The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-20
DENIAL or TAPPING
BY BURNS f

In tho absence in the West OF his
father. William J. Burns. Raymond J.
Burns made an emphatic denial yester-
day that the Burns agency had tapped
the telephone wires OF Seymour & Sey-
mour. He went even further and said
that the Burns agency never had tapped
any telephone wires unknown to the
subscriber. Also Mr.. Burns thinks the
Thompson committee has no right to
subpoena him TO testify In an inquiry
along the lines Of Yesterday and will re-
fuse To appear in answer TO such a
subpoena.
Raymond Burns does not DENY that tho
Burns agency purchased from Bartlett
Smith the overlapping c~ontriVanc. Of
which Smith testified. and does not deny
that it has been used. II was used only
In the office Of n business man who sus-
pec'ed an employee. possibly a secretary.
and with that mans knowledge and AZ
his request. Mr.. Burns says. That man
can be produced to testify If necessary,
says Mr.. Burns, and lie can prove that
IN. smith wiretapper was not used on
the wires Of seymour II Seymour.
smith could not IA We testified tina
II was used on their wires said Mr.
Burns. smith IL now employed by Val
oFarrell, and W have reason to believe
that 1t was partly through the smith
people that the fact that Seymour q Sey-
mour's office wire was being tapred and
a det.ctaphone was installed INST be-
came public. We believe they told Val
oFarrcll. who in turn told the Seyinours
an District Attorney Swami.
We nav. told our story to Judge
Swami III full. He knows We did no
wiretapping. II was the police who
tapped Seymour n Seymour's wire. and
Senator Thompson knows II. az well as
Judge Swami. We never hay tapped /.
telephone wire We wouldn't dare. II is
4 felony in many states,
". Will go further. Not only did the
police tap the wlre-not the Burns
a~gency-but the Burns agency had no
cut In on the police tap while the police
were getting conversations over Sey-
mour ~ Seymour wire. At IN. time
y was tapped We got no reports from
the police or any other source of what
was said over that wire"
Mr.. Burns would not deny though
that when the wire was tapped his
agency got no such reports or that the
agency now had knowledge Of what had
been sdid over IL while 1t was being
tapped, About this he would say
nothing,
He was told wat Smith had testified
regarding III. installation OF "a detecta-
phone in the office In the Equitable
Building. formerly occupied by the Bel
gan Relief Commission, next to ScS mour
4 seymour.
Did he testify that he saw my father
open the DESK lie asked. and take
out the apers and cards." That was
the only comment he would make.
Mr., Moss says you are In Cleve-
land" Mr.. Burns was told, after being
informed that the THOMPSON Commit
tees subpoena server had reported his
inability to serve any OF the Burns en-
I ployoes except Mr.. Garven. the Office
manager,
Yes, they told me outside that IL
what they had told him" Mr.. Burns
replied. Il am Informed by "A firm of
prominent lawyers that the Thompson
committee has no right to prosecute an
inquiry along the present lines and !
do not intend TO appear before the COM
mittee to testify in proceedings OF this
character.
THE only way I can see that they
have II authority is in that telephones
are as u public utility. But they seem
to be Off the track now. asking ques-
tions about detectaphones which have
nothing to do with telephones and II
lot Of other things outside their PROV
lnce.
"Nvcre the other employees In the Of
flee s~ubpnnaed when the subpoena server
called"
NO, they were not. II Is queer. but
every one Of those stenographers n
operatives is out OF the city on one
case or another, The only one here WAS
Mr. Garven, who knows nothing about
tiv natter
Woods Explains Tapping.
II vas evening before the committee
sent for Com l~ssioner Woods. lie was
teen attending Il home defence league
meeting OF business men at the Bankers
club, The COMMISSIONS said he came
to explain what police overlapping was,
why II was practised. what had been
accomplished by It, its importance t.
the public ana to correct a false impress
sion.
The practice. no said. was an inheri.
lance in the depa rtment when he came
and was carried IN by q group of picked
en-, noted for their reliability and skill
whose personnel had remained the same
through several administrations.
Nobody likes the idea OF spying said
the Commissioner. fans any spying ID
] wholly uuiuStiGGble except in q bona Ode