Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-01

Brown had an unusual knowledge of the
whole fiscal system. and the controller
did not want to lose him, but was anx-
ious to see the young man advance
To .his time. the only check the gov
eminent had kept on national banks was
through national bank examiners II an
examiner found anything suspicious in
his periodical Investigations. he would
report to the controller of the currency.
and the report would be sent to the local
United States district attorney.
Wrisley Brown, then only twenty-slX
years old was installed by Mr.. Wicker
sham at the head of new organization
of bank experts, and the procedure was
changed. The suspicious of bank ex-
aminer were communicated to the De-
partment of Justice, and experts set 10
work under Browns directions. Out OF
the multitude of facts which the experts
would unearth Brown would slit the IN
eliminating material.
These bank experts became part OF
the bureau of investigation WHICH grad
ually grew up under the guiding hand
of Attorney General Wickersham. rms
bureau, with its agents in every town
of size in the country, has come gener-
ally to be known as the new secret
service 1t has done notable work IN
antitrust, postal fraud, white slave ana
smuggling cases; also in enforcing the
neutrality laws on the Mexican norae a
Wrisley Brown was made the legal ad-
wiser and consulting attorney OF TINS
great body, in addition to supervising
the baking cases.
In these latter it was for Mr. Brown
to marshal the evidence secured by IN
yestisators so that juries made up of
men unfamiliar with banks and banking
customs might understand clearly me
true conditions. This is the work that
brought him first into large prominence
and caused him to be widely known as
the Nemesis of wild cat bankers.
The analytical powers that made ms
work in these cases so notable are the
.,ery powers that lifted him into the
higher ranks Of government service.
beginning in the Treasury Department
n a minor capacity, through compeu-
dive civil service examination III lsoo' ne
had demonstrated efficiency from the
start.
In 1907 George B. Cortelyou. then Sec
rotary of the Treasury, had sent him 10
California on a long and important ms,
sion growing out of the earthquake ana
fire in San Francisco. Brown dlschargeu
his irving duties there with such emf
nent success that his official superlors
rewarded him with rapid advancement.
An ability to master quickly AN ac'
cumulated mass OF detail. to separate
the wheat from the chaf, to analyZe
and present the results clearly, graphic
ally and precisely-all this, combined
with a powerful legal mind, makes VI
the chief assets of Wrisley Browns in
tellectual equipment
Thoroughness and concentration. These
are characteristic of his methods OF
work. He goes deep into whatever hi
lays his hand to, lives in the subject
} becomes saturated with it. At these
times he seems, his private Secre
tary says. like in trance. Dur
: in. he Arrb ial al
when he did not leave the Capitol unit
after daybreak. having spent the nigh
( there delvins deep into the evidence o.
the case and into the law of impeach
ment.
This habit of thoroughness. which made
3 him an authority on banking law. wa:
manifested again in the intense worl
l which Brown did in the Archibald case
1t has also made him known amoni
l lawyers of the country as an authority
, on the law of Impeachment. That law
4 is an abstruse subject. There have beer
{ but nine impeachments under the fedora
r the way. is the only one of the Mint
: that was defended that resulted in con
D viction. The very principles which gov
ern impeachment in the United State:
have been shrouded in mystery. At thu
outset of the case Brown set out t.
clear up that mystery He mastered TN
subject.
1 Following the trial the Harvard Law
: graph on THE Impeachment of tn
Federal Judiciary which he did Thu
s paner has attracted profound attention
among lawyers everywhere. Senate
D Elihu Root, who is regarded as pronao Oh!
: the foremost lawyer of the country
4 thought SO highly of it, as valuable
e and instructive addition to the literatur
: of the law, that he recently orougnt
, to the attention of the Senate, and hat
:. it printed as public document. 1t vii