Weekly journal-miner., 1909-01-06

to inc Government over tlOO,OOO year. Thanks to the restriction inn posed by Congress it is now very duff cult for the Secretary of the Treasury to use the Secret Service freely even iu his own department, for instance. Co use them Co repeat what they did -o admirably in the ease of tnis ink contract The Government s further crippled by the law forbiddng it Co employ detective agencies. or course the Government can detect the most dangerous crimes, and punish the worst criminals. only by the use. either of the Secret service or oi pri. yutc detectives: t0 hamper II m using thc onc and forbid it Co resort to the other. can inure to inc benefit of none save the crim .nals
 The facts above given show beyond possibility of doubt that what the Soc. rpfsry of thc Treasury and ! had boh written prior tD ihc enactment of thc DhuoXious provision. and what l have since written iu my message Co fine Congress. state tho facts exactly as tHDv are. The ouupN.ou. provision ls ot benefit only to thc criminal class and can be of hrucGt only tO thc crmuM clas,. II it had been cmhodi. ed in the law at thc time when be. came President ull the prosecutions above mentioned, and many others of the same general type, would either not have been undertaken or would have Lccn undertaken with the Gov .rnmcnt at great disadvantage; and many. and probably most, of the chief offenders would have gone scot free instead of being punished for their crimes.
 Such body as the Secret Service, such a body of trained investigating agents. occupying permanent posi-. ton tn inc Government service, and separate from local Investigating forces m different Departments, is an absolute necessity if the best work is to bc done against criminals. It is by far the most efficient instrument pos sible Co use against crime. or course the more efficient an instrument is, the more dangerous it is if misused. To the argument that force like this can toe misuscd it K only necessary Co an. swer that the condition of it's useful. ness if handled properly is that il shall be So efficient as to be danger. ous if handled improperly. Any in. stance of abuse by the Secret Service or other investigating force in the Department should be unsparingly pun ished; and Congress should hold itself ready at any and all times to investi- gate the executive departments when ever there tx reason tO believe that any such instance of abuse nas occur. red. wish to emphasize my more than cordial acquiesccnce in the view that this K not only the right of Con grcsS. hut cmphatically its duty. To use the Secret Service in the invcst gation of purely private or political matters would be n gross abuse. But there has been no single instance of such abuse during my term as Prcsi- dent.
 In conclusion, l most earnestly ask. 'n ihe 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, m. der the lead of the late Senator Ali son, having before it n strongly word. ed protest Appendix ID from Secrc. tary Cortelyou like that he had sent to NIT. Tswney, accepted the Sccrc. tary's views, and the Senate passed the bill in the shape presented by Sen ator Allison. In the conference, how ever, the House conferces insisted on the retention of the provision they had inserted, and the Senate yielded
 The Chief of the Secret Service is paid salary utterly inadequate to the importance of his functions and to the admirable way in which he has performed them. I earnestly urge that it he increased to s6,OO0 per m. mum. also urge that the Secret Service be placed where it properly belongs. and made bureau in the Department of Justice. as the Chief of the Secret Service has repeatedly requested; but whether this is done or not, ii should be explicitely provided that the Secret Service can be used to detect and punish crime wherever it is found.