Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-01-04
IN SPECIAL MESSAGE DENIES INTENT TO SLAP CONGRESS

AL N11IkyOzy
---unet and Driscoll were the leaders
Of those who opposed the adoption OF
the amendment and upheld the right OF
the government to use the most Ell
Gent means possible In order to de-
tect criminals and to prevent and pun
ish crime. The amendment was car
ried in the committee of the whole.
where no votes of the individual mem
bers are recorded, SO l am unable to
discriminate by mentioning the men,
bers who voted for and the members
who voted against the provision, but
its passage, the journal records, was
greeted with applause. l am well
aware, however, that in any case OF
this kind many members who have no
particular knowledge of the point ut
issue are content simply to follow the
lead Of the committee which had con-
sidered the matter, and l have no
doubt that many members Of the house
simply followed the lead of Messrs.
Tawney and Smith without having had
the opportunity to know very much as
to tie rights and wrongs Of the ques-
ton.
would not ordinarily attempt In this
way to discriminate between members
Of the house, but as objection has been
taken to my language. In which sim
| ply spoke Of the action Of the house
as a whole, and as apparently there Is
| desire that l should thus discriin-
| mate ! will state that 1 think the re-
| sponsibility rested on the committee
on appropriations under the lead of the
members whom l have mentioned.
Replies to Request For Evidence.
| Now as to the request Of the con-
gress that / give the evidence for my
statement that the chief argument In
/ favor of the provision was that the
congressman did not themselves wish
to be Investigated by secret service
men.
| The part Of the Congressional Record
| to which l have referred above en-
tirely supports this statement. Two
distinct lines of argument were fol
lowed In the debate. One concerned
1
ranted the employment Of the secret
service In departments other than the
| treasury, and this did not touch the
| merits of the service In the least. The
other line of argument went to the
merits of the service, whether lawfully
or unlawfully employed, and here the
chief If not the only argument used
was that the service should be cut
down and restricted because its mem
bers had Swallowed" or investigated
members of congress and other officers
of the government If we examine the
debate in detail it appears that most
of what was urged In favor Of the
amendment took the form Of the sim
pie statement that the committee held
| that there had been q violation Of
law" by the use of the secret service
counterfeiting (and one or two othel
matters which can be disregarded) ani
that such language was now to b.
used as would effectually prevent al
such violation of law hereafter. Mr.
Tawney, for instance, says, 1T wa.
for the purpose Of stopping the use O.
this service In every possible way b,
the departments Of the government
that this provision was inserted" ant
Mr.. Smith says, Now, that was tn,
only way in which any limitation coult
be put upon the activities of the secre
service" Mr.. Fitzgerald followed II
the same vein, and by far the larges
part Of the argument against the EN-
) plOyment of the secret service was con
fined to the statement that it was II
violation of law" OF course such
statement is not in any way an argu
ment In favor of the justice of tn
! provision. 1t is not an argument 70
: the provision at ALL 1t is simply
statement of what the gentlemen max
) ing 1t conceive to have been the Law
: There was both by implication an,
direct statement the assertion that
was the law and ought to be the law
, that the secret service should only b
J used to suppress counterfeiting an
that the law should be made NOR
rigid than ever In this respect
No Restrictions on Service.
Incidentally I may say that in m
judgment there is ample legal author
: ity for the statement that this apprt
: priation law TO which reference wa
: made imposes no restrictions whateve
upon the use OF the secret service mer
but relates solely to the expenditure Q
the money appropriated. Mr.. Tawne
in the debate stated that he had In hi
possession "a letter from the secretar
Of the treasury received few day
. ago" In which the secretary of tn
treasury himself admits that the Pre-
visions under which the appropriate
has been made have been violated yea
after year for number of years 1
his own department" l append here
: with as Appendix A the letter n
ferred to. [Appendix A is letter froI
Secretary Of the Treasury Cortelyou t
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