New-York tribune., 1901-08-25

the Parc MonceauX, the custom house o1ncer IN
one instance and the park keeper in the other
will draw up a "proces verbal against
the offender
Now. all these official reports have to be acted
upon, and cannot be relegated to the limbo Of
oblivion without special orders from those in
high authority. They must all be dealt with
according law. and further written report
must be furnished by those to whom they have
been referred as to what has been done in the
matter If they concern anything in the nature
of crime they are at once turned over TO the
Procureur- General. who in France occupies the
same position Lord Desart in England ana
a district attorney in this country. He then
assigns II TO one Of his hundreds of deputies for
careful ma gisteria investigation. The result OF
this inquiry which is Of most searching char
acter. is embodied in another report on the
strength OF which the Procureur- General decides
whether or not there is any ground 70 take fur-
ther action in the case and If so the nature of
the action. This decision takes the form OF yet
another "proces verbal" which ultimately
reaches the Minister Of Justice, who calls the
Procureur- General 10 strict account In the event
of his having 'Iet things slide" without good and
valid cause. Inasmuoh the ranks OF the
French magistracy, in which are included the
Procureur-G General and all his army of deputies.
are tremendously overcrowded with young law
yers whose only hope of promotion is In the ac-
quisition Of a reputation for diligence, and TOT
allowing nothing to escape II naturally follows
that the degree of immunity enjoyed by GRIM
inals in France and elsewhere on the Continent
of Europe is very much smalle" than In Eng.
land and even than in the United States
While IL would be out of the question to ap-
ply either in England in this country the
searching methods of dealing with crime that
are in vogue in France and the Continent,
since these methods are altogether obnoxious to
the popular sentiment Of English speaking races
vet the remissness of the British and American
authorities in prosecuting and Furnishing law
lessness might be supplemented to a greater de-
gree than at present by those very excellent IN
stitutions the surety companies, which make II
a noint of running to earth. no matter at what
expense any one who has been guilty Of robbing
or otherwise injuring their subscribers and cli-
euts The knowledge that surety company is
prepared TO spend thousands upon thousands of
dollars ia following TO the uttermost parts Of
the earth and in bringing back for prosecution
and punishment the perpetrator OF a theft OF
even so small q sum So constitutes power
fuI deterrent from dishonesty. 1t is a system
which has its counterpart in China. where the
guild OF compradores makes itself financially
responsible for every one of its members, who
sre therefore employed as cashiers by all the
European and American houses Of business in
the Orient The compradores are never dishon-
est because they know that ~ they pilfer even
a single dollar they will be subjected to horrible
punishment by the guild, and in the writer's stay
in China ne heard of only one case Of a Chinese
cashier OF a European bank absconding. Within
twenty-four hours after his flight the guild had
refunded every cent Of the money, and a few
months later furnished indisputable proof Of the
fact that its emssaries had tracked the alb
sconder thousands OF miles to the most remote
corner Of the empire, and there had wreaked
such terrible vengeance upon him as 70 inspire
wholesome dread to all other compradores who
might be disposed 10 initiate his dishonesty.
The development, therefore. Of this system OF
surety companies. and its extension so as to
cover every branch of crime, may he recon-
mended as the only available remedy both in
England and in the United States for the neglect
of the authorities prosecute infractions Of the
law and as the best means 10 counteract the
disposition the part Of the officials to let
things slide" EX-ATTACHE-