The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-02-26

vailed. Recently, he said. a cart load
Of answers to questions put by the up
lift commission had been received at
the Census Bureau for tabulation.
He charged that clerks had been de-
tailed to compare the report of the
commission, and said the report OF
that commission should have
been printed. All such work, he de-
clared, was without authority Of law.
Defense Of Secret Service.
The discussion arose over an
amendment by Mr.. Bennett New York;
striking out the provision limiting the
field of operations Of the secret ser.
vice. A similar paragraph in the last
appropriation bill Is what gave rise to
the presidents structures upon mem
bers of congress.
Mr.. Bennett entered a general defense
Of the secret service detectives. Mr..
Smith spoke Of the numerous special
agents, postoffice inspectors and 9TH
ers, every one Of whom" he said, lis
of a higher and nobler type than the
members of the so-called secret ser.
vice. He vehemently declared, in
speaking of the secret service, that It
was a matter of common knowledge
that one Of the requisites of a detect
i've was that he should be a common
liar"
The secret service agents, he said.
were not SO high and lofty that they
should be the subject of admiration
among a free people. Many of them,
he said, work for 50 a day in hunting
down land frauds when there is not a
considerable number of them that
know a legal from an illegal entry
Says Members Worthless.
Respectable men, he said, would
take places as postoffice inspectors
and special agents of the Interior De-
partment, even though occasionally
they might have to do some detective
work, but, he asserted. the idea that
some 50 or 81 a day man, who is will
ing to be a common detective can ia
miliarize himself with all laws and,
therefore, become more useful than a
specialist is simply absurd"
He illustrated his point by referring
to a case where Secret Service men
were called off" Inc special agents
allowed to do the work alone. and
said that in consequence land frauds
involving millions of dollars were un-
earthed.
The Secret Service men. he
charged, were worthless. and he said.
nowhere except in the vainglorious
boastings of Chief Wilkie and the tes-
timony of men who did not know
anything about it. did I find that it
had anything except in the watching
of Jurors and the like"
Continuing, Mr.. Smith suggested
that il detectives we're necessary to
hunt down jurors, they should be as
signed by the Department of Justice.
and not be taken from the forces in
the counterfeiting section of the
Treasury Department.
Wouldn't that" interjected Stanley
tKentucky) with sarcasm. interfere
with the mystery, sensationalism and
attractiveness of the Secret Service?"
Abuse Now Enormity.
Joining in the laughter. which fol-
lowed this query. Mr.. Smith. contin-
ing, said that in prior years the abuse
of the field of operation of the Secret
Service was only incidental. but that
now it had become an enormity. He
referred to the assassination of Presi-
dent Mckinley. and seemed to throw
into his remarks all the II he
possessed.
The only president assassinated
since the Secret Service men we're de
tailed to watch the president he
said, was when President Mckinley
was hot down at Buffalo, with a Sc
cret Service man by his side. who vas
to observe the approaching
murderer with his bandaged hand.
That man did not even capture the
murderer