Weekly journal-miner., 1909-01-06

tbu. assnilcd, included especially the
 investigation of great land frauds in
 ho West, and tho securing ot evidence
 io nrlp thc Department of Justice in
 thc hcrftru-t invest gations at Chi. cago, which resulted in successful pro. seruti0us.
 in view of Mir Busbcy'. position.
 have accepted the above quoted
 statements as fairly expressing the
 tcll meaning and aninus of the lt
 tacks made in general terms on the use of thc Secret Service for inc pun
 shmcut of criminals. Furthermore. iu fhc performance of mv duty. to on icpyor to find the fco.ngs uf tongro', mcn on public questions oi note, ! uu.p frequently discussed 'his part rul,r matter with Member. of Con. lr,..: and on such ora-inrs thc req son. aI'cgcd To me for tHc hostility ut Congress t, thc Secret Service. both by those wbo did and iy those Who d.I rpt share this hU.'i.v. were a.
 moe; invariably tbc .1uc a- those t forth iu Mr. Iusbcy', article may add. hr 'np way. that iui.c allegations %. CD ihr Secret Service dte wholly without foundation in fact
 But nil ofthi- !. Of insignificant im pprtnucc compared with thc main, thc real i-.uc. This issue i, simply. Does Congress desire that thc Government siuil have at its dispo~1l Inc most cli cieut instrument for the detection of criminals and the prevention and pun. ishmcnt of crime. of does it nOtl The action of the House last May was em phaiicnlly an action against the inter est of justice and against tbc interest of i1w abiding people, and in ifs ef feet of benefit only tO lawbreakcrs. [ am not now dealing with motives; whatever may have been the motive that induced the action of which I speak, this was beyond all question the effect of that action. ls the House now willing to remedy the wrongf
 For long time 1 contcnted myself with endcayOring to persuade the House not to permit the wrong, speak. ing informally on the subject with those Members who, 1 believed, knew anything of the matter, and communi eating officially only in the ordinary channels, as through the Secretary of the Treasury. In letter to the Speak CT on April 20. protesting against the cutting down of the appropriation vit. ally necessary if tne Interstate Com merce Commission was to carry into effect the twentieth section of the Hepburn law. added. "The provi. sion 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 out cry than this against 'spies;' only criminals need fear our detectives. v q erriose copy of inc whole letter. marked "Appcbdix C,' The post. script is blurred in my copybook, and two or three of the words can not he dcciphcred) These methods proved Mcssrs. Tawney and smith. and their fellow members on the Appropriations Committee paid no heed to the pro. tests; and as the obnoxious provision was incorporated in the sundry civil bill, it was impossible for me to con slider or discuss it on its merits, as I should have done had it been in a sep arate bill. Therefore I have now talk en the only method available, that of discussing 1t in my message to Con gress; and as all efforts to secure waat ! regard as proper treatment of the subject without recourse to plain speaking had failed. have spoken plainly and directly. and have set forth the facts in explicit terms.
 Since 1901 the investigations cover. cd by the Secret Service Division under the practice which had been for many years recognized as proper and legitimate, and which had received the sanction of the highest law offices Of the Government have covered a wide range of onenses against the fed. eral law. By far the most important q fthcse related to the public domain. as tO which there was uncovered n and widespread system of fraudulent transactions involving both the illegal acquisition and the illegal fencing of Government land; and, in connection with both these oifenses. the crimes of perjury and subornation of perjury. Some of the persons in. v0lved in these violations were of great wealth and of wide political and social influence. Both their corporate associations and their political afilia. ti0ns, and the lawless character of some of their employees, made the in. vcstigations not only difficult but dan. gerous. In Colorado one of the secret service men was assassinatcd. In Nebraska it was necessary to remove n United States attorney and Unit ed States marshal before satisfactory progress could be made in the prosecu. ton of the offenders.
 The evidence in all these cases was chiefly secured by men trained in the secret Service and detailed to the De. partment of Justice at the request of that Department and of the Depart ment of the Interior. In the State of Nebraska alone sixty defendants were indicted; and of the thirty.two cases .hus far brought to trial twenty.eight have resulted in convictions; two of Inc principals, Mcssrs. Comstock and Richards, men of wealth and wide in. iuence, being sentenced to twelve months in pail and fined si ,500 each. The following secret service memoran. ium made in the course of pending 'ase illustrates the ramiheations of in. crest with which the Government has to deal.
 Charles T. Stewart. of Council