The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-01-08


such violation of law hereafter. Mr..
Tawney, for instance, says. 1T was
for the purpose of stopping the use of
this service in every possible way by
the departments of the government
that this provision was inserted" and
Mr. Smith says, Now. that was the
only way in which any limitation could
be put upon the activities of the secret
service" Mr. Fitzgerald followed in
the same vein, and by far the largest
part of the argument against the EN-
ployment of the secret service was con-
fined TO the statement that it was in
violation of law" OF course such a
statement is not in any way an argu-
ment in favor of the justice Of the
provision. 1t is not an argument for
the provision at all. 1t is simply a
statement of what the gentlemen max
ing 1t conceive to have been the law.
There was both by implication and
direct statement the assertion that it
was the law and ought to be the law,
that the secret service should only be
used to suppress counterfeiting and
that the law should be made more
rigid than ever in this respect.
No Restrictions on Service.
Incidentally / may say that in my
Judgment there is ample legal author
ity for the statement that this appro-
priation law to which reference was
made imposes no restrictions whatever
upon the use Of the secret service men,
but relates solely to the expenditure Of
the money appropriated. Mr.. Tawney
in the debate stated that he had in his
possession "a letter from the secretary
of the treasury received a few days
ago" In which the secretary of the
treasury himself admits that the pro-
visions under which the appropriation
has been made have been violated year
after year for number of years in
his own department" / append here
with as Appendix A the letter re-
ferred to. LAppendix A is letter from
Secretary of the Treasury Cortelyou to
the chairman Of the committee on ap-
preparations of the house OF represent
atives, dated April %. 1908, protest
ing against the proposed law abridg
ing the right of the secretary of the
treasury to detail secret service men
to work In other divisions of his de-
partment Such abridgement, he de-
clared, would be distinctly to the adj
vantage of violators of criminal stat
utes of the United States"l It makes
no such admission as that which Mr..
Tawney alleges. 1t contains. on the
contrary, as you will see by reading it.
an emphatic protest against any such
abridgement of the rights delegated to
the secretary of the treasury by ex-
listing law" and concludes by assert
ing that he lis quite within his rights
in thus employing the service of these
agents and that the proposed modifi-
cation which Mr.. Tawney succeeded in
carrying through would be distinctly
to the advantage of violators of crimi-
nal statutes of The United States" I
call attention to the fact that in this
letter of Secretary Cortelyou to Mr..
Tawney. as in my letter TO the speaker
quoted below, the explicit statement
is made that the proposed change will
be for the benefit of the criminals. a
statement which simply reiterated in
public form in my message to the con-
gress this year and which is also con.
tanned in effect in the report Of the
secretary Of the treasury to the con.
sress.
"Private Conduct" of Members.
A careful reading of the Compression.
al Record will also show that practical
ly the only arguments advanced in IA
vor of the limitation proposed by Mr.
Tawney'S committee beyond what may
be supposed to be contained by impli-
cation In certain sentences as to
abuses which were not specified
were those contained in the repeated
statements of Mr. Sherley. Mr.. Sher-
ley stated that there had been pro
nounced abuses growing out of the
use of the secret service for purposes
other than those intended" putting his
statement in the form of question,
and in the same form further stated
that the private conduct of "mem-
bers Of congress, senators" and others
ought not to be investigated by the
secret service and that they should
not Investigate member of con-
gress" who had been accused of "con-
duct unbecoming gentleman and a
member of congress-" In addition to
these assertions, couched as questions,
he made one positive declaration that
this secret service at one time was
used for the purpose of looking into
the personal conduct of a member of
congress" This argument of Mr. Sher-
ley, the only real argument as to the
merits of the question made on behalf
of the committee on appropriations,
will be found in columns l and of
page 5o56 and column 1 of page 555T
of the Congressional Record. In col
umn 1 of page 5556 Mr. Sherley refers
to the improperly of permitting the
secret service men to investigate men
in the departments, officers of the
army and navy and senators and con-
gressmen In column he refers to
officers of the navy and members of
congress. In column /, page 555I, he
refers only to members Of congress.
His speech puts most weight on the
investigation of members of congress.
Newspaper Article Reproduced.
What appears in the record is filled