Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-01-09

washington, Jan. 3. The letter
written to Senator Hale by President
Roosevelt few days ago concerning
the secret service and Senator Till
mans activity in western lands caus-
ed considerable surmise among con-
gressmen and people interested in ma
tional affairs as to what 1t contained
The letter had been. withheld for
time but is now made public. 1t is as
follows:
The White House, Washington, Jan.
5, 1909.-My Dear Senator Hale: 1
have requested the different depart
ments of the government, not only
those to whom you sent requests, but
those to whom you did not, to give me
all the information about the use of
special attorneys, special agents, In
spectors, ETC., in their departments
which will enable me to pus before
you all the facts which, as understand
1t, your committee desire to have. l
transmit these reports herewith. /
call especial attention to the reports
of the secretary of state, the secretary
of the treasury and the attorney gen.
eral
Let me at the outset most earnestly
express my cordial agreement with the
view that it is not only the right but
the duty CT congress to investigate the
workings of the secret service or de-
tective agents by which alone the gov
ernment can effectua,Iy safeguard it
self against wrong doing, punish
crime, and bring to justice criminals.
I am well aware of the liability TO
abuse inherent in airy effective detect
i've system or secret service system
for the measure OF the efficiency of the
system is also the measure of the
seriousness of the abuses of the
system if it De applied to wrong pur,
poses or directed in any improper man
rer. 1t is eminently to the public in
.terest that there should be vigilant
inquiry into the working of this
agency both by the heads of the exc
cutive depaTtm ard ty congress.
System Is Indispensable.
1t nevertheless remains true the
this system is absolutely indispensa.
HE if the popular interest is to b;
, adequately safeguarded and wrong
doeEs taught to fear the law To show
how Indispensable detectives are wher
important work of confidential char
acter must be done, I refer you to The
experience of the immigration com
mission appointed by congress ant
largely composed of senators and rep
resentatives, which has found it abso
lutely necessary to employ detecuve
in order to achieve the best results
In my communication of the 4th in
slant to the lower house, | have Sc
forth at length the reasons why, il
my judgment, it is eminently desirable
that, in addition to the special detect
ives. or inspection service of each de
partment, there should be in some on,
{ department. preferably the department
OF justice, a service which can be use,
at need in any department in orde
to achieve the ends have described.
/ would like to Estate here that yer,
frequently accusations have been mad
to me privately BIZ members of the tw
houses to the effect that the secra
service has been used as police C
morals" or to shadow senators. cor
gressmen and other public official:
Hitherto the effort to disc0ve; III
basis for such allegations has alway
been fruitless. l should be great
obliged If any information could b
furnished mo tending to show any IN
t-h ;c
times mast.
Specialized Work to Perform.
Certain of the special agents, inspe
tors and the like, in The several d.
partments have a highly specialize
work to perform. In the treasury d,
partmert the secret service is e
pecially trained to deal with counte
feiters and the special agents with GU
toms frauds. In the postoffice depar
lnent the corps of inspectors is e
pecially trained and peculiarly fitted {
detect criminality or abuses or fraud
lent use of the mails in connectio
with the post service. In the interi;
department the special agents of I'll
land office and the inspectors of ii
Indian bureau are trained in simil;
fashion to meet special needs. In a
dition, it is urgently necessary, as S,
forth in Mr.. Roots accompanying ?
port, that there snail be central fore
of secret service men who can be d
tailed for work anywhere in the go
eminent service.
OF course, in the investigation
specific frauds we some times con
across wholly unexpected phases
misconduct. The frauds in the post
department which were uneartht