The Washington herald., 1909-01-09

The letter Of the President TO Senator
Hale, which Is aimed at Senator TIL
man, in connection with certain Western
land deals. which viii be read in the Sen
ate to-day. is IN part, as follows:
White House,
washington, January ). 1900.
Ny Dear Senator Hale: 7 have requested
the different departments Of the govern
ment. not only those to whom you sent
requests. but those 10 whom you did not.
to give me all the information about the
use OF special attorneys, special agents.
inspectors. &c, in their departments
which VIII enable me 10 put before you
all the facts which, as 1 understand II.
your committee desire 10 have. I trans
nit these reports herewith I call es-
pecial attention 10 the reports Of the Sec
retary OF State. the Secretary Of the
Treasury, and The Attorney General
Let me at the outset most earnestly
express my cordial agreement with the
view that Il is not only right, but the
duty OF Congress 10 investigate the work
ings Of the Secret Service OF detective
agents by which alone the government
can ereCIuaIly safeguard itself against
wrongdoinE. punish crime. and bring %
Justice criminals. 7 am well aware OF
the liability 70 abuse inherent II any
effective detective system or secret serv-
ice system; for the measure Of the eff
cheney OF the system IS also the measure
OF the seriousness OF the abuses Of the
system. # il be applied 10 wrong purposes
or directed in an improper manner. It Is
eminently 10 the public interest that there
should be vigiiant inquiry into the work
ing Of this agency. both by the heads OF
the executive departments and by Con
gress-
System Indispensable.
Il nevertheless remains true that this
system is absolutely Indispensable II the
popular interest is 20 be adequately safe
guarded and wrongdoers taught 70 fear
the law. To show how Indispensable
detectives are when important work or a
confidential character must be done, !
refer you TO the experience OF the I'm
migration commission appointed by Con
gress and largely composed OF Senator'S
and Representative. which has found i
absolutely necessary 10 employ detec-
tives n order 70 achieve the best re-
suits In my Communication Of the 4th
instant 20 the Lower House I have set
forth at length the reasons why, in my
Judgment. 1t IS eminently desirable that
in addition TO the special detectives or
inspection service OF each department.
there should be in some one department.
preferably the Department Of Justice, a
service which can be used at need IN
any department II order 10 achieve the
ends have described. I would Ike 70
state here that very frequently accusa-
tons have been made 20 me privately by
members OF the two Houses 10 the ef-
feet that the Secret Service has been
used as q police OF morals" or %
shadow SeEat tors. Congressman, and
other public officials. HItuerto the effort
to discover the basis for such allega-
tons has always been fruitless. ]
should be greatly obliged II any infor-
nation could be furnished me tending 70
show any instance where this has been
done IN times past
Certain Of the special agents. in
spectors. and the like. in the several de-
paTtments have a highly specialized work
10 perform. IN the Ez~zSliTy Department
the Secret Service is especially trained
10 deal with COunterfeiters and the spe-
cial agents with customs frauds In the
Post-Ofice Department the corps Of in
spectOrs is especially trained and De-
culiarly fitted 10 detect criminality or
abuses or fraudulent use Of the mails in
connection with the postal service. In
the Interior Department the special
agents Of the Land Office and the in
cuectCrS Of the Indian Bureau ara rrs7na5
in similar fashion 10 meet special needs
IN addition, IL IS urgently necessary as
set forth IN MT. Roots accompanying
report, that there shall be a central force
Of Secret Service men, who can be de-
tailed for work anywhere in the govern
ment service
UHearthed Postal Frauds.
Of course, in the investigation OF specific
frauds we sometimes come across wholly
unexpected phases Of misconduct. The