.
mmtx Newg
H Y
VOL. VII.
McCRORY, ARKANSAS, THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 1909.
NO.
BIG STICK SMASHES;
ROOSE VEL T DEFENDS
THE SECRET SERVICE
In Message to Mouse President De=
dares His Statements in Previous
Words to Congress Were Gross
ly Misunderstood.
Washington. President Roosevelt’s
big stick crashed down upon the
heads of Representatives Tawney of
Minnesota, Smith of Iowa, Sherley of
Kentucky, and Fitzgerald of New York,
when the executive sent a special message
to the house of representatives, berating
those scions for being champions of the
successful move to place limitations upon
tiie scope of the secret service.
The president also declared that the
interpretation of the house of the secret
service clause in his last message was
misunderstood, and had there been any
evidence.which would point to the neces
sity of an investigation of members, such
evidence would long ago have been turned
over to the proper authorities.
The message was in answer to the res
olution transmitted from the house in
which the representatives asked for evi
dence upon which Mr. Roosevelt based
his statements that the “chief argument
in favor of the provision was that the
congressmen did not themselves wish to
be investigated by secret service men.”
Message of the President
and Reasons Therefor.
The message in part:
“To the House of Representatives: I
have received the resolution of the house
of representatives of December 17, 1908,
running as follows:
" ‘Whereas, there was contained in the
sundry civil appropriation bill which
passed congress at its last session and be
came a law, a provision in reference to
the employment of the secret service in
the treasury department; and
“ ‘Whereas, in the last annual message
o! the president of the United States to
the two houses of congress it was stated
in reference to that provision: “It is not
too much to say that this amendment has
been of benefit only, and could be of ben
efit only, to the criminal classes,” and it
was further stated: “The chief argument
in favor of the provision was that the
congressmen did not themselves wish to
be investigated by secret service men,”
and it was further stated: “But if this is
not considered desirable a special excep
tion could be made in the law, prohib
iting the use of the secret service force
in investigating members of congress. It
would be far better to do this than to
do what actually was done, and strive to
prevent or at least to hamper effective
action against criminals by -the executive
branch of the government;” and
“ ‘Whereas, the plain meaning of his |
words is that the majority of the con
gressmen were in fear of being investi
gated by secret service men and that con
gress as a whole was actuated by that
ftiotive in enacting the provision in ques
tion. Now. therefore.
" ‘Be it Resolved, That the president be
requested to transmit to the house any
evidence upon which he based his state
ments that the ‘chief argument in favor
of the provision was that the congress
men did not themselves wish to be in
vestigated by secret service men,’ and
a'so to transmit to the house any evi
<l«nce connecting any member of the
house of representatives of the Sixtieth
congress with corrupt action in his official
capacity, and to inform the house wheth
er he has instituted proceedings for the ;
punishment of any such individual by the
courts or has reported any such alleged
delinquencies to the house of represent
atives.’
Cannot Understand Trend of
the House Resolution.
T am wholly at a loss to understand
tne concluding portion of the resolution.
I have made no charges of corruption
against congress nor against any member
or the present house. If I had proof of
such corruption affecting any member of
the house in any matter as to which the
federal government has Jurisdiction, ae
on would at once be brought, as was
Gone in the cases of Senators Mitchell
and Burton, and Representatives William
son, Herrmann and Driggs, at different
tues since I have been president. This
would simply be doing my duty in the
xecution and enforcement of the laws
without respect to persons. But I do not
egard it as within the province or the
u les of the president to report to the
ouse 'alleged delinquencies’ of members,
* * *e supposed 'corrupt action’ of a
number ‘in his official capacity.’ The
f jCrship of the house is by the con
i ution placed within the power of the
in UiS* a*one* *n the prosecution of crim
ais and the enforcement of the laws
_-e pres*dent must resort to the courts
of the United States.
n .third and fourth clauses of the
eamble it is stated that the meaning of
y Words is that 'the majority of the
t!®n^r^SSnien are *n ^ear being inves
Vn secret service men' and that
thntKreSS as a "’hole was actuated by
motive in enacting the provision in
mpn» °n'' aru* that this ,s an inipeach
..J of the honor and integrity of the
thirST6?8' These statements are not I
i In accordance with the facts.
Declares He Said Nothing
„ to Warrant the Statement,
shri^ <,;!r"fl:1 reading of this rnescape will
w *aat 1 said nothing to warrant the
ement that ‘the majority of the con
. , ®n!<?n were in fear of being invest!
,, a by the secret service men.' or 'that
tnotl 8>S aS 11 w,1°*e w’as actuated by that
rr.n.v*‘ 1 did not make any such state
„ ° t*’*a niessage. Moreover I have
P0 *r made tny such statement about
evltflM3* as !l ’vbo'e' nor, with a few in
of i-o P exceptions, about the members
»De<°?f’rPSS’ ln any message or article or
nut' i *,lei contrary I have always
sent<°! i c1,'Prccate(i but vigorously re
tack ' the practice of Indiscriminate al
cana UPOn eongress, and indiscriminate
... i1*' n,natlon of all congressmen, wise
- ■ onwlse, fit and iinltt. good and bad
allk
lrnn^L. ^"° one realizes more than I the
"nportance
executive
—* “fthorlty and dignity of tlie congress
of co-operation between the
0 and congress, and no one holds
Of tl
United States in higher respect
than I do. I have not the slightest sym
pathy with the practice of judging men,
for good or for ill, not on their several
merits, but in a mass, as members of
one particular body or one caste. To put
together all men holding or who have
held a particular office, whether it be
the office of president, or judge, or sena
tor, or member of the house of represent
atives, and to class them all, without re
gard to their individual differences, as
good or bad, seems to me utterly inde
fensible; and it is equally indefensible
whether the good are fonfounded with the
bad in a heated and unwarranted cham
pionship of all, or in a heated and un
warranted assault upon all.
Charge in Resolution Due
to Density of the Solons.
“This allegation in the resolution, there
fore, must certainly be due to an entire
failure to understand my message.
“The resolution continues: 'That the
president be requested to transmit to the
house any evidence upon which he based
his statements that the ‘chief argument
in favor of the provision was that the
congressmen did not themselves wish to
be investigated by secret-service men.’
This statement, which was an attack
upon no one, still less upon the congress,
is sustained by the facts.
“If you will turn to the Congressional
Record for May 1 last, pages 5553 to 5560,
inclusive, you will tind the debate on this
subject. Mr. Tawney of Minnesota, Mr.
Smith of Towa, Mr. Sherley of Kentucky,
and Mr. Fitzgerald of New York, appear
in this debate as the special champions
of the provision referred to. Messrs. Par
sons, Bennet and Driscoll were the lead
ers of those who opposed the adoption
of the amendment and upheld the right of
the government to use the most efficient
means possible in order to detect crim
inals and to prevent and punish crime.
The amendment was carried in the com
mittee of the whole, where no votes of
the individual members are recorded, so
I am unable to discriminate by mention
ing the members who voted for and the
members who voted against the provision,
but its passage, the journal records, was
greeted with applause. I am well aware,
however, that in any case of this kind
many members who have no particular
knowledge of the point at issue, are con
tent simply to follow the lead of the
committee which had considered the mat
ter. and I have no doubt that many mem
bers of the house simply followed the
lead of Messrs. Tawney and Smith, with
out having had the opportunity to know
very much as to the rights and wrongs
of the question.
Regarding Restrictions of
the Secret Service.
“There was both by implication and di
rect 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.
“Incidentally I may say that in my
judgment there is ample legal authority
for the statement that this appropriation
law to which reference was made im
poses no restrictions whatever upon the
use of the secret service men, but re
lates solely to the expenditure of the
money appropriated. Mr. Tawney in the
debate stated that he had in his pos
session ‘a letter from the secretary of the
treasury received a few days ago’ in
which the secretary of the treasury ‘him
self admits that the provisions under
which the appropriation has been made
have been violated year after year for a
number of years in his own department.’
I append herewith as appendix A, the let
ter referred to. It makes no such admis
sion as that which Mr. Tawney alleges.
It contains on the contrary, as you will
see by reading it, an ‘emphatic protest
against any such abridgment of the
rights delegated to the secretary of the
treasury by existing law',’ and concludes
by asserting that he ‘is quite within his
rights in thus employing the service of
these agents’ and that the proposed modi
fication which Mr. Tawney succeeded
in carrying through w'ould be ‘distinctly
to the advantage of violators of criminal
statutes of the United States.’ I call at
tention to the fact that in this letter of
Secretary Cortelyou to Mr. Tawney, as
In my letter to the speaker quoted be
low, the explicit statement is made that
the proposed change will be for the bene
fit of the criminals, a statement which
I simply reiterated in public form in my
message to the congress this year, and
which is also contained in effect in the
report of the secretary of the treasury
to the congress.
“A careful reading of the Congression
al Record will also show that practically
the only arguments advanced in favor of
the limitation proposed by Mr. Tawney’s
committee, beyond w'hat may be supposed
to be contained by Implication in cer
tain sentences as to ‘abuses’ which were
not specified, were those contained in the
repeated statements of Mr. Sherley.
Shurley's Declarations on
“Pronounced Abuses."
“Mr. Sherley stated that there had
been ‘pronounced abuses growing out of
the use of the secret service for purposes
other than those intended,’ putting his
statement in the form of a question, and
in the same form further stated that the
‘private conduct’ of ‘members of congress,
senators,’ and others ought not to be in
vestigated by the secret service, and that
they should not investigate a ‘member of
congress’ who had been accused of ‘con
duct unbecoming a 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 pur
pose of looking nito the personal con
duct of a member of congress.’ This ar
gument of Mr. Sherley, the only real ar
gument as to the merits of the question
made on behalf of the committee on ap
propriations, will be found In columns 1
and 2 of page 5B56, and column 1 of page
5557 of the Congressional Record. In col
umn 1 of page 5550 Mr. Sherley refers to
the impropriety of permitting the secret
service men to Investigate men in the
departments, officers of the army and
navy and members of congress; in col
umn 1, page 5557, he refers only to mem
bers of congress. His speeclj puts most
weight on the investigation of members
of congress.
“WJiat appears in the record is filled
out and explained by an article which ap
peared in the Chicago Inter-Ocean of
January 3, 1904, under a "Washington
headline, and which marked the begin
ning of this agitation against the secret
service. It was a special article of about
3,000 words, written, as I was then in
formed and now understand, by Mr. L.
It. Busbey, at that time private secretary
to the speaker of the house. It con
tained an utterly unwarranted attack on
the secret service division of the treas
ury department and its chief.
“At the time of this publication the
work of the secret service, which was
thus assailed, included especially the in
vestigation of great land frauds in the
west, and the securing of evidence to
help the department of justice in the
beef-trust investigations at Chicago,
which resulted in successful prosecutions.
cuoris to Kill Move
Found to Be Unavailing.
“These methods proved unavailing to
prevent the wrong. Messrs. Tawney and
Smith, and their fellow members on the
appropriations committee paid no heed to
the protests; and as the obnoxious pro
vision was incorporated in the sundry
civil bill, it was impossible for me to con
sider or discuss it on its merits, as I
should have done had it been in a sep
arate bill. Therefore I have now taken
the only method available, that of dis
cussing it in my message to congress; and
as all efforts to secure what I regard as
Proper treatment of the subject without
recourse to plain speaking had failed, I
have spoken plainly and directly, and
have set forth the facts in explicit terms.
bince 1901 the investigations covered
by the secret service division—under the
practice which had been for many years
recognized as proper and legitimate! and
which had received the sanction of the
hig lest law officers of the government—
hav» covered a wide range of offensell
against the federal law. By far the most
important of these related to the publio
domain, as to which there was tin •
covered a far-reaching and widespread
system of fraudulent transactions involv
ing both the illegal acquisition and the
illegal fencing of government land; anti,
in connection with both these offenses,
the crimes of perjury and subornation of
perjury. Some of the persons involved
in these violations were of great wealth
and of wide political and social influence.
Both their corporate associations and
their political affiliations, and the lawless
character of some of their employes,
made the investigations not only difficult
but dangerous. In Colorado one of the
secret service men was assassinated.
Instances in Which
Secret Service Starred.
“!n connection with the Nebraska prose
cut ion the government has by decree se
cured the return to the government of
over a million acres of grazing land;
in Colorado of more than 2,000 acres of
mineral land, and suits are now pending
involving 350,000 acres more.
“All these investigations in the land
cases were undertaken in consequence
of Mr. Hitchcock, the then secretary
of the interior, becoming convinced that
there were extensive frauds committed
in his department; and the ramifications
of the frauds were so far-reaching that
he was afraid to trust his own officials
to deal in thoroughgoing fashion with
them. One of the secret service men ac
cordingly resigned and was appointed
in the interior department to carry on
this work. The first thing he discovered
was that the special agents' division or
corps of detectives of the land office of
the interior department was largely un
der the control of the land thieves; and
in consequence the investigations above
referred to had to be made by secret
service men.
“If the present law, for which Messrs.
Tawney, Smith, and the other gentle
men I have above mentioned are respon
sible, had then been in effect, this ac
tion would have been impossible, and
most of the criminals would unquestion
ably have escaped. No more striking in
stance can be imagined of the desirabil
ity of having a central corps of skilled
investigating agents who can at any time
be assigned, if necessary In large num
bers. to investigate some violation of the
federal statutes, in no matter what
branch of the public service. In this par
tir lar case most of the men investigated
who were public servants were in the
executive branch of the government. But
in Oregon, where an enormous acreage
of fraudulently alienated public land was
recovered for the government, a United
States senator, Mr. Mitchell, and a mem
ber of the lower house, Mr. Williamson,
were convicted on evidence obtained by
men transferred from the secret service,
and another member of congress was in
dicted."
Chief Asks for Reversal
of Action of Solons.
The president then grave a number of
other instances, all of which tend to
point out the efficiency of the secret
service, and he concludes:
’in conclusion, I most earnestly ask. In
the name of pood government and de
cent administration, in the name of hon
esty and for the purpose of bringing
to justice violators of the federal laws
wherever they may be found, whether in
public or private life, that the action
taken by the house last year be reversed.
When this action was taken, the senate
committee, under the lead of the la#.e
Senator Allison, having before it a
strongly-worded protest from Secretary
Cortelyou like that he had sent to Mr.
Ta vney, accepted the secretary’s views;
and the senate passed the bill in the
shape presented by Senator Allison. Tn
the conference, however, the house con
ferees insisted on the retention of the
provision they had Inserted, and the
senate yielded.
“Th" chief of the secret service is
paid a salary utterly inadequate to the
importance of his functions and to the
admirable way in which he has per
formed them. I earnestly urge that It
may be increased to $6,000 per annum. I
also urge that the secret service be
placed where it properly belongs, and
made a bureau in the department of
justice, as the chief of the secret service
has repeatedly requested; but whether
this is done or not, it should be ex
plicitly provided that the secret servic a
can be used to detect and punish crimo
wherever it is found.
“THEODORE ROOSEVELT.”
REGION DEVASTATED BY EARTHQUAKE.
'ASm^RtAL
WOVHt
r ETNAk
WAR<
2
?ag|haeflfiMira,^-2«fc;
SENATE COMMITTEE INQUIRY
INTO SECRET SERVICE TO
BE SEARCHING.
PROBE NO RESULT OF MESSAGE
Acting Chairman States That Course
to Be Pursued Is In No Respect
an Investigation of the
President.
Washington.—That the proposed
inquiry by the senate committee
on appropriations into the methods of
the secret service will be very search
ing and comprehensive was stated
Thursday by Senator Hale, acting
chairman of the committee. This an
nouncement was called out by an in
timation that the inquiry might be
prolonged until after the fourth of
March to permit the summoning of
President Roosevelt before the com
mittee as a private citizen to testify
regarding the operations of the secret
service.
While stating that so far as he
knew there is no loundation for this
report, Senator Hale said the various
departments of the government in
which secret service men are employ
ed had been asked to furnish infor
mation and added that they would, if
necessary be officially called upon by
a senate resolution. He also stated
that the inquiry would be made quite
independently of the president's re
mark in his message. It is understood
that the committee will begin its
work as soon after the holidays as the
information from the department is
received.
Prefacing his remarks with the
statement that the investigation
would not be conducted in a sensa
tional way, but "after the fashion of
care and deliberation that generally
characterizes senate inquiries,” Sen
ator Hale said in part:
“The extent and use and the kind
of work performed by the secret
service, under the direction of the
heads of certain departments have
greatly and startlingly been am
plified during the past few years and
this situation which has attracted the
attention of the senate and is the
foundation of its investigation. The
president's message is only secondary
in its importance as affecting this in
vestigation. The course to be pursued
is in no respect an investigation of the
president and is not, by any means,
the result of his message. The work
of the committee will not be in any
way limited as an answer to that mes
sage. Nor is there any intention of
prolonging the investigation until
after the fourth of March. Indeed, I
doubt whether it has ever intered in
to the mind of any of the most im
paginative of senators to prolong the
investigation and to call upon Presi
dent Roosevelt as a witness when he
becomes a private citizen.
Believes Service is Dangerous.
“The very limited secret service of
the government began in small ap
propriations and a small force almost
entirely directed to investigations in
to counterfeiting and frauds upon
the currency but it is believed by
many that this has been greatly de
parted from and that the extension
of this service is alarming and
dangerous and beyond legitimate
functions of the general government.
Whether this is or is not the invest
igation ought to disclose.”
BANK IS LOOTED.
Robbers Blow Safe at Wellston, Okla.,
and Escape With $5,000.
Oklahoma City, Okla. — Holding
residents of the little town at
bay for three hours while they thor
oughly ransacked the place, six armed
ar.d masked robbers Wednesday dyna
mited and robbed the bank at Wells
ton, Okla. They secured more than
$5,000.
Fourteen shots of nitroglycerin were
used before the safe and vaults were
shattered. Although the first blast
aroused the whole town, four men
standing in front of the bank held
the townspeople off. Three men at
tempted to fire at the robbers, but
were driven off.
After securing everything of value
in the bank thh robbers rode out of
town. A posse was then organized
and is pursuing.
Fourteen Years For Reuf.
San Francisco, Cal. — Abraham
Ruef, former political boss of San
Francisco, was sentenced Tuesday to
14 years in the state penitentiary at
San Quentin Prison. Sentence was
pronounced by Judge William P. I.aw
lor, who presided over Ruef's trial on
the charge of bribing a member of the
Schmitz Board of Supervisors in the
award of an overhead trolley fran
chise to the United Railroads.
Rich Girl Weds Mev.can.
Tucson, Ariz. — Manuel Saribia,
an alleged member of the Mex
ican revolutionist junta, was married
here Tuesday to Miss Elizabeth Trow
bridge, a wealthy Boston girl. Sa
ribia’s acquaintance with the young
woman commenced when he paid a
visit to the bos Angeles jail, where
he was confined before he was trans
ferred here. Saribia is out on $14,000
bail at present.
SAD CONDITION OF
FORMER CONWAY KERO
WILLIAM L. CHADWICK, NOW A
WANDERER, SAVED LIVES IN
CONWAY FIRE.
Fort Smith.—Eleven years ago a
hero, admired by everybody who
knew him or who read glowing ac
counts of his bravery—today a victim
of drink and wandering over the coun
try with little regard for any man.
This, in brief, is the answer to the
question that may be asked by many
Arkansans, What has become of En
gineer William L. Chadwick, the hero
of the Allinder hotel fire, which oc
curred on the morning of March 23,
1898, at Conway? The name of Chad
wick was heralded over the entire
country under big headlines in the
papers, for he had saved the lives of
13 people by a remarkable act of
bravery.
Recently William Chadwick made
his appearance in Fort Smith. For
several days he wandered about the
streets acting strangely and drinking
freely and it was while under the in
fluence of liquor that he made his
identity known to a reporter. He says
that for the past ten years he has
been traveling over all parts of the
country, but spent several years of
the time with his hand on the throt
tle of a locomotive in Old Mexico. He
is a mechanic and printer, and de
clares he has followed these occupa
tions in South America.
The Hotel Fire.
It was 2:30 o’clock in the morning
that Engineer Chadwick, who was
pulling a freight train on the Little
Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, discov
ered the Hotel Allinder enveloped
in flames as he was running his en
gine through the yards. The hotel
was the property of W. B. Young, and
besides himself, wife and little girl,
there were ten guests in the building
at the time the fire broke out.
Engineer Chadwick moved his loco
motive close to the burning build
ing and started on his work of rescue.
Upon his arrival at the burning struc
ture the guests were imprisoned in
a small space about 10 feet square.
The stairway had been burned away,
and the front door was surrounded
by a mass of flames. Mr. Chadwick
burst through this door just in time
to save Mr. Young and family and the
imprisoned guests from suffocation.
Shortly after this occurrence, Chad
wick was awarded a medal for brav
ery, and in a short time left Conway,
returning to Arkansas only recently
with his stories of travel and adven
ture and claiming the title of world
traveler.
TAKE GUNS FROM “DEPUTIES."
Grand Jury After Men Who Have Com
missions to Carry Arms.
Fort Smith.—If the recommenda
tions of the Grand Jury in the Fort
Smith dstrict of Sebastian county are
carried out, there will be a crusade
here against resorts.
Another recommendation of the
Grand Jury is to disarm all deputies
that are not actively engaged in en
forcing the law. The jury strongly
protests against the increase of arm
ed men in the community, caused by
the force of deputies, some of whom
are not “working deputies,” bearing
arms. It is stated in the report that
the constables of the townships have
16 deputies.
KILLED UNDER A TRAIN.
VIRGIL FUNK, IRON MOUNTAIN
BRAKEMAN. HAS HIS HEAD
SEVERED.
Bald Knob.—Virgil Hamilton Punk
of Little Rock, a brakeman on the Iron
Mountain railroad, was killed by fall
ing from an Iron Mountain freight,
bound from Little Rock to Memphis,
at a point about, one and one-half
miles from Bald Knob, early Friday
morning. His body was found at 6:30
o'clock and it is believed that the ac
cident occurred between 5 and 6
o’clock, when train No. 254 passed
through. Funk’s head was almost sev
ered from the trunk.
Will Curtail Cotton Crop.
Altus.—The intention of the farmers
in this vicinity to cut down their cot
ton acreage next year is general.
Corn at 75 cents per bushel is held
to be more profitable than cotton at
8 cents a pound.
Ninty-five per cent of the cotton
crop in this vicinity has been sold,
and all cotton has practically disap
peared from the local market.
Van Buren.—The prospects for a
fine strawberry crop in Crawford coun
ty are said to be very promising. There
was a large acreage of new berry
plants set out last spring and these,
together with the old vines, are being
more carefully cultivated, it is reported,
than during any previous year.