Evening star., 1901-09-28
France Has Found She Aas a Per-
manent Corps Of Them. !.
rHE WAY THEY WAfeHEB fHE CzAR
An Elaborate System of Special
Interest at Present.
ARBITRARY, BUT USEFUL

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
PARIS, September 10, 1901.
Thirty-eight millions of more or less re-
| publican Frenchmen affirm their affection
and respect for the most hated and hunted
absolute monarch of Europe. The czar,
| although he stands for detested principle.
ought, therefore, to. have been as safe in
| the land of his self-offered allies as in his
own terrorized capital. But who could as
sure him against enthusiasts, men with
great vengeances. lunatics or mercenary
criminals? The chief of the Russian police
evidently asked this question, and the de-
scent of his forces into France, about
which every one is talking, must be taken
as its answer.
Throughout all France the surveillance
OF the czar's safety depended. In the first
place. on the supreme chief of the French
police. NE. Waldeck- k-Rousseau, president of
the council and minister of the interior
The chiefs of the service are: For the prov
fnces M. Rene Cavard; for Paris, M. Lee
pine, prefect of police. AS the first act of
these high functionaries was the modifying
of the entire Service de Ia Surete Generate
"a measure regularly justified only by inn
mlnent danger to the republic "a few
strokes of the pen, so to speak, threw into
their control the whole municipal police of
France.
For two weeks. therefore, the central
government was able to drag-net the land
for suspicious character, until 1t was an
nounced that danger could come only
through unknown groups of anarchists or
Isolated individuals. This is saying great
deal. because for a long time now the
groupments anarchistes have been mar
rowly watched. Since the international
conference Of 1898 the surveillance has
been international. The French police is
warned by the police of every other coun-
try of the passage into France of all sus-
pected individuals Today Caserio could
not arrive at Lyons incognito.
Known or Suspects.
AS for known or suspected anarchists,
they fell to the care of NJ. Puibaraud,
chief Of police des recherches, that has
made anarchy q kind of speciality. Aided
by the commissaries of the special bri-
gades, NM. Boy, Leproust. Fouquet Les
pine and also M. Cochefert, chef du SER
vice du surete. commanding all unattached
plain clothes men. they stirred up the 200
known and eatalogued anarchists of Paris
as they had not been stirred up since the
old times of Emile Henry and Caserio
Those of them who were French are still
meditating in jail. Some who are foreign
ers have been expelled, under authority of
the law Of December, 1S47, permitting the
expulsion of any suspicious foreigner"
Others who are foreigners have been ar
rested. Like their French brothers, they
are said to be put In the shade" It is
arbitrary, but useful. The same thing was
done for the funeral of President Carnot
and for the last visit Of the czar.
One thing Is certain: the anarchists were
not without their uses in the Juncture, for
the arbitrary handling Of all suspects was
greatly facilitated by the provisions of the
anarchist laws, about which there was so
much talk a few years ago. One OF the
important creations realized under them is
the Brigade of Rounds and Nocturnal
Rafles. A raf1e Is simple and useful pro-
ceeding, although arbitrary. In general,
when neighborhood becomes too much
infested by Objectionable characters-beg-
gars, loafers and the like-an order goes
out for the circle to be formed. The circle
forms-of both police In uniform and plain
clothes-and slowly narroWs Other DO
| lice hasten to preindicated spots to escort
arrested persons to the station houses. As
the circle closes every one who looks fair
game is taken. The drag-net takes in all
kinds of fish. Some are let loose immedi-
ately; some go up as vagabonds; others
are found to be wanting-sometimes very
| much SO; but all are well examined, for
the benefit Of the great police cataloguing
Of individuals which remains a relic from
the old imperial times.
Put 1t in Sections.
When. in 1884. NJ. Puibaraud came to be
made director general Of the service des
recherches, he had the ingenious idea to
section Off this summary publication Of
the capital by districts. move which per-
| mitted him to place en- permanence De-,
| until all be f1nisheD at the commissariat
Of the operation the police commissary of
the district itself. aided by an extra COL
league. Thus the two committing magis-
trates, being on the spot, are able tmmedi-
ately to verify the statements Of the ar
rested persons and decide whether they
ought to be set at liberty or sent for fur
ther investigation to the central depot.
It Is certain that most Of the complaints
Of the victims Of such RATES. are directed
not against the arbitrary arrest in the
street.-The poor devils are philosophers
and understand that to make omelettes
| you must break eggs-but rather against
| their prolonged detention at the police
postes and at the central depot, awaiting
| the administrative-not judictal-decision Of
| their case.
The times are certainly changed from
those in which the young Floquet could cry
"Vive la Pologne, Monsieur on the pas
sage Of czar OF Russia through the
streets Of Paris. 1t was in 1857, at the
height Of the imperial power and glory;
and the czar OF the moment had come to
the Paris exposition Of that year. Enthu-
| siasm for unfortunate Poland was then a
cult In the Latin Quarter; and, such was
the generous laughing spirit Of the times.
his cry of "Hurrah for Poland, Mister"
as the czar passed was the beginning Of the
great Floquet's political fortune.
Energetic and Studious.
The Russian political refugees in Paris
are nearly all students. The women prefer
the medical courses, while the men give
themselves more particularly to sciences
or letters. Their existence is Of a biblical
simplicity. half Of them living on funds
sent them from Russia by faithful COM
rades; others are not ashamed to exc out
their existence by manual labor. Among
them are young men and women Of re-
markable intelligence and energy. ! knew
one, expelled from Switzerland, who had
translated into the Slav language fifteen or
twenty great French works, some Of which
he had even printed and distributed, This
young man had been Incorporated in the
Russian army; and when he escaped from
his native land he managed to bring the
uniform with him. He lived In "a sixth floor
mansard and earned his living as an en-
graver. Al
These Russian refugees haye'scarcely any
relations with Frenchmen, living among
themselves. They unite in a social meeting
whenever there is a new brother or sister
to welcome; and they listen to his or her
news with religious solemnity. gaining
thereby new strength to support them In
their exile. 1t is on these occasions that
the secret Russian police In France at
tempts to slip one of it's members in and
stirs UP the French police against what
they call nihilist activity. Yet no act can
be traced to them In France the assassin