Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1909-01-05


conviction; Two OF the principals
Mrssrs. Coms,ock and Richards. men
OF wealth and wide influence, being
! sentenced to twelve months In jail
and fined $500.
| An these Investigations in the
! land cases were undertaken In c0nse'
! Qucncc OF Mr.. Hitchcock. the theh
| secretary of the interior. bccominS
convinced that there were eNlehsiN"
| frauds committed In HIS department;
and tn" ramI.cations q the fra0us
were 30 farreaching thar he was
afraid to trust his own officials 10
d,al IN thorouehgoing fashion with
| them One Of the secret service men
lGcCurdinely. resigned and was appoint
I'd III the interior department 10 car
r. on his work. TIL" first thing h.
| discovered was that the special
agents division or corps OF detec
tivcs Of the land office OF the Interior
department was largely under the
control Of tn" land thieves: and in
| consequence the Investigations above
| referred 10 had TO be madc by secret
| service men.
II tn" present law. for which
| MrSsrs Tawncy. Smith and the othcr
| g,nticm,n | have above mentioned
are Responsible had then been In "f-
feet. this action would have been I'M
possible. and most OF The criminals
would unuu"s,icnably have escaped.
Naturalization Affairs.
! From 1901 to 1904 successful IN
! yr>tiratiun Of naturalization AFFAIRS
! was made by the secret service. with
the result OF obtaining hundr, DIS OF
convictions of conspirators who wer"
convicted Of selling fraudulent papers
OF naturalization. Subsequently Con
rrrys passed "A very wise law Drovid-
ing special service and appr0pria-
ton Tor the prevention o! naturaliza-
ton frauds; but unfortunately at the
SAME time thai the action against the
secret scrvic" was taken, Congress
also cut down tn, appropriation for
! this spCcia! service. with the result
of gripping III" effort to stop frauds
in naturalization. The fugi,ivcs
Green" and Gaynor, implicated in
peculiarly big governm' NJ contract
fraud, were located and arrested In
! Canada by the secret service. and
thanks to this they have since gone
| TO prison for th' ir crimes
The secret service was used 10 as
sis, in the investigation of crimes I'M
der the peonagc laws, and owing part
" thereto numerous convictions were
secured and the objectionable prac-
, tice was practically stamped out. at
least in many districts.
! In conclusion the message SAYS:
The facts above given show be-
ynnd possibility Of doubt that what
the secretary of the treasury and
had both written prior to the enact
ment OF the obnoxious provision. and
what have since written in my mes
| sag to the Congress. state the facts
exactly as they are The obnoxious
provision is OF benefit only to the
criminal class and can be of tanefit
only to the criminal class. II II had
been embodied in the law at the time
when became President all the
prosecutions above mentioned and
many others of the same general
type. would either not have been un-
dertaken or would have been under
taken with the government at a great
disadvantage: and many. and proba-
bly, most. of the chief offenders would
have gone scot-free instead OF being
punished fer their crimes.
A Right and Duty.
Such a BODY as the secret service
such a body of trained investigating
agents. occupying a permanent posi-
tior in the government service. and
separate from local investigating
forces in different departments. is an
absolute necessity If the best work is
to be done against criminals II Is
by far the most efficient instrument
possible to use against crime. Of
course tn" more efficient an instru-
ment is. the more dangerous it is II
m,sused. To the argument that
force lik" this can be misused II is
only necessary 10 answer that the
condition OF it's usefulness il hand
led properly is that it shall to so eff
lent as to be dangerous If handled
, improperly. Any instance of abuse by
| the secret service or other investigat-
ing force in the departments shnuli
be unsparingiy punish. d: and Con-
gross should hold Itself ready at any
and all times to investigate the exc
crtive departments whenever there is
| reason 10 believe that any such in
stance of abuse has occurred. / wish
10 emphasize my more than cordial
| acqu!csC' nee in the view hat this
is nCtjon!y the right of Congress. but
| emphaticaiiy its duty. To use the &C.
| cret service in the invCst igation Of
purely private or political matters
would b' CrOcs abuse. But there
has been no single instance OF such
abuse during my term as President.
| IN conclusion. most earnestly
ask. in the name OF good COVE rnment
! and deem administration. in the
nam" Of honesty and for the purpose
of bringing 10 justice viOlators Of
the FcdetO laws whenever they may
be found whether in public or priv
! ate life. that the action taken by the
! HOUSr last year b. reversed When