New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-10-29

Obstinacy and ignorace are the most EN-
inent qualifications of he average detect
i've. These, with m0icum of superficial
cunning, and q certsiidegree OF courage,
complete his chsracta In New York the
detective system Is complete failure.
The number Of undiscovered crimes conclu-
sively proves this. Electives have to be
too ubiquitous to do really good service
The man who can SUCCESSFULLY track bur
glar to his haunt, and srest him in the face
of great danger, is useful member of
society. This the averge detective can do
But when he ia detaed to discover the
author of mysterious murder, the quail
tiles which made him accessful in the first
case will probably be be cause OF his fail
ure in the second.
In Paris the detectives. as q class, are
widely different from Dur own. They are
as mysterious to the goeral public as ours
are familiar. Indeed in New York the
faces of our principal electives are as we'll
known to thieves as tht OF Judge Bowling
himself. 1t is obviOuHhat the labors of q
detective who Lever dsguises himself, and
who could not if he wuld, must be rather
circumscribed. The avrage detective. how
ever, is q tremendous theOrizer. Most log
ical minded naen will su bordinats the the
ory to the facts. No 30 the average do
tective. He invents ais theory, and tries
to fit his facts to it. I the facts will not
harmonic with the heOry, SO much the
worse for the facts. 70 they are scoynfulIy y
thrown aside.
In addition to his theoretical powers, our
detective is firm belbver in what he calls
tho exhaustive procss." Indeed, 20 do
him Justice. the pruess OF exhaustion
usually precedes the formation Of his theory.
Let us say, for exsp,le. that . shocking
1,o1 hoo in a
house in populous nighborhood A de-
tective is appointed tO'work up the case.
If he has got his theor resdy before visit
ing the house, which possible, he begins
the exhaustive process" Immediately. He
examines every member of the house
hold az though Aacl was tho murderer.
The bed-ridden grandmother On the
exhaustive" principle is an equally
possible murderer With the casual Wis.,
itor from the country Having "exhaust-
ed" the house, his provisional instinct must
alight upon sOmebOty as the murderer.
Accordingly, the coaclman, or moro likely
the cook, is selected, and the detectives
theory is at once made up. He now looks
about tor evidence with which to fasten the
crime upon the cook. In the course of his
chase few links Of ievidence are discov-
cred, which, if follow'd up, might lead to
important results, but as they could not
possibly assist in con'icting the cook, they
are passed over. The cook, of course, IN
dergoes long examination, either by the
detective himself or 1t the hands Of the
astute gentleman at headquarters. Every
word she utters is taken down without her
knowledge, and as the poor woman, from
terror. or perhaps, fom Indignation, COM
mits herself, our detective rubs his hands
with delight. Whatever ingenuity he pos
l., cnl vy.1 ho OBJ nj ms n
ner in which he hunt up the antecedents of
the cook. and the dekterity with which he
tortures friends and relatives to criminate
his victim.
At length an examination before justice
takes place. Then mark the Importance OF
our detective. Obser.e his air of calm salts
faction as he relates his history Of the crime,
and the modesty with which he wells upon
his own la abOrs. But an acute lawyer has
been retained for Lae cook, who, having
patiently listened To our detective, as pa
tienrly cross-exaIlines him. Alas, all the
fiAe-spun theories of oar detective are scat
tered to the winds by the power OF com
mon sense. and he retires from the wit
ness-box crestTalleD for the :ime. and
perhaps with q severe rebuke from the
justice. Meanwhile the actual cul
prit has been putting thousands nl
miles between himself and danger, or is
living in undistuIbed security near tLf
scene OF his crime. Sach cases are of peri
odical occurrence. Until the average de
tective is taken from more enlightened
class OF men than lie now is. and until he
graduates at q better school than his pres
enJ one. We have very little hope tina
crime will diminish by his efforts. ''Set i
thet to catch thet.' is an old proyero
and one frequently put into practice in po
lice matters in Neg York, but if the ois
tinctipn between the pursuer and the pur
sued were believed to be little NOR
marked than 1T generally is, the publi'
aveya .e ietectiye.-Neo York Times.