The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-11-23

Ing that ne was the prosecutor, that ne
was the proprietor Of an hotel and that
| the prisoner had cheated him by not
paying his board.
A past master In the art of independ-
ence can scarcely conceive of any hign-
er flight than for q French hotel keep
er to complain of being cheated. Ane
matchless efrontery Of their W
| cheating, the certainty and skill with
which they get at the money of every
lone who falls into their ~tentacles ought
ITO excite a little sympathy In their
bosoms toward their less skilful fell
low robbers, but this n was as furious
and indignant as though he had never
sold st. Julien for Margaux. or charged
two francs for a candle in his life.
He told h commissaire his story and
the end Of the matter was that the Eng
lishman was thrust into the filthy den
/ had just been looking at. Here he
would remain at least that night and
perhaps the next one. too. lying on the
raised platform. shivering with cold
and suffocated with stencil. From the
station house-pote de police-hc would
be taken before the JUICE d'instruc-
ton to be Intercepted. This was a per-
Torrance ! was anxious to see and I
got an introduction to one of them to
make myself acquainted with his meth
DDS.
Queer Practices of the Judge.
The title Of JUICE obstruction is to III
ears a little misleading. He is in no
sense q judge. His Office Is not only
unknown to us, but 1t would not for one
moment be tolerated amongst us. The
French idea Is that the accused person
knows more about the accusation than
anybody else, and II possible he is to be
made to tell about 1t. The JUICE din
%struction is the official whose business
it Is to get their secrets from prfs-
one rs and force them. by any means. to
confession. Some Of them have quite
a reputation for their ability in this
way, and nothing Is more dreaded by
the guilty than this Interrogation"
Practice gives the questioner quite an
astounding degree Of skill. and the
popular, probably the correct, belief is
that there is no trick, no cunning. no
a%rtifice. no Elusive promises rom
which they will shrink to entrap a
confsssion. The JUICE obstruction Is a
kind of educated policeman, with the
policenlan's cunning sharpened by edu-
cation, and the not too scrupulous
French society barely suffers him as a
kind of hanger-on to it's outmost de-
batable fringe, where the respectable
shades off into the doubtful.
The preliminary examination Of the
accused takes place with closed doors.
No one is present but the juge din
struction, his clerk n h prisoner.
The room is arranged something like a
merchants Office, with a carpet, a
couple of desks and a few chairs. AS in
all ourts and rooms connected with the
administration of Justice In France, q
large wooden crucifix is hung over the
door. Examinations take place at all
hours, midnight being just as likely a
time as any other. In important cases
the JUICE d'instruction to whom police
discoveries are at once communicated,
will send for the prisoner at any hour.
night or day, to ask him about the new
information.
man about 80, with very light hair, a
white face with a frightful expression.
a repulsive smile and a general Uriah
Heep air. He bore an Irish name, and
was probably a descendant of some
exile of Erin of mo Popery" days. In
everything but his name, however, he
was n typical Frenchman, the few
words of English he knew being the
result Of hard work at school. He had
heard something about the methods of
the English courts. which he thought
ridiculous. His surprise vas great.
though, when he heard that prisoners
could not be compelled to speak against
themselves, and wanted to know how it
was possible to get at the truth.
A sample Examination.
While we were talking a prisoner
was brought in by a gendarme, and
was invited by the JUICE d. instruction
to seat himself on a chair by the desk.
The judge sat down also, and l no.
ticed that the light was arranged in
such a manner as to fall on the pris-
oner, while the questioner himself vas
in the shadow, The time was evening,
| and tho chnrf nctnhar do vlfphf had
disappeared in the darkness. The pris-
oner was a type of his class, such as
storytellers n theaters represent him,
but such as he rarely appears in reality.
His ignoble face suggested nothing but
cunning, and as the case against him
a very weak. his cunning at present
was not overshadowed by his terrors.
He had been q prisoner for some weeks,
and began by asking the judge to re-
lease him.. ! remained seated at a dis
lance, watching these two men of ly-
ing, audacity and ruse. and mentally
comparing the scene with such pro-
ceedings In our w courts. The judge
said he supposed the prisoner was get
ting tired %(ennuye) Of his confinement,
and asked him many and minute ques-
tons. promising to represent him in a
favorable light to the Judges and urg-
ing him to. confess. but the only answer
he received vas 'Je men sails rien'-I
know nothing about 1t. Tired at last
at the prisoners obstinacy, the judge
ordered him back with the promise that
he should remain in jail until he came
to a better disposition.
When we were again alone I asked
the judge IL there was any limit to the
time an accused person could be kept,
and was told thirteen months in theory,
but in practice We sometime keep them
as long as eighteen; If by hat time we
can find nothing against them we let
them go.
1t Is perhaps presumptuous to criti-
else q state Of things with which a
whole nation is satisfied, but I have
since heard of cases where the hard
ship seemed to be crying. About the
time ! am speaking of, a young man,
he owner Of a boot and shoe store,
was arrested in Paris on a charge Of
theft. He was detained sever months
when 1t was proved certainly that he
was innocent, the real theft being dis
covered. He was brought up to the Of
flee of the prOcureur, where without
n word of apology or sympathy, and
without one farthing of damages, he
was put into the street. His shop vas
shut. His employees had found the &C.
casion good to make a little profit for
themselves. The poor fellow was ut
terly ruined and In his despair he hang
ed himself. The papers mentioned the
affair with scarcely any comment, and
the next day 1t was forgotten.
An instance was told me Of the Judge
d. Instructions methods which will ex-
plain better than much description
French notions of what is proper and
dignified In judicial Investigations.
Lying to Gain a Point.
In Vincennes a woman was accused
Of embezzling 10000 francs. the prop
erty of her aunt. She was married to
a man several years her Junior, and, as
Is always the case in such marriages,
she dotted on him. There was no doubt
Of her guilt. She had taken the money
to spend on her husband. but the Judges