The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-05
THE UTILITY OF SPIES.
Memoirs Of a Celebrated French Chief
Of Detectives.

How Success of the Secret Service
Was Made Certain-Criminals Of the
Deepest Dye Taken Into ofioial Con-
hdence and Often Placed in High
Seats-Story of Famous Plot and
the Prosperity of Traitor.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.
Paris, Oct. 10.-That there is truth in
the old proverb, "Set a thief to catch
thief" has never been more clearly dem
onstrated than in the secret police of
Paris. The memoirs of the famous Can
Ter have Just been published and have
created an official sensation.
Perhaps the first great detective of
France-and the greatest of her history
was Vidocq. He was born in Arras in
1775, and was, as youth, the terror of
the neighborhood, being of great physical
strength and an extremely violent tenn
per After several disgraceful arrests
for theft he enlisted in the army. On
his return to Paris he was con
victed of forgery, and sentenced to
hard labor in Lille for eight
years. He was there considered one Of
the most dangerous and desperate char
acterS, and repeatedly escaped. On the
expiration of his sentence in 1908, he was
induced by an officer in the secret service
to devote his really wonderful insight
and deep criminal knowledge to the ser
vice of the police of Paris, and he accord
ingly became political detective
Vidocq soon became famous, and was
made chief Of the safety brigade. 1t was
in the complete organization of this
branch of the police that he rendered the
greatest service to Justice He recruited
this brigade from reprieved cOnvicts,
whose careers of crime enabled them to
rid Paris of a great part of the lawless-
ness which had made her streets a dan
ger by day and terror by night.
After he dropped the reins his success
sors well-nigh ruined the work he had ac-
cOmplished. Lacking experience they
lacked also his judgment. They failed to
keep up the surveillance over the cOnviCts
in the secret service and allowed this
dangerous class to usurp more and more
of the power of the prefecture.
THE SYSTEM IS A SUCCESS.
The system of secret police, under
which Paris is governed to-day, is now
only in its fifth decade. 1t dates to the
year when the great Canler became chief
of the secret service.
When M. Canler was elected chief he
found that the system practiced under
Vidocq and his successor, Coco-Lacour,
had produced great evils. The spies were
almost without exception ex-convicts,
and virtually controlled the police, in
stead of serving as an appendix to that
body. Canler at once determined to
remedy this.
Finding that the spies often denounced
a person through no motive other than
personal hate or jealousy, he did away
with the system altogether. He then or
ganized a brigade of what he called "Co-
saques Irregular" These men were all
criminals of a lesser degree, had served
terms in prison and were known to the
police. Each of them received very high
pay, the object of this being to preserve
them from want and the consequent temp
tation to theft and, by giving them n taste
of luxury, to make them fear to fall back
into their former Wretchedness.
independently of his sosaques Canler
had a secret police composed Of men who,
for previous offenses, had been forbidden
to enter Paris. Many Of these had re-
entered the city at the change of adminis-
tration. had renowned crime, and under
other names taken up honest work at vari-
Gus trades. Canler, by his strict system
of surveillance, discovered many of these,
but instead of eXpelling them bound them
to him by an agreement.