The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-11-07
WORK OF FRENCH
 POLITICAL POLICE Their Methods of Getting and Filing h.
 formation.
NOTES ON PRIVATELIFE
An Army of Detectives Advertisements by
 Officials.

France, although the fact is not well known, is the most spy ridden country in Europe, except her ally Russia, for Turkey, I suppose, can scarcely be considered a European country writes John N. Rapaael in the London Even- ing Standard The French detective po- lice is divided into two great portions, the Surete Generale, which exists for the control of crime, and the political police, which is under the direct orders of Home Office, and is for the super vision of political plotters against the well-belng of the Third Republic. So far in theory, But in fact, members of the Surete are not infrequently em- ployed upon political work.
 TlaEca's supervision of her citizens Is q tCrrihcally complicated matter In Q special set of rooms put apart for this one purpose there are in Paris no fewer than 5OO,00O dossiers, containing notes and information on the private lives of men who may at one time or another become a danger to the repub- lie These dossiers vary, of course, in volume according to the importance of the person named in them, and they ore constantly being added to and all
 cred.
 For their confaction an enormous army of detectives is constantly em- ployed, and no information is consid- cred too trivial for inclusion in dos sier. Unfortunately the men employed to collect information are by no means reliable. They are expected to furnish q certain amount of information every month, and very often they allow their imagination to have somewhat free play. At other times they learn that such and such person of political i'm portance is in touch with members of the government and high officials, and then the notes upon these persons are tinted rose color, so that, as may be seen, the information gathered Is by no means always accurate.
 A curious proof of this appeared af- ter the flight of the too famous Hum bert family. There was a Humbert dossier, but the subalterns who had collected information about Mime. The rese and her family learned very early in the day that she had received lead ing members Of the government, high ly placed officials and among others was friendly with Monster Lepine, the Prefect of Police, himself. This being so, their narrow minded view of the situation was that friends of the Pre- of Polce could do no wrong, and In the record Mime Humbert was inscrib ed as merely 'havlng the most bril- liant relationships in the official world"
 Her complex money matters were merely referred to as Occasional lnan-. cial difficulties, having for their basis an inheritance which she had not been able to realze," And ff this connection the Humhert dossier was marked. "Re- fer to Catanl," and with other refer ences to Mime. Humbert's creditors, all of whom were painted black as Ink while Madame figured as a victim of their usurious practices.
 This dossier had for It's primary req son the fact that Monsieur Lepine was known to be on friendly terms with the Humbert family. The way in which 1t was drawn up put him in the extremely odd position of having to return wed- ding present made to his son on the discovery that Mime. Therese was by no means as white as she was painted.
 The methods of collecting informa- ton for tho French political police are many and peculiar. The words Tt is said" We understand" "We learn,' we arc informed" figure a great deal too often in every dossier, and very often characters are besnirched for no other reason than that of giving the detective something to write about. For instance, gentleman of my acquaint- ance who is fond of fencing has, with out any reason whatsoever. the follow ing note against his name in the dos- sier which bears it. Every morning the tapping of feet and the clashing of swords may Re heard in MT. A. s apartment He is said to be taking fencing lessons with the object of pro- voking a member of the government to duel The words are, of course, a mere invention of the political agent, for my friend has as much inclination to provoke a political adversary to a death struggle as I have
 Another deputy, who has a widowed sister living in the Faubourg St. Hon. ore, Is noted down as follows: Mon. sieur B, goes out eaNy every morning to house in the Faubourg St. Honore He is believed to keep appointments there with persons of q questionable character. Note: House should bt watched"
 The fact of the matter is that there is far too much information collected about the private doings of Parlslans for hundredth part of 1t to be any thing like true. There are, as I have said, 100000 dossiers, and Paris mum.
 bers about three million inhabitants, SC that every sixth inhabitant of Paris has his dossier, and when we deduct women and children and work people and their kind, who may be taken tC form the odd five-sixths of the Paris. ians, we see that practically everybody has his dossier I know, for instance | that l have mine, and that, thank to the concierge of a house in which used to live, and whom I reprimandeC
 one day for some fault just as it hap,
 pened, before the visit of the inevitable
 detective, I am set down as being Tho
 headed and quarrelsome, possibly car ries a revolver" a thing which I should
 never dream of carrying lest nigh
 be tempted and so let it off.
 There are detectives everywhere il