Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1909-01-20
u. S. Government Spends S20,000,OO0
a Year For Secret Service
Assertion That THIS Amount Vas Paid 1908 Will Form the Basis Rigid S
n Into M Uses Which Such Sum Has Been PuResentaVe TaUHs7
SAYS Country win Be AStOnEhed by What Committee WIN Reveal.

| sums OF money have been diverted
for other purposes than those desig'
mated or intended by the law. The
investigation about to be begun BY
the House Is intended to uncover as
many of these abuses as possible.
Speaker Cannon named Represen.
tatives Olmstead, lof Pennsylvania
chairman; Currier, of New Hamp-
shire; Young, of Michigan; Brantley,
of Georgia, and Bowers, of Missis-
sippi, as members of the special com
nittee authorized by the Tawney res
olution to investigate the various
branches of the Government Secret
Service Messrs. Brantley and Bow
.ers are Democrats. Mr.. Bowers is
a member of the Appropriations Com
mittee.
AS the result of the passage of sew.
eral laws in the last few years, with
other reasons, the number of men EN-.
ployed to discover violations of stat.
utes has increased nearly twentyfold
within a decade. According to Mr..
Tawney, the number Of these men on
the Federal roll just prior to the
Spanish War was less than 200; to.
day it exceeds 5000, and the appro-
priations for their maintenance have
jumped from little over S1,000,0 600
to seven or eight times that amount
This is aside from other expenditures
Some of the large items contained
in the current appropriation act, that
is, those that were passed last winter
were shown by Mr.. Tawney and Mr..
Smith, another member of the Ap-
propriations Committee. They are as
follows:
For the detection of violations OF
the postal laws, S1,105,000.
For the detection of violations OF
the internal revenue laws, S125,000.
For the detection of frauds on the
customs, 100000.
For the detection of counterfeiters,
s115, 900.
For Investigations by the Bureau
of Corporations, s175,000.
For special agents and inspectors
in the enforcement of the Interstate
Commerce act, s450,000.
For the detection and prevention
of depredationso on publiclands, $780,
600.
For the investigation of Antitrust
law violations, $250,000.
For special agents for the Pension
Bureau. $3S0,000.
For the enforcement of the Meat
Inspection law Congress appropriated
SO, 600, 900, the bulk Of which is said
to have been expended for Inspection
services. ) ~
Similarly aSlarge part Of an appro-
priation of sS26,00O for the enforce
ment of the Pure Food act, it is as
serted, is paid out for inspectors. A
sum approaching s1,000,00O annual,
ly is said to be expended for the en-.
forcement of the immigration and
Chinese exclusion laws.
All this is aside from approprla,
tions for the collection of evidence ir
the ordinary. litigation which occu.
pies the time of the Department OF
Justice, including The pay of United
States marshals, special attorneys ano
experts of various kinus. 1t readily
can be seen that with appropriations
made in lump form. such as the fore
going, 1t Is difficult to segregate the
amounts paid out for actual work oi
detection of all kinds. and 1t is this
among other things, that the investi
cation Is expected to disclose.