Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-11-17
THE FRENCH DETECTIVE SYSTEM.
An Inside Fietr.
New York Times.

A volume of very curious interest has
Just been translated into English by a
West Point professor and published. 1t
consists OF the recollections of M. Capler.
who was for SO many years head of the de-
tective bureau in Paris, and gives US an in
sight into a system that has long been,and
still is, by many regarded as the finest and
the most astute detective method in the
world. Bat, unless NJ. Canler deprecates
the efficiency and finesse of system of
which he was long the head, which is not
in the least likely, the Paris and New York
detectives are pretty nearly on a par as
respects methods and analytic acumen in
the tracing of criminals. In some respects
the Paris detective has the advantage to
S: mt with; in one regard in particular he
may be said to set out with the possession
of certain clews that are inaccessible to
our police system. All the lodging houses
and hotels of Paris, all the stage offices
and depots, are sources of Information that
are open to the officers of the law, and ar
rivals and names are Systematically and
regularly registered. The result is that the
advent of q suspicious person, either under
his own name OF bearing any of his numer-
Gus aliases. is in possession of the detect
i've at the beginning of the inquiry; he
knows where the criminal is staying, and
can obtain an accurate description of his
movements at any moment. Another ad-
vantage arises from the method OF sur
veillance-which is one that would not be
tolerated here-and still another is derived
from the employment of moMtons (crlml-
nal informers), who, in consideration OF
certain freedom, being permitted to remain
III Paris perhaps, worm themselves into
the confidence of former associates in
crime. and reveal the plans Of campaign
of noted thieves Or burglars to the police
bureau. The musicians" SO called, prison
birds, who receive few francs Of favor
now and then in consideration of their
services, constitute yet another factor; but
their business is a very dangerous one, as
assassination would be the penalty if de-
tected in making disclosures. Putting all
these factors together. they give marked
advantage to the Paris detective system
over our own: but when it comes to the I'M
travelling OF deity woven and tangled
meshes OF crime. such as GaborIau and
Others have woven into their tales of Mr..
Lecoca, the real facts as disclosed By
Canler furnish 60 justification for them.
sent by rail IL q trunk to a remote point in
the provinces was brought home to the
actor in the tragedy rather by accident
than by any superior astuteness, and the
mysterious case Ill which the half dissected
body of murdered woman was found
floating in the Seine, was disentangled by
means of clew5 furnished spontaneously
by one not connected with the bureau. AS to
the attempt upon the life of Napoleon III.
by Pieri, Rudio, and other fanatics, NJ.
Canlers narrative shows that it might have
been prevented by the exercise of ordinary
efficiency. The most interesting sections
of M. Canler's book, however, are those
which treat of the system under Vidocq,
himself criminal of the most abandoned
order, who was graduated from the galleys
and rose by dint of shrewdness and aU
dacious hypocrisy to an acme of power
that rendered him the most dreaded pers on
in Paris, as ne was undoubtedly the most
unscrupulous.