Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-01-05

! CT Inc duties OF the president to report
TO the house alleged delinquencies' OF
members, or the supposed corrupt ac-
| ton of member in his official
capacity The membership of the
! house is by the constitution placed
| within the power OF the house alone.
! In the prosecution of criminals and
the enforcement CT the laws the presi-
| dent must resort to the courts OF the
| United States.
1 In the third and fourth clauses of
the preamble 1t is stated that the
meaning of my words is that "the
majority of the congressman are in
fear of being investigated by secret
service men" and that Congress as a
whole was actuated by that motive in
Ienacting the provision in question:
and that this is an impeachment OF
the honor and integrity of the con-
gross. These statements are, not /
think in accordance with the facts.
The portion of my message referred to
runs as follows:
Quotes His Message
Last year an amendment was in
corporated in the measure providing
for the secret service, which provided
| that there should be no detail from the
secret service and no transfer there
| from. 1t is not too much to say that
this amendment has been of benefit
only, and could be of benefit only, to
the criminal classes. If deliberately
introduced for the purpose of dimin-
ishing the effectiveness Of war against
crime it could not have been better
devised to this end 1t forbade
the practices that had been fol-
lowed to a greater or less extent by
the executive heads Of the various de-
partments for twenty years. To these
practices we owe the securing of the
evidence which enabled us to drive
great lotteries out % business and
secure quarter of a million of dollars
in fines from their promoters. These
practices have enabled us to discover
some of the most outrageous frauds
in connection with the theft of gov
eminent land and government
timber by great corporations and
by individuals. These practices
have enabled us to get some of the
evidence Indispensable in order to Sc
cure the conviction of the wealthiest
and most formidable criminals with
whom the government has to deal,
both those operating in violation of
the antitrust law and others. The
amendment in question was of benefit
to no one excepting to these GRIMM
ais, and it seriously hampers the gov
eminent in the detection of crime and
the securing of justice. Moreover, ii
not only affects departments outside
of the treasury, but it tends to ham
per the secretary of the treasury him
self in the effort to utilize the cna-
ploycs of his department SO as to best
meet the requirements of the public
service. 1t forbids him from prevent
ing frauds upon the customs service,
from Investigating irregularities i'll
branch mint and assay offices, and has
seriously crippled him. 1t prevents
the promotion of employees in the Sc
cret service, and this further discour-
ages good effort. In its present form
the restriction operates only to the adj
vantage of the criminal, of the wrong
doer.
The Offending Paragraph
''The chief argument in favor of the
provision was that the congressman
did not themselves wish to be in
vestigated by secret service men. Very
little of such investigation has been
done in the past; but it is true that
the work of the secret service agents
was partly responsible for the indict-
ment and conviction of a senator and
a congressman for land frauds in Ore
gon. / do not believe that it is in the
public interest to protect criminals in
any branch of the public service, and
exactly as we have again and again
during the past seven years prosecut-
ed and convicted such criminals who
We're in the executive branch of the
government, so in my belief we should
be given ample means to prosecute
them if found in the legislative
branch But if this is not considered
desirable a special exception could be
made in the law prohibiting the use
of the secret service force in investi-
eating members OF the congress 1t
would be far better to do this than to
do what actually was done. and strive
to prevent or at least to hamper eff
fective action against criminals by the
executive branch of the government"
Conclusions Not Warranted
A careful reading of this message
will show that I said nothing to war;
rant tho statement that the majority
of the congressman were in fear of
being investigated by the secret SER
vice men, or that congress as
whole was actuated by that motive"
III did not make a..y such statement in
this message. Moreover I have never
made any such statement about con-
gress as whole, nor, with few in
evitable exceptions, about the men,
bers of congress, in any message or
article or speech. On the contrary I
have always not only deprecated but
vigorously resented the practice of in
discriminate attacks upon congress,
and indiscriminate condemnation of
all congressman, wise and unwise, fit
and unfit, good and bad alike. No
one realizes more than I the import
ance of cooperation between the exc
cutive and congress. and no one holds
the authority and dignity of the con-
gress of the United States in higher
respect than l do. ] have not the
slightest sympathy with the practice
of judging men, for good or i'll, not
on their several merits. but in a mass,
as members of one particular body or
one caste. To put together all men
holding or who have held a particular