Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-01-05

made in general terms on the use OF
the secret service FOR the punishmnt
| of criminals. Furthermore, in the per-
forrhance of my duty, to endeavor to
find the feelings of congressman on
I public questions of note. | have fire.
quently discussed this particular mat
ter with members of congress; and
on such occasions the reasons alleg-
ed to me for the hostility of congress
to tie secret service both by those
who did and by those who did not
variably the same as those set forth
share this hostility, were Ilmo.t in
i'll Mr. Busbey's article. I may add, by
the way, that these allegations as to
the secret service are wholly without
foundation in fact.
Argues Merits of Case
But all of this is of Insignificant i'm
| portance compared with the main,
the real issue. This issue is simply,
Does congress desire that the
government shall have at Is disposal
the most efficient instrument for the
detection of criminals and the preven-
ton and punishment Of crime, or does
| it not? The action Of the house last
May was emphatically an action
against the interest of justice and
against TIE interest of law-abiding
people, and in its effect of benefit
only to lawbreakers. / am not now
dealing with motives; whatever may
have been the motive that induced the
action of which I speak, this was be-
yond all question the effect of that
action. Is the house now willing to
remedy the wrong?
Opposed the Change
For a long time I contented myself
with endeavoring to persuade the
house not to permit the wrong,
speaking informally on the subject
with those members who, T believed,
knew anything of the matter, and
communicating officially only in the
ordinary channels, as through the sec
rotary Of the treasury. In a letter
to the speaker on April so, protesting
against the cutting down Of the APP
preparation vitality necessary if the In
iterstate Commerce commission was to
carry into effect the twentieth section
OF the Hepburn law, I added: 1.-THE
provision about the employment of the
secret service men will work very
great damage to the government in its
endeavor to prevent and punish crime.
There is no more foolish outcry than
this against Spies only criminals
need fear our detectives" Ct inclose
copy of the whole letter, marked cap
pendiX G. The postscript is blurred in
my copybook, and two or three of the
| words can not be deciphered). These
methods proved unavafling to prevent
the worng. Messrs. Tawney and Smith,
and their fellow members on the APP
Preparations committee paid no heed to
the protests: and as the obnoxious
! provision was incorporated in the sum
! dry civil bill. it was impossible for
/ me to consider or discuss it on its
merits, as I should have done had it
been in a separate bill Therefore 7
| have now taken the only method
| available, that of discussing it in my
message to congress; and as all efforts
to secure what I regard as proper
/ treatment of the subject without re-
course to plain speaking had failed, I
have spoken plainly and directly and
| have set forth the facts in explicit
/ terms.
! OffenseS Investigated
Since 1901 the Investigations COW
cred by the secret service division
under the practice which had been
[! for many years recognized as proper
and legitimate and which had receiv-
ed the sanction of the highest law Of
ficers of the government-have cover
ed wide range of offenses against
the federal law. BY far the most i'm
/ portant of these related to the public
domain. as to which there was I'M
covered a far-reaching and wide
spread system of fraudulent transact
tons involving both the illegal ac-
QUESTION and the illegal fencing of
| government land; and, in connection
with both these offenses, the crimes
of perjury and subornation of per-
| jury. Some of the persons involved in
these violations We're Of great wealth
and of wide political and social in
| fuence. Both their corporate asso-
Citations and their political affiliations,
and the lawless character of some of
their employees, made the investiga-
tons not only difficult but dangerous.
In Colorado one of the secret service
linen was assassinated. In Nebraska it
was necessary to remove a United
States attorney and a United States
marshal before satisfactory progress
could be made in the prosecution of
the offenders.
The evidence in all these cases was
chiefly secured by men trained in the
secret service and detailed to depart
Iment of justice at the request of that
department and of the department OF
the interior. In the state of Nebraska
alone 60 defendants We're indicted
and of the 80 cases thus far brought
to trial 2S have resulted in conviction;
two of the principals Messrs. Com
stock and Richards, men Of wealth
and wide influence, being sentenced to
I12 months in Jail and fined $1,000
each. The following secret service
memorandum made in the course of a
1 pending case illustrates the ramifica-
tions of interest With which the gov
eminent has to deal:
History of One Example
Charles 7. Stewart of Council was
indicted at Omaha for conspiracy to
defraud the government of the title to
public lands in Mcpherson county, Ne
braska; also indicted for maintaining
an unlawful Enclosure of the public
lands, and also under Indictment for
perjury in connection with final proof
! submitted by him on lands filed on by
him as a homestead Tn his fina1