meet the requirements Apf the public
service. II forbids him from preventing
frauds upop the customs service, from IN.
vestlsating Irregularities In branch mints
and assay ofdcA1 and, has seriously Grip
pted him. Il prevents the promotion Of
smployees IN the lsecret service, ana this
further discourages rood effort. In ~
orient FORM the restriction operates only
Wrongdoor. .3 55$ s5sl5., Ia h, . .$S59s5
( The chief argument In favor Of the pro-
Vision was that the congressman did mot.
themselves wish to be Investigated by
secret service men. Very little Of such
Investigation has hsen done in the past.
But It u true that the work OF the 5secret
service agents was partly responsible tor.
ator and q CONGRESSMAN 1or land frauds
Ia Oregon. % not believe that Il 10
IN the public interest ito protect Grim
inals in aly branch Of tho public service
and. exactly AZ We have again and again
during the past seven years prosecuted
and convicted such criminals who were
In the executive branch Of the govern
nent 30 in my belief ~ should be given
simple meansSto prosecute them sif found
In the legislative branch. But u this r.
not consideted desirable . special excep-
ton could be made In the law prohibit
ing the use of the secret service force In
investigating members be The congress-.
Il would be far better to do this than to
do what actually was done and strive to
prevent or ut. least to hamper effective
action against criminals by the executive
branch Of the government. ,,ja .
:. Asks Careful Reading Of Message.
~ careful reading Of this message
VIII show that / said nothing to war
rant the statement that "the majority
Of the congressman were In fear Of
being investigated BY the secret serv-.
ice men" or that congress az q whole
was actuated by that motive" l did
not make any such statement In this
message. Moreover, I have never made
any such statement about congress as
q whole nor, with few inevitable ex-
ceptions, about the members Of con-
gress In any message Or article or
speech. On the contrary, I have al
ways not only deprecated, but vigor-
ously resented, the practice Of indis-
criminate attack upon congress and
indiscriminate condemnation Of all
congressman, wise and unWise, At and
unfit, good and bad alike. No one real
ICES more than 1 the Importance Of
cooperation between the executive
and congress, and no one holds the an
thority and dignity Of the congress- OF
the United States In higher respect
than i do. I have not the slightest
sympathy with the practice Of judging
men for good or for Ill not on their
several merits, but in mass, as mem
bers Of one particular body or one
caste. To put together all men holding
or who have held q particular office.
whether It be the Office OF president
or Judge or senator or member Of the
house OF representatives, and TO class
them all, without regard to their IN
dividual differences. as good or bad
seems to me utterly tndefensible, and
it is equally indefensible whether the
rood are COMPOUNDED with the bad In
a heated and unwarranted champion
ship Of all or Ii q heated and unwar-
ranted assault upon all. I would ned
Their attack nor defend all executive
officers in mass, whether presidents,
governors, cabinet officers Or ofilcia ~
Of lower rank, nor would I attack OF
defend all legislative officers In mass.
The safety Of free government rests
very largely in the ability of the plain,
everyday citizen to discriminate be-
tween those public servants who serve
him well and those public servants
who serve him III. He cannot thus
discriminate II he a persuaded TO pass,
Judgment upon d man not with refer-
ence to whether he is At or unit
public servant, but with reference to
whether he is an executive or legisla-
live officer, whether he belongs to one
branch or the other Of the government.
says Message 10 Misundsrstesd.
This allegation in + the resolution,
therefore, must certainly be due g an
entire failure to understand my me-
sage. - 5s ,5 Z. &
The resolution continues, 'sThat the
president be requested to transmit to
the house any evidence upon which he
based his statements that the 'chisf
argument III favor Of the provision
was that the congressman did not
themselves wish to be investigated ~
secret service men" This statement
which was an stack upon no one, STIR
less upon the congress, 10 sustained BY
the facts. s5t Il: IS
II you win turn to the Congressional
Record for May last, pages 1868 70
55eo, inclusive, you WIN ind the de-,
bate on this subject. Mr.. Tawney Of
Minnesota, Mr.. Smith Of lows, Nj.
Shefley Of Kentucky and Mr.. Ntzger-
aid of New York appear In this debats
q the special champions Of the pro
vision referred 70. Messrs. Parsons,
Bennett and Qriscon were the leaders
81 those who opposed the adoption Of
the amendment and upheld the right Of
the government to use the most en-
= /.