The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-24
ONE MURDER IN
 PARIS MONTHS
Police Have Little to Do, Says Prefect
By "Hop''

Paris, March 7.-tCorrespondence of the Associated Press )-Never has Paris seen so little frivolity and disorder as during the first six months of war Only two criminal acts were committed during that period and only one of them was of capi- tai importance-a divorce murder.
 The police have little to do," says Pre- feet of Police Laurent to the Associated Press. The public itself maintains or der For Instance, the other night a nov ing picture show produced a, Chinese dance resembling tango, which had escaped the notice of the police censor; the aAdience repaired our omission by roundly hlssing the film. Even on Mardi Gras. an oc- casion which generally gives rise to hum dreds of arrests, everyone docilely ac- cepted the prohibition of masks and con fetti; the police had no occasion to in- tervene.
 Due to the War
 'rhe absence of crime Is due primarily. of course, to the elevation of sentiment by the tragis crisis of war There's no place in our minds for things that are base and vile while We have before us so many examples of heroism and sac- rifice. and this applies to classes whose state of mind is not always fit for close analysis. When a man is fiattered that he possesses an admirable quality that he knows he totally lacks, he immediately burns to possess it. Thus the turbulent elements of the population took to their account part of the praise that was be- slowed upon Paris for its bearing at the outbreak of the war, and they seem to be really taking no little pride in helping to justify it. .
 Secondary causes are the elimination of the crime-producing elements-misery and vice and the turning of passion from it's usual objects-to the frontier There was never less misery in Paris. In nor nal times many unfortunate people are out of the reach of charity; at present charity in the name of relief, acts au- toma atically and these people find it far simpler to be good than to be wicked.
 'The early closing of cafes and the ellm- nation of night restaurants have forced orderly habits. diminished temptation and vice. Many people thus forcibly intro duced tc a way of living that has done them good will never again return to their old night life.''
 Apaches Have Disappeared
 The suppression of the sale of absinthe, Monsieur Laurent thinks, has not yet had
 
 attribute the decrease in crime in any degree to this cause. One of the most conspicuous cases 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 ulti- mate effect of the reform he expects will be considerable, but the man whose moral nature has been debased by absinthe has not yet had time to recover
 "As for the 'Apaches, the street ruff fans who give us so much trouble ordi- narly, they have disappeared" he says. Many of them are at the front, where they are redeeming many fault; others are employed on the defense works of the entrenched camp: the rest seem to lack inspiration for their customary misdeeds. for we hear nothing of them.
 T am no prophet" Monsieur Laurent concluded, "and I can't say what per- manent effect the war may have upon crime, but I 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 l think the gaiety and animation of Paris Will ' come into its own, but look for the elfn- ination for years to come of many friv- olities and different forms of folly'