Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-03-18
CRIME DECREASE
NOTED IN PARIS
SINCE WAR BEGAN
People Of GayeSt Capital in the
World Are Sobered by Sense
OF Responsibility Are No.
Longer Frivolous.


Paris, March Newer has Paris
seen 50 little frlyolity ana disorder
as during the first six months of wpt
ohlN TWO criminal acts were com
united during that period and only
one or them was Of capital import-
ahce-a divorce murder.
The police have little To do" savs|
Frofect OF Police Laurent to the Assoc
clatcd Press THE public itself main
talns order For Instance. the other
hieht n moving picture show pro-
duced Chinese dance resembling
tango which had escaped the notice
OF the police censor: the audience re-
paired our omission by roundly
Missing the film. Even at Mardl-
Gr1s, an occasion which generally
Efas, noccasion which generally
gives rise to hundreds of arrests.
everyone docilely accepted the pro-
hloltlon of masks and confetti. the
ponce mad no "". tslcu To intervene.
Change in People.
The absence Of crime is due n,f-
marily, of course. to the elevation Of
sentiment by the tragic crisis of war
IhcTc's no place in our minds for
thlhBS mat are base and vile. while
we have before us so many examines
OF heroism ana sacrifice. ana this an.
plies to classes whose state of mind
y not always fit for close nnalvgis
Nhen man is flat.ercd that he
possesses an admirable quality that
he knows he totally lacks, he imme-
diately burns to possess il. Thus the
turbulent elements of the population
took TO their account part of the
praise that was bestowed upon Paris
Tor It's bearing AT the outbreak of the
war and they seem to he really taxi
ing no little pride in helping to Jus
Jify it,
Secondary causes are the elimina-
ton of the crime producing elements
misery and vice and the turning of
passion from its usual objects to the
frontier. There was never less misery
In Paris. In normal times many UNI
fortunate people are out of the reach
of charity, at present charity, in the
name of relief. act automatically and
these people find il far simpler to
be good than TO be wicked.
Cafes Close Early.
The early closing of cafes and the
elimination of night restaurants have
forced orderly habits, diminished TEN
tation and vice Many people thus
forcibly introduced to a way of liV-
ing that has done them good will
never again return to their old. night
life"
The suppression of the sale Of alb
sinthe Monsieur Laurent thinks, has
not yet had time to produce its ef-
feet, and he does not attribute the
decrease in crime in any degree 10
this cause One of the most con
splcuous eases Of swindling Since the
war began was that of an ex-captain
ruined by absinthe--he hadn't been
able to get drink for three months
The ultipate effect OF the reform, he
expects, will be considerd Die but the
man whose moral nature has beer
debased by ahsinthe has not yet had
time to recover
Apaches Have Disappeared.
"As for the Apaches,' the street
ruffians who give us so much trouble
ordinarily, they haNe disappeared,
he says. Many of them are at the
front, where they are redeeming many
a fault; others are employed on the
defense works of the entrenched
camp: the rest seem to lack inspira-
ton for their customary misdeeds for
we hear nothing of them.
II am no prophet Monsieur I.au-
rent concluded, "and can't say what
permanent effect the war may have
upon crime, but am hopeful,
/ think that France will be so busy
with serious things that the task of
the police will be lighter than before.
| After the scars of war have begun
to disappear | think the gaiety anu
animation of Paris will come into Its
own. but look for the elimination
/ for years to come OF many frivolities
land different forms of folly,