Fair play., 1916-02-12

together into one big mosaic picture.
revealing some vast undertaking and
supplying information of great impor-
tance to the administration.
1t Is by many such Investigations
conducted in this country and perhaps
abroad that the administration has
gathered information that has enabled
the federal officials to foresee inter-
national events before they really hap
pened and to prepare for contingen-
cies with proper care. Much OF the
important work which the secret serv-
Ice has done has been performed un-
der the direction of the state depart
ment, which has a confidential fund
for such Investigations, and which
calls upon the secret service chief to
supply the men for the work.
While the public hears little of the
details of the work of the secret serv-
ice, the chief has agents all over the
country and all over the world, men of
great skill, many OF them of high edu-
cation, others of little school educa-
tion but graduates in the university CT
human nature and of criminology, men
of great courage and necessarily Of
tremendous resourcefulness. They
may be here today and in the far
East a month hence They may be in
New York this morning and may start
for Europe tomorrow on some mis-
sion.
An investigation in China may re-
quire the presence there of several
men. There may be counterfeiting
plot that has a clue leading to Mexico.
There may be conspiracy to start a
revolution in Mexico that has trails
leading to Barcelona, Spain; to Paris.
London and to Mexico City. In every
direction that may be necessary men
are dispatched to make investigations
and to report to the home Office. Many
a revolutionary plot hatched in foreign
countries has been frustrated because
a clue was obtained here and the plot
ters traced and exposed.
The limitations under which this
work has been carried on is shown by
the laws under which the service is
authorized and the money is appro-
priated. The appointment of the chief
of the secret service, his assistant and
a few clerks is authorized by one law.
The sundry civil bill appropriates
money for the hiring of agents at so
much a day, but at the same time
makes it impossible for those men to
be assigned to work in any other de-
partment, thereby making restrictions
that prevent the chief from getting the
best work from them,
For instance, il the chief has man
who has proved himself specially capa-
BILE in a certain line of work and II
just such man is needed in a GER
tain department of the government the
chief cannot detail him for the task
because the law specially provides that
no man hired by the chief or the secret
service for work in the treasury de-
partment can be assigned within the
year to an investigation outside that
department. The law also provides
that the chief cannot detail more than
four men to any special investigation.
When the secret service was organ
lied in 1865 the initial appropriation
was made for detecting counterfeiters
and running down other felonies."
Aside from the chief and a few clerks
the secret service is really kept alive
by yearly appropriation in the sun
dry civil bill. The service, however,
had greater latitude than at present up
to the time when President Roosevelt
In 1907 got into a controversy with
congress because of the fact that he
caused Investigations to be made con
cerning certain congressman In re-
venge congress adopted the restriction
that prohibits the use of the secret
service men for any other purpose
than the detection Of counterfeiting
and the protection of the president.
That provision has limited their activ-
ity and makes 1t necessary for the
chief to hire other men for work re-
quired by other departments.
The secret service received s145 900
last year and asks for $225, for
the coming fiscal year.