Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-01-09

NA N'NNNM OF NiIN IMNAlI NilA lANA Nalia|
cially in his own interest.
TILLMAN REPLIES MONDAY
Immediately after the conclusion ~
tho ohaplain's prayer Monday, Mr.. TIL
man win ask the recognition OF the
chair on question Of personal prlv-
lege. Departing from hia custom Of exc
temporanrous speaking. he viii read
his statement thus lnsuring more care
ful adherence 90 what he desires 20
say than he would be able 20 give in
am off-h8nc speech.
The communication 20 Senator Hale
ls nearly 5000 words long, and IN adj
dtlom thorc are appended numerous
exhibits, Including copies OF letters
written by Senator Tillman ana his
agent. William j.. lee. showing that
they ala make an effort 20 secure
several quarter sections OF the
Oregon land. and the report Of the
post0nice inspectors who Investigated
the transaction OF the land agents.
II was through this investigation that
the alleged interest Of Senator Till
man was brought 60 light, and fate
fully, it appears that lt was az his
mitigation the Inquiry was begun.
PRESIDENTS LETTER TO HALE.
The presidents communication TO
Senator Hale follows.
"The White House. Washington, Jan.
8. 1909
MY Dear senator Hale--I have re-
quested the different departments OF
the government not only those to
whom you did not 20 give me an the
Information about the use OF special at
torneys. special agents, inspectors, etc,
In their departments, which will enable
me 20 put before you all the facts
which. as / take H. your committee de-
sire to have. I have transmitted these
reports herewith. / call special atten-
ton TO the reports OF the secretary Of
state. the secretary Of the treasury, and
the attorney general.
Let me at the outset express my
cordial agreement with the view that IL
Is not only the right. but thu duty, OF
Congress 90 investigate the workings Of
the secret service, or detective agents
by which alone the government can ef-
fectually safeguard itself against
wrongdolng. punish crime. and bring to
justice criminals.
II am well aware Of tho liability TO
abuse inherent IN any effective detec-
tive system or secret service SYSTEM
FOR the measure Of the efficiency Of the
system n also the measure Of the seri-
BUSINESS Of the abuses OF the system "
II be applied 10 wrong purposes or d.
rocted in any Improper manner. IL IL
eminently to the public interest that
there should be vigllant inquiry INTO
the workings Of this agency both by
the heads OF the executive departments
and by Congress.
DETECTIVES NECESSARY.
1T nevertheless remains true that
this system A. absolutely indispensable
II the popular interest Is TO be ade-
quately safeguarded and wrongdoers
continuing TO fear the law. To show
how Indispensable detectives are when
important work Of a confidential char
acter must be done, I refer you 20 the
experiences OF the immigration commits
sion appointed by Congress and largely
composed Of senators and representa-
tivcs, which has found Il absolutely
necessary 70 employ detectives I'm or
der to achieve the best results. In my
communication Of the 4th inst, 20 the
lower house, ! have set forth at length
the reasons why. ln my Judgment, II IL
emlnontly desirable that, In addition 70
the special detectives or inspection
service OF each department, there
should be In some one department, pre-
ferably the department OF Justice. a
service which can be used at need I'm
any department IN order 10 achieve the
ends which I have described. ] would
like to state here that very frequently
accusations have been made to me pri-
vately by members OF the two houses 10
the effect that the secret service had
been used as a police OF morals OF
60 shadow senator's congressman and
other public officials Hitherto the ef-
fort to discover the basis for such ale
cations has always been fruitleas. Il
should be greatly Obliged Ar any mfor-
nation could b. furnished me tending
Co show any Instance where this has
been done On times past.
Certain of tho special agents. inspec-
tors and tho like ina the several depart
ments have a highly specialized work
Co perform. In tho treasury depart
mont tho secret service rs especially
trained 20 deal with countorfeiters and
the special agents with customs frauds.
IN tho pOstoffce department the corps
of inspectors is especially trained and
especially fitted 10 detect criminality
on abuses or fraudulent use OF mails IN
connection with the postal service In
the interior department tho special
agents of the land office and the in
spector of the Indian bureau are trained
in similar fashion 10 meet present
needs. Ia addition. 10 is urgently noc-
essarY as set forth IA M Roots ao-
companying report that there shall be
central force of secret service men
who can be detailed for work anywhere
n the government service
'Of course. ln the Investigation OF
specific frauds we sometimes come
across wholly unexpected cases OF mis-
conduct. The frauds In the postal de-
partmont which were uncarthed some
six years ago. for instance. offer a
case in point My suspicious were first
aroused by 70 report made as 90 the
very e0trayaEant and dehauched
manner of llfc of "a certain postal em-
pl0yo the report being made hy an Of
fetal of the secret service in Con-
nectlou with another transaction on
which be- was at work So lt was with
the cases of the abuse of the franking
privilege. The postohice never of SGT
purpose. inspecis any printing sent
through the malls by "a senator or cone
grcssman. but sometimes through tho
accidental breaking of such package.
the contents arc exposed and if they
are Of "a character which makes thcir
transmission bY ranking privilege ll-
legal steps are taken by the postonlCe
authorities tO collect the fun postage.
some OF those instances represent real
abuses, but iu other cases they are due
tO Carelcasuoss or Ignorance. ana very
often. doubtless. are entirely unknown
90 Che congressman themselves ana
BOO good purpose would be- served by
amy publicity m the matter
"hut case has just arisen Of re-