The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-14
HOW PARIS COLLECTS PROTECTION MONEY Amounts to Cent a Day for
 Each Parisian

Paris September 13-For l cent day +ha Parisian is protected against crime, theft and fire The Parisian budget amounts to 4i.OoO000 francs GS'Sooooo'
 which works out at 15 francs (s3) per year
 nor head. For those persons who find this expensive there is the suburban re- zion, where practically nothing IS speh. on police; a paltry 100000 francs @ooooo)'
 If may be added that the suburban po- liceman, although scarce, is not over
 worked, and it speaks wonders TOT the high standard of orderliness and honesty of the French that it should be possiple
 for large agglomerations of communes containing 20O00 or 5000 inhabitants to exist without more than dozen poiiee- men. The expense of policing the su- burbs is mostly provided for by tax on alcohol Thus by poetic justice the drlnkard who is taken up by the police is paying his captor out of his own pocket.
 Police expenses in the provinces are less than in Paris. Nice pays most in proportion to the nuinper of inhabitants, about francs tSl'2U per head per year This is accounted TOT by the number of foreign visitors who nave to be specially watched after or over. Of the other cities Marseiles pays francs (6o cents), Bordeaux francs tso cents). Toulouse 2 francs (5S cents), saint Etienne francs 15 (4s cents), Rheims ? francs GO cents), and Lyon' cheapest of all, franc 50 (9o eents).
 The Paris police cost so much more for a variety of reasons. For one thing the police authorities have to pay for the sanitary service, the inspection Of markets and the upkeep of the anthropo- metric department, which though main- tained by Paris, is utilized by the whole Besides this. all the master criminals of the provinces cDle to Paris to hide, and the organized bands of mal- efaetors have their headquarters at Paris. for there alone can they find receivers for stolen goods and brokers for stolen se- curties.
 The mayor of a little commune in the department of the Hautes Pyrenees, anx- ious about the digestion of domestic an- imals, recently issued the following or der:
 "Whereas the young people of this com mune are accustomed to meet after mass on Sundays for the purpose of dancing; whereas the noise they make frishtens the cocks, hens and other animals of the village; whereas there results from this a depreciation detrimental to agricultural we hereby forbid the practice of dancing within the precincts or this commune during the hours at which the domestic animals take their meals.
 The news of the approaching sale of the house which Napoleon inhabited dur ing his exile in the isle of Elba has pro- duced quite a sensation in France It Is urged in many quarters that the French should take steps to acquire this historic building. for If. it is pointed out by eng organ, there are different po- litical parties in France, abroad there is only the nations fair fame. which would not gain by allowing this villa to fall into the hands of some commercial enterprise 'Ima zine concludes the writer. "a German hotelkeepor in possess sion of tho villa of Porto Ferrajo and the bust of Bismarck planted firmly on the facade.
 The French government Is making q fine profit out of the gambling instinct of the French nation. Some interesting figures are published showing the steady increase in the proceeds Of the casinos, which came under the control of the states on June l5 1oG7. The next year they pro- duced s5.s0o1O Tn 1909 the total was g, f00 0O3, ard in 1910 ss,soo,0Oo while last year no less sum than $9,Go0,o0o was sac rihred by tho lovers of public games of chance.
 Apart from the amounts which are handed over b. each establishment for tho benefit of It's own commune, the state levieg tax Of i5 per cent on the gross profits which is administered by 9 special at the ministry of the Interior and is spent on works of hygiene char fly and public utility. In i9jS the etate received from this source ssG900o. ia 1899 g i2no0o. in 1910 sl,s2O,0oo and in 1911 sl.- i4coo
 The fall army maneuvers fin France, which will this year be on a bigger scale than any held since the famous display before the Czar in 1892, will take place In Tonrclne and Poitou. They begin On Il and last eight days Ninety thousand men will take the field under the supreme command of General Joffre.
 Generals Gallien and Marion will re- spectiyely command the opposing forces which will be approximately equal nu- 
 At least 90 aeroplanes and several diris-
 bles will be engaged.