Evening star., 1927-10-30
PARIS POLICE HEAD
CLEANING UP CITY
New Official Drops Corrupt
Officers and CompeIs Strict
Adherence to Laws.
EY WILLIAM BIRD.


| BY Radio tn The star.
| PARIS. October 29-The general
cleanup of Paris. which was started
/ Just before the Legion convention last
| month. is being continued with even
greater rigor now that the Legion has
| departed
Many people are wondering whether
! the traditional "gayety" of the French
capital is not already a thing of the
! past.
NJ. Jean Chiappe, who was appoint
ed project of police less than a year
ago, has little bv little brought about
almost a complete shake-up in the
! Police Department. with the result
! that much of the corruption has dis
appeared, and with it a great part of
| the viciousness which formerly char
acterzcd sections of the city.
! Orders issued in August and Sep
tember abolishing street walking on
the bouevards and other main thor
OughfareS were thought to be merely
| temporary. designed to create a favor
able impression during the Legion con-
vention and prevent needless cOmplica-
tions during the stay of the Legion
naires. But to the surprise of every
! body they have been maintained in
! force with rigid hand, so that toda Y
| opera and the Madeleine are as re-
| spoctable as the aristocratic Avenue
du BoiS de Boulogne."
Foreigners Registered.
| Another direction in which NJ.
! Chiappe has been extremely active is
! in riddinG the city of undesirable for
aigners. The laws providing for regis.
tratiOn of foreigners had never been
strictly enforced up to the time of NJ.
Chiappe's appointment, and 1t is estl-
mated that as many as 10000 foreign
ers were living in Paris without hav-
ing taken out identity cards.
Most of these could be classed as
'undesirables" and a very large per-
centage, according to the police, were
engaged in catering to visitors who
came to Paris in search of illicit
amuSementS. Some We're interna-
tional crooks of all sorts, some were
| guides" others dealt in obscene pic
lures, and the rest were engaged in
various branches of the amusement"
business.
NJ. Chappe undertook a program of
systematic raids on the thousands of
small hotels and rooming houses in
the poorer parts Of the city, where
such characters chiefly reside. Every
night for the past two months a num-
her of these establishments have been
visited and the occupants required to
give an account of themselves. Each
raid has brought considerable bag of
unregistered aliens. who have prompt
ly been conducted to the frontier.
Corruption Revealed.
But more than this, action has been
taken against the hotel and lodgin g
house keepers for falling to comply
with the regulations which require
all such visitors to be reported to the
police. In several instances it was
found that police commissioners or
their subordinates had been cor
rupted. The consequence is that
hotel keepers are now on their good
behavior. 1t is extremely difficult at
present for an unregistered alien to
get lodgings. and the police estimate
that large numbers Of foreigners have
left the country voluntarily.
Naturally the dives and night
joints have not been overlooked by
NJ. Chiappe's keen Corsican eye, and
there is a widespread discomfort
among keepers of such places. who
complain that business is being ruined
by, an excess of surveillance. But the
energetic prefect is not deferred, and
while it is not likely that he will ever
I reduce Paris to the gloomy respecta-
bility of London. nevertheless it ap-
pears certain that from now on its
/ reputation for unlimited merrymaking &
| will decline.
'Copyright 1877