The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-01-08
Secretary Cortclyou Sustained.

The facts above given show bny,n
possibility of doubt that vE.;t these
rotary of the treasury and Lad botb
written prior to the enactment Of he
obnoxious provision aud what have
since written in my mcSSage to he
congress state the facts exactly as
they are. The obnoxious provision l.,
of benefit only to the criminal class
and can be of benefit only 10 the crim
inal class. If it had been embodied in
the law at the time when | became
president, all the prosecutions above
mentioned ard many others Of ibe
same general type would either not
have been undertaken or would have
been undertaken with the governmcn
at great disadvantage. and many
and probably most of the chief offend
ers would have gone scot free insteDd
Of being punished for their crimes.
Such Il body as the secret service.
such body Of trained investigating
agents, occupying a permanent posi-
ton in the government service and
separate from local investigating forces
in different departments, is IN absolute
necessity if the best work is TO be
done against criminals. 1t is by far
the most efficient instrument possible
to use against crime OF course the
more efficient an instrument is the
more dangerous it is if misused To
the argument that Il force like this
can be misused it is only necessary TO
answer that the condition of its use
fitness if handled properly is that it
shall be so efficient as TO be dangerous
if handled improperly. Any instance
Of abuse by the secret service or other
investigating force in the departments
should be unsparingly punished, and
congress should hold itself ready at
any and all times to investigate the
executive departments whenever there
is reason to believe that any such in
stance of abuse has occurred. | wish
to emphasize my more than cordial ac-
QuieScence in the view that this is not
only the right of congress. but en-
phatically its duty. To use the secret
service in the investigation of purely
private or political matters would be
gross abuse. But there has been no
single instance of such abuse during
my term as president
The Presidents Appeal.
In conclusion. l most earnestly ask
In the name of good government and
decent administration, in the name of
honesty and for the purpose of bring
ing to justice violators of the federal
laws wherever they may be found.
whether in public or private life, that
the action taken by the house last year
be reversed. When this action was
taken the senate committee. under the
lead of the late Senator Allison, hav-
ing before it a strongly worded protest
(AppendiX d. from Secretary Cortel-
you like that he had sent to Mr.. Taw-
ney, accepted the secretary's views,
and the senate passed the bill in the
in the conference. however. the house
conferees insisted on the retention of
the provision they had inserted, and
the senate yielded. tAppendix D con
sists of letter from Secretary Cortel-
you to the late William 3. Allison.
chairman of the senate committee on
appropriations, dated May 3, 1908. In
1t the secretary protests vigorously
against the amendment to the sundry
civil bill prohibiting the payment of
ANY person detailed or transferred
from the secret service division" He
gives reasons for such details and in
an appendix cites instances in which
the secret service mon have been de
tailed effectively in cases outside the
treasury department
The chief Of the secret service is
paid n salary utterly inadequate to
the Importance of his functions and
to the admirably way in which he
has performed them. earnestly
urge that it be increased to $4,000 per
annum. also urge that the secret
service be placed where It properly
belongs and made 4 bureau I'm the
department of Justice. as the chief Of
the secret service has repeatedly re-
Guested But. whether this is done or
not. II should be explicitly provided
that the secret service can be used to
defect and punish crime wherever 1t
is found
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The White House. Jan {, 1909.