A VIGILANT POLICE FORCE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2410, 16 January 1895, Page 4

A VIGILANT POLICE FORCE.

■ - ' ■ The reign of Napoleon' HI, in France was characterised by many arbitrary arrests, made on mere suspicion, by a police which had no respect for individual rights. t '- A public man of the time, Grammont-Cado-rousso by name, took advantage of his acquaintance with the i’rofet of Police to protest against this state of affairs. Ho declared that matters had come to such a point that no citizen, however innocent, was sure of being able to rcach-his home at night without being arrested. The Prbfet denied that this was true. . ‘ Will you wager a thousand francs,’ Gram-inont-Caderonsse asked, ‘that I shall not be arrested to-morrow without having committed one unlawful act, or said one word,? ’ ‘ Certainly I .will,’ said the Prefct. ‘ Very well. The wager is made,’ It seemed to Grammont-Caderqusso that, in the public safety, he was justified in the course which he proposed to take. The next day he dressed in poor and shabby clothes, wont to a boulevard cdftl, and sat down at one of the open-air tables in front of the place. Ho ordered some food, and while ho was eating it took but a handkerchief with a red ink stain upon it, and, pouring some gold coins out of it, began to count them. Five minutes afterwards, two police agents tapped him bn the shoulder, and beckoned him to come with them. Without a word, or the least resistance, Grammont-Caderoasse followed them. Ho was taken to the police station, his pockets were searched, and he was locked up. That evening, in his office, the Prcfet o Police was informed that a man of suspicious appearance‘had been taken who had on his person an elegant card-case containing cards bearing the name Grammont-Caderousse. ‘ Heavens! ’ exclaimed the Pr£fet, ‘ Gram-mont-Caderousse has been going into bad company in the hope of winning his wager, and has probably been murdered and robbed. Bring the rascal to me! ’ The ‘ rascal ’ was brought up and stood up before the Prbfet, who recognised him instantly. , ‘Well,’ said Grammont-Coderonsso, ‘ have yon fairly lost your wager ? Yon may ask your men here whether I did anything or said 'anything. I have been in prison five hours. It will cost you only two hundred francs an hour! ’ As the result of this somewhat extraordinary proceeding, orders were issued to the police to be more cautious in making arrests. A return, however, to the; practice of making indiscriminate arrests led to the students’ riots early this year. *’,