The San Francisco call., 1909-01-05

! from the appropriation for suppressing
counterfeiting.
In order to comply with every possi-
BILE technical requirement. it recently
has been the practice OF the department
to have these agents resign from the
secret service division and receive reg
ular appointments In the department in
need of their services for periods SUI
flciently long to enable them TO accom-
plish the work for which they are re-
quired. Not dollar of the appropr1a-
tiOn for suppreSsing cOunterfeittng is
expended for any other purpose, and
can not be under this arrangement. but
the proposed amendment to the sundry
civil act would operate to disqualtfy an
ofncer who, had been trained In. the
secret service division from giving the
benefit Of that experience to any other
department of the government under
any circumstances, and 1t Is thus
sought to confne the work of these
skilled men to one particular branch
of the government service.
Broadly. this deprives any other de-
partment of the services of these men
under any conditions and will operate
to hamper and embar-ass some of-them,
notably the department of justice, in
pending prosecutions which may not be
reached until we shall have entered
upon the fiscal year OF 1909. Should
tn proposed amendment become law,
tn My gamer would be the wrong
doeI. and the government would be the
loser.
I might point out to you that the
services of these men are never util-
lied in seeking possible violations OF
the statutes, but are employed for the
purpose of obtaining evidence and COM
pleting cases where violations of the
federal statutes are known to exist
in other words, they are assigned to
specific cases and are not given rowing
commissions to go prying about IN
the hope of disclosing possible infrac-
Inasrnuch as there is no question as
to the efficiency of these men and their
value to the prosecuting officer, can
only suggest that II the methods by
which their services are now extended
to the other departments are objected
to on technical grounds, then, having
the public welfare solely in view, some
tive branch of the government which
will enable the other departments to
obtain the services of these officers as
they may be required from time to
time.
l can not impress upon you too en-
phatically my conviction that any mod
ification of the statutory rights ac-
corded to the secretary OF the treasury
by section 166 or any restriction upon
the use of these men by other depart
ments will be wholly and solely OF
advantage to the enemy of public well
fare and government interests.
I append brief reference to certain
matters other than suppressing coun-
terfeiting, some of them in the treas
uTy department ana others OUTSIDE Oh
it. in which men detailed or loaned
from the secret service division have
accomplished results of satisfactory
character and which will indicate to
You the broad and varied field of ac-
tivity in which these men have been
and may be employed for the benefit
of the government. Respectfully.
G.. B. CORTELYOU, Secretary.
Cases Outside the Treasury Department
in Which Secret Service Agents
Have Been Employed by Their De-
partments.
A general investigation Of natural
izaton affairs disclosed extensive
frauds in New York and Pennsylvania.
The chief conspirators. who were sell
ing fraudulent papers, were arrested
their counterfeit court seals and thOus-
ands of fraudulent certificates and
blank applications were seized and
destroyed. and the principals were con-
victed. Several hundred convictions
followed where persons were impli-
Gated in obtaining and selling fraud
ulent papers. This work was practf-
cally conducted and concluded by four
agents of the secret service division.
The paymaster of the government
medical supply department at San
Francisco was robbed of his official
check books, perforating machine, rub
Der stamps, etc. and thousands of dol
lars were realized by the thief on
fraudulent checks. The thief was cap
tured and convicted by agents Of the
secret service division.
The defaulting national bank cashier