9
BIB WELL ON FRANCE
latcrestlag Account by Austin Bidwcll of the
ministration of Law in France.
Radical Differences Between Our System and That
Which Satisfies People in the Land of Liberty,
Equality and Fraternity.
Austin Bidwell, George MacDonald
Anil Kdwfird Noves. on whom were
passed so horrible a sentence in London
for an injury to the Bank of England In
1873, are Btill In town. A Tribune re
porter called on them early In the week
and hod several interesting conversa
tions. While listening to their absorb
ing and dramatic stories it was impos
sible not to feel regret that men of
puch talents and such opportunities as
they possessed in early life should have
liad so fearful a fate.
Our reporter asked Mr. Bldwell what
wtrq his sensations on emerging from
his imprisonment of twenty years. Mr.
Hldwell la a man of magnetic personal
ity, a brilliant conversationalist, who
speaks with a How or witty and pic
turesque language that sustains the at
tention of his hearer. The interesting
article we publish today is the result
of several Interviews. The reports
which have reached us of the astonish
ing conduct of the Judge In the recent
trial of the Marquis de Nayve entirely
corroborates Mr. indwell's aecount of
what he saw. Different nations have
different customs, of course, but it is re
volting to our sense of decency to see a
high minister of Justice profaning his
olllce by such degrading conduct.
Mr. Bidwell has published an exceed
ingly interesting book of his exper
ience written In a nervous and dramatic
etylc In the highest degree entertaining
and attractive.
Tou wish, he cald to l:now what
my feelings were on release. It would
he easier to say what they were not.
I had gone into prison a vigorous young
man. I came out worn down. Youth
was pone, middle age fading, old nge
already settling down upon me. Phy
sically I was almost a wreck. Intellect
ually perhaps not much better. The
spirit In the Arabian Night's story
who had passed two thousand years
fastened up in a kettle at the bottom of
the sea was not more unable to mingle
with the world than I was. Something
had to be done to pull me up again
and It was thought that traveling would
help me. I went to Prance and Italy to
make myself a little less like a man who
had Just fallen from another planet and
to find out what had been taking place
in the world between my burial and my
resurrection a period of twenty-one
years.
After a 6hort Btay In Paris and a few
weeks on the lilvlera, wandering on
foot from Nice to Genoa, drinking in
the happiness of mere life, gazing at
and absorbing scenes of beauty un
equalled in the world, except perhaps In
the most lovely spots of southern Cali
fornia, the sense of existence gradually,
came back, and the feeling of humanity
began once more to settle on me.
Tho Itcturn to Health.
.No one who has not actually been
through so frightful an experience can
understand what the resurrection
means from such a death as I had been
for many years swallowed up In to light
and to fredom and expansion of life,
to Joy and to the unutterable beauty of
free air and free existence. Joy. how
ever, seldom kills. . Happiness all men
easily grow accustomed to, and in Its
Bunsnine tne pressure or past misery
soon grows faint and Is gradually for
gotten. The, whitened hair and the fal
tering gait assert themselves, unaccus
tomed objects everywhere show them
selves, faces we had known and loved
are "lost awhile," others have come Into
the world and grown to manhood dur
ing the years when the blackness of
darkness had encircled us, everywhere
the world is new and we, feel for a time
that we are not of it; but gradually
these changes, like the others, grow fa
miliar, and we accept and fit into, the
situation.
Prison life and every thing connected
with It had burned Itself too deeply Into
my nature lor me easily to inrow on
the remembrance of It. t had so long
resented the vindictive ferocity with
which I was treated' hat Interest of a
certain kind still clung to all matters in
any way belonging to such subjects.
I was curious to know something of
the attitude which France adopts to
wards those of her children whom Mar
tin Tupper calls the unlovely ones. I
had read a good deal of It,' but to see It
with my own eyes was not easy unless,
indeed, by qualifying myself In the way
which gave me my English experience.
' This way, however, was too objection
able to think of, and permission to ex
amine Is one of the most diflicult of all
things to obtain. At last, though, with
a good deal of help, with a little ex
pansion and a little Judicious suppres
sion. I succeeded, and with a general
order from the minister of the Interior
to the administration of all orisons to
permit me to visit them I started out on
a tout In quest of Information. Not
many steps were necessary to show me
that French Ideas on prison subjects
are altogether different from those of
England and America.
Ideas seem to change with boundary
lines. Names which within one set of
mountains . are . household words
but few . frillies away, across
a river or over a mountain,
across a river or over a mountain,
are not only utterly unknown, but even
unpronounceable. The French are
eternally boasting of their freedom,
and would be delighted to force all
other nations to accept It, but he would
be a brave as well as a strong man
.who would attempt to persuade Amer
icans cr Englishmen to adopt It. Legal
ideas and maxims which for centuries
have been at the very foundation of
Jaw with us are unknown to French
men. Expressions In the highest de
gree Idiomatic and full of meaning to
ourselves are not only without mean
ing on the continent of Europe, but
seem to be unintelligible Jargon. Speak
to a Frenchman about habeas corpus
and it Is like speaking to an English
man about Nebraska or Oklahoma; he
will think you mean a patent medicine
or a new religion;
Guilty I mil Proved Innocent. '
"With us every man Is Innocent until
proved guilty. In France every accused
man Is guilty until he proves himself to
be Innocent. With us no man can be
compelled to incriminate himself, but
In "La Republicaue" no effort Is spared
to compel admissions. In all English
speaking countries It Is held better that
a hundred guilty persons escape rather
than that one Innocent man should suf
fer; but In France and In all Europe the
maxim seems to be "better that a nun
dred Innocent should suffer, than that
one guilty person escape."
The moment a man Is accused of any
offence an "agent de la surete.'.' In
English, a detective Is sent to arrest
him. The warrant Is signed by the
"Procureur," who in all his other func
tions correspond to our district attor
ney. He Is assisted by a number, of
subordinates called "Juges destruc
tion" whose office, like their name, Is
unanown wi u. unce arrested the pro
cureur may order the prisoner to be
kept "all secret," that Is, in solitary
confinement, deprived of communica
tion with any one except the officers of
the law. Emerging from their hands
he goes Before tne judges where, after
passing an . unusually disagreeable
quarter of an hour, he receives sentence
and fades Into seclusion.
It was la the month of October, when
With the minister of the interior's order
In my pocket, I presented myself at the
:e of the "prefet do department de
7 I at I.Avre and requested per
J tl v-1 til establishments un
der his direction. He was a man of
gigantic Blxe for a Frenchman, an old
army man of course, like all his coun
trymen, and with that kind of con
scious power in reserve upon his reso
lute and close-shut mouth, shaded with
a heavy black mustache, which seems
to be typical of men of his profession
the world over. My order gave him
greta surprise for. for cofe reason
which, no doubt, seems to it good, the
French government preserves the pro
foundest reticence upon all matters re
lating to prisons and their administra
tion. He received me. however, with
great politeness, a circumstance due,
perhaps, as much to my companion, an
American In business for years In
Havre and well known to the pferect, as
to the minister's order. This, of course,
would have been obeyed, but without
some additional spur the great man
would have seen no reason for any ex
traordinary effusion.
Tricky but Honest Officers.
I was glad to be brought close to a
specimen of French beauraucracy, and
to see and study at leisure one of those
men, who In France, more than any
other country, seem parts of a ma
chine working. Intelligently, of course,
but in exact harmony with all the other
parts of the mechanism. He occupies
a position In tl "departement" analo
gous to that of Byrnes, the late super
intendent of police in New York, and
his salary Is 8,000 a year another cir
cumstance of similarity with the great
New Yorker. One other point of like
ness completes the resemblance; he di
rects the movements of a police force
whose purity may not perhaps excite
fears of their early death, but who, on
the whole, are quite unacquainted with
boodle.
After a few minutes' pleasant conver
sation, the prefect sent for an "agent"
whom he directed to accompany us.
The contrast between this "agent" and
his New York brethren was curious.
The American would have shaken
hands, declared himself glad to see me
and as wo started out would very likely
have offered a cigar. The Frenchman
took off his hat. bowed, and begged to
know how he could serve us. Active as
a cat. restless, his small black eyes
actually burning In his head, his every
movement seemed to be the preparation
for a spring. The Rue do Paris Is the
great business street of France's largest
port In the North, and as we went along
It the agent seemed to have something
to say of nearly every one.
Arrived at the station house, the cap
tain was told of my wishes and of the
authority to gratify them, when he
wistfully placed himself and all his be
longings at my disposal, to remain there
until I wanted them. Nowhere In the
world Is there more hat politeness than
in France, but the Frenchman who
would really lift his hand to serve you
would be a remarkable curiosity, In
deed. The captain, or Monsieur de Commls
saire, as his French title Is, was a small
man, nearer 60 than 60, with a sallow
complexion speaking loudly of absinthe,
and wearing Iron-grey side-whiskers,
the longest I ever saw on a man. His
salary is $400 and many a weary year of
service it has taken to put him in so
magnificent a position. And yet for
him it is a good one. Frugality Is the
virtue, such as It Is, of his class of
Frenchmen. With 2,000 francs a year
he can have all the enjoyment he Is
capable of understanding, and when he
is superannuated, the certainty of
enough to keep him from starvation.
The room we found him In was a large
one, divided In the center by a low
wooden partition, behind which were a
number of stretcher beds.
"You make your prisoners pretty com
fortable," I said to htm, pretending to
believe they were kept for that pur
pose. "What sir!" he gasped, " what sir! do
you think we put prisoners In them? No
doubt Monsieur has never seen a
gendarmerie before!
"What are the beds, then, for, and
where do you put the arrested?"
"The beds are for night officers not
on actual duty; but for the prisoners,
come, sir, come, I will show you how we
lodge them."
He skipped across the room and open
ed a door at the end.
"Here, sir, here is where we put our
"mauvals sujets."
I looked In. It Is not easily to aston
ish me today, particularly in anything
relating to police matters, but this time
I was thoroughly astonished. A cell
about twelve feet square, damp and
freezing cold, filthy beyond expression,
a small ur, glazed window high up, gar
nished with bars, and with a raised
platform about two feet from the
ground, was for the moment unoccu
pied, but did not long remain bo.
"Do you mean to say that you put
human beings Into such a place as
that?" I asked, shrinking at the same
time from an Iron tub In the corner,
from which Issued an indescribably
abominable odor.
"Why certainly," he said, " why not?
Nobody gets In here but vagabonds
and criminals!"
It was at the moment when cholera
was raging In Havre and ocean steam
ers had stopped going there.
"Well" said I, "In my country you
would be indicted as a nuisance, and I'
should think you would be all afraid of
being swept off by the cholera."
Some Jail Litersturo.
I looked at the walls and saw speci
mens of the literature usually adorning
such hotels. Among them was a la
."Mort aux vaches!" "Mort aux tantes!"
"Death to cows!" Death to Aunts!" I
could not but wonder as this animosity
towards animals so useful as cows, and
towards '.relations usually so kind
hearted and Indulgent asaunts, and the
explanation showed that to be brought
up among French people Is not suffi
cient to Initiate ena Into all the niceties
of the language. . Cows Is the word em
ployed by the usual occupants of the
apartment to Indicate what we call
stool pigeons, and aunts Is (he proper
term to denote anyone who excites
their contempt or Indignation.
While talking to the Commlssalre, the
outer door was flung open and a crowd
rushed In, some of them holding a well
dressed man, who made no resistance
nnd seemed less disturbed than any of
them. Away flung the Commlssalre and
instantly developed a high excitement
He chattered and screamed like an en
raged monkey, A score of -questions
were shot at the prisoner, in as many
seconds, and then he was abused for
not answering between his coolness and
the excited screaming of the Commls
salre and his attendants.
: He -was an Englishman but spoke
French' with easy fluency. As soon as
he got a chance to speak' he said,
"Tou have ' asked me a good many
questions; which one would you like me
to answer first?''- Then the screams be
gan once more. The commlssalre jumped
up and sat down again, picked up pa
pers, threw them aside, upset his Ink
bottle, and Anally asked him his name
and country. , While this .questioning
was going on I asked one of the by
standers who had crowded In with the
frlsoner w tat the man had done. "He
an assassin, sir," but my Informant
was contradicted by another one, who
told me that the prisoner had picked a ,
man's pocket At this stage a man
without ft hat forced hi way In, declar-
Ing that he was the prosecutor,, that he
was the proprietor of an hotel and that
the prisoner had cheated him by not
paying his board.'
A past master In the art of Independ
ence can scarcely conceive of any hlgn-
er flight than for a French hotel keep
er to complain of being cheated. 4 tie
matchless effrontery of their own
cheating, the certainty and skill with
which they get at the money of every
one who falls into their tentacles ought
to excite a little sympathy In their
bosoms toward their less skilful fel
low robbers, but this one was as furious
and Indignant as though he had never
sold St. Julien for Margaux. or charged
two francs for a candle In his life.
He told the commlssalre his story and
the end of the matter was that the Eng
lishman was thrust Into the filthy den
I had just been looking at. Here he
would remain at least that night and
perhaps the next one, too, lying oa the
raised platform, shivering with cold
and suffocated with stench. From the
station house pote de police ho would
be taken before the juge destruc
tion to be Interrogated. This was a per
formance I was anxious to see and I
got an Introduction to one of them to
make myself acquainted with his meth
ods. Queer Practices of the Judge.
The title of juge d'lnctructton is to our
ears a little misleading. He is In no
sense a Judge. His oliice Is not only
unknown to us, but It would not for ope
moment he tolerated amongst us. The
French Idea Is that the accused person
knows more about the accusation than
anybody else, and If poslhle he Is to be
made to tell about It. The juge d'ln
Btructlon is the official whose business
It is to get. their secrets from pris
oners and force them, by any means, to
confession. Some of them have quite
a reputation for their ability in this
way, and nothing is more dreaded by
the guilty than this "interrogation."
Practice gives the questioner quite an
astounding degree of skill, and tho
popular, probably the correct, belief is
that there Is no trick, no cunning, no
artifice, no illusive promises rom
which they will shrink to entrap a
confession. The juge destruction Is a
kind of educated policeman, with the
policeman's cunning sharpened by edu
cation, nnd the not too scrupulous
French society barely suffers him as a
kind of hanger-on to its outmost de
batable fringe, where the respectable
shades off Into the doubtful.
The preliminary examination of the
accused takes place with closed doors.
No one is present but the Juge de
struction, his clerk and the prisoner.
The room Is arranged something like a
merchant's office, with a "carpet, a
couple of desks and a few chairs. As in
all courts nnd rooms connected -with the
administration of Justice In France, a
large wooden crucifix Is hung over the
door. Examinations take place at all
hours, midnight being Just as likely a
time as any other. In Important cases
the Jugo destruction to whom police
discoveries are at once communicated,
will send for the prisoner at any hour,
night or day, to aik him about tho new
information.
The one I saw was' a slender young
man about 30, with very light hair, a
white face with a frightful expression,
a repulsive smile and a general Uriah
Heep air. He bore an Irish name, and
was probably a descendant of some
exile of Erin of "No Popery" days. In
everything but his name, however, he
was a typical Frenchman, the few
words of English he knew being the
result of hard work at school. He had
hoard something about the methods of
the English courts, which he thought
ridiculous. His surprise was great,
though, when he heard that prisoners
could not be compelled to speak against
themselves, and wanted to know how It
was possible to got at the truth.
A Sample Examination.
While we were talking a prisoner
was brought In by a gendarme, and
was invited by the Juge d' Instruction
to seat himself on a' chair by the desk.
The judge sat down also, and I no
ticed that the light was arranged In
such a manner as to fall on the pris
oner, while the questioner himself was
in the shadow.. The time was evening,
and the Bhort October daylight had
disappeared In the darkness. The pris
oner was a type of his class, such as
storytellers and theaters represent him,
but such as he rarely appears In reality.
His ignoble face suggested nothing but
cunning, and as the case against him
was very weak, his cunning at present
was not overshadowed by his terrors.
He had been a prisoner for some weeks,
and began by asking the judge to re
lease him. I remained seated at a dis
tance, watching these two men of ly
ing, audacity and ruse, and mentally
comparing the scene- with such pro
ceedings In our own courts. The judge
said he supposed the prisoner was get
ting tired (ennuye) of his confinement,
and asked him many and minute ques
tions, promising to represent him In a
favorable light to the judges and urg
ing him to confess, but the only answer
he received was 'Je n'en sals rien' I
know nothing about it. Tired at last
at the prisoner's obstinacy, ,the Judge
ordered him back with the promise that
he should remain In jail until he came
to a better disposition.
When we were again alone I asked
the judge If there was any limit to the
time an accused person could be kept,
and was told thirteen months In theory,
but In practice we sometime keep them
as long as eighteen; if by that time we
can find nothing against them we let
them go.
It Is perhaps presumptuous to criti
cise a state of things with which a
whole nation is satisfied, but I have
since heard of cases where the hard
ship seemed to be crying. About the
time I am speaking of, a young man,
the owner of a boot and shoe store,
was arrested In Paris on a charge of
theft. He was detained seven months
when It was proved certainly that he
was Innocent, the real theif being dis
covered. He was brought up to the of
fice of the procureur, where without
one word of apology or sympathy, and
without one farthing of damages, he
was put into the street. His shop was
shut. His employes had found the oc
casion good to make a little profit for
themselves. The poor fellow was ut
terly ruined and In his despair he hang
ed himself. The papers mentioned the
affair with scarcely any comment, and
the next day It was forgotten.
An Instance was told me of the Judge
d' Instruction's methods which will ex
plain better than much description
French notions of what Is proper and
dignified In Judicial Investigations.
' Lying to Gain a Pplnt.
In Vlncennes a woman was accused
of embezzling 30,000 francs, the prop
erty of her aunt. She was married to
a man several years her Junior, and, as
Is always the' case in such marriages,
she doted on him. There was no doubt
of her guilt. She had taken the money
to spend on her husband, but the Judge's
Instruction was not satisfied, he wanted
the husband also, and tried to Induce
the woman to Implicate him, but In
vain. She stuck to it that her husband
was Innocent. At last the judge sent for
her again, and after a few questions he
askeu,"Where did the money come from
which your husband gave to Mademois
elle A?" "Who Is Mademoiselle A?"
asked the wife. "Oh, come now. don't
pretend Ignorance. You have told me
a good many things which I know to be
false and I advise you not to keep on
trilling with justice. Don't try to make
me believe you are not acquainted with
Mademoiselle A." "But, I assure you.
Monsieur le Juge d' Instruction, that I
have never heard of her." "Do you
really mean to say that - you do not
know Mademoiselle A?" "Certainly."
"Oh, well then. I am sorry I said any
thing about her. I thought that of
course you knew her." "But who is
she? I desire to know." "She Is your
husband's mistress!''' "What!" she
screamed, "my husband's, mistress!
Ah, the wretch! Ah, the ungrateful
villain. This is how he treats me for
my kindness, Is it!, Very well, then, I
have always said he Is Innocent He Is
not. He Is guilty. He knew perfectly
well what I was doing and where the
money came from." - A deposition was
at once made which she signed, and In
a few moments her husband was a
prisoner. The whole story of Madem
oiselle A was false. ' No such person
existed. The Juge d' instruction was
playing on the woman's Jealousy, to get
her to accuse her husband. Later,
when she found how she "had been
duped, she tried to recede her charge,
but was not permitted. Finally she
was sentenced to five years' imprison
ment and her husband to four. Justly,
perhaps, but by means which gentlemen
among ourselves would as little think
of employing as they would of commit
ting the act which was punished.
The examination before the Juge d'
Instruction constitutes In reality the
trial The "instruction" Is for the
judges, and In ordinary cases the trial
seldom takes more than a few minutes.
The papers are sent to the court with, if
possible, the prisoner's confession. The
court asks him If he acknowledges the
facts read over, and if he does, sen
tence follows.
The object of courts of justice In all
countries is, of course, the discovery of
truth, but methods differ widely. After
learning how preliminaries are man
aged, the next thing was to witness a
court scene. It Is scarcely necesary to
say these differ as nvjch from ours as
the Juge d' Instruction from any officer
we possess.
Court Processes Described.
The lowest criminal court In France,
the "cour correctlonnelle," embraces
functions which we wVide between the
police court and the general sessions.
It does ordinary police court business,
judging drunks and fighters, and it has
power to Intiict sentences of five years'
Imprisonment, but not more. It Is com
pose of three judges, the president and
two associate judges, who sit in robes
and wear what seem to be Persian hats
on their heads. At one side sits the
Procureur. In the body of the court,
within the bar, are the lawyers, each In
his gown, but not wearing wigs, as in
England. The rest of the chamber Is
given to spectators. Over the Judges'
seats hangs the crucifix, replacing the
sword In English courts, and to a con
siderable extent typifying the differ
ence, for, however objectionable meth
ods In t rance may appear to us, the
ferocity of England is conspicuously
absent.
Shortly before one o'clock the prison
ers for trial were brought up from be
low. At once the three judges took their
places. The president was Monsieur
Fougere, a short, stout man, with a red
swollen face, not unlike M. Thiers in
figure. On his right sat one of the as
sociates, an elderly man of no particu
lar appearance, whose greatest duty ap
peared to be to look wise. On the presi
dent's left was the other, quite a young
man. who merely coincided with the
president's decision.
A few vagabonds were disposed of In
as many minutes, and then a case was
called for which the president was evi
dently waiting, for as the prisoner
stepped up to the bar an expectant and
gratified "Ah" escaped from the lips of
His Honor.
The prisoner was charged with some
fraudulent trickery or other In which
he had displayed a good deal more cun
ning than bruins, and the prospect of
tearing him to pieces seemed to give
the Judge an appetizing relish.
For a prosecuting attorney to roast a
prisoner is nothing extraordinary. It
is part of his office to make him as black
as possible andtogrind exceedingly line
the poor wretch who falls Into his
clutches, but with the name of judge we
are accustomed to associate ideas of
dignity and decorum, and their absence
would shock us painfully.
Until the appearance of the prisoner,
but for the difference In language I
might have fancied myself in America.
From this moment all 'was changed.
The charge was read and the president
began to question him, going Into every
detail of his offence, laughing loudly.
Joking and calling the attention of the
filthy rabble who had crowded into the
court room as spectators, probably be
cause for the moment they were not
there as prisoners. The louder they
laughed the more the president joked,
gesticulating, constantly appealing to
the members of the court with a "n'est-ce-pas?"
is It not so? but really In
tending his appeal for the rabble.
A Jocular Judge.
After completely exhausting the sub
ject and his fund of Jokes he gave the
prisoner's counsel permission to speak.
Tho Instant the lawyer began his plead
ing, the judges picked ur papers, appar
ently relating to the next case, and
busied themselves deeply with them. It
must have been impossible for their
honors to hear a word he said, but he
struggled manfully to the end. When
he sat down the papers were laid aside,
the president made 41 pretence of con
sulting with the others about the sen
tence, that is he turned to the old man,
who nodded his answer to a whisper,
and then to the young one Who exer
cised the muscles of his neck In the same
manner. Turning to the prisoner the
president recited in a breathless gabble
the article of the code which con
demned him and finished with a sen
tence of. eighteen months' Imprison
ment. .. "
Not much sympathy could be felt for
him, but the conduct of the Judge was
revolting. I afterwards. Jearned that
with the judges this kind of conduct Is
habitual. Their object appears to be to
show their wit, or as the French call It
"esprit" a word which Includes wit
and cleverness and a' great deal more
besides. ....
The action of the court in the recent
trial of the Marquis de Mayve excited
the astonishment of the English and
American press and some of the Paris
papers have given the Judge severe re
bukes for kis unfairness and levity, but
it will take something more than news
paper scolding to make much of a
change among them.
One provision of French law Is alto
gether - admirable. Every . condemned
man has ten days after sentence In
which to appeal. He has but to notify
the Jailer who Informs the procureur.
Each department has a court of appeals
situated in the "chef-lieu.'' the county
town, and there the appellant Is con
veyed. The case Is heard before a bench
of judges, five In number, wno confirm,
diminish or Increase, the sentence' as
they see fit, and their decision is final.
One further degree the case can be car
ried. The count de cassation may be ap
pealed to for errors in form but It has
no power to change the sentence. All
this Is done without expense to the pris
oner, and If he has no money to employ
counsel one Is furnished him.
Anxious to Get Into Jail.
With the exception of our county Jail
rounders the prison class In France
must be alone of Its kind in the world.
In no other country do we hear of men
who deliberately get themselves Into
prison with the object of being better
off. more comfortable, better fed and
better lodged. At the approach of win
ter the roving vagabonds who manage
to dodge the police In summer, . find
sleeping In haystacks or In empty
freight cars too trying for their delicate
systems, and they accordingly prepare
to return to their usual quarters, the
county jail. Thieves by no means wish
to get Into prison. On the contrary,
they are very sorry for themselves
wTien they do get there, but the tramp
who unwilling to work, Is not ashamed
to beg, looks upon the Jail as his natural
retreat In time of need. Nothing would
Induce him to steal In order to be found
out. The law has very real terrors on
that side for him, but he knows perfect
ly ' well how to -profit by his asylum
without running any' such dangers.
When freedom at last becomes a bur
den, and tightening his belt no longer
subdues his hunger, he picks up a
stone, watts until he sees a policeman
looking at him and then smashes a gas
lamp, up -runs tne ooDoy ana cap
tures the tramp, who a few days after
gets what he wanted. If he finds the
sentence not long enough to take him
through the winter, he waits until the
tenth day, then appeals, which takes
about ten days more, and hones for bet
ter luck, which means a longer sentence
as an appellant. - ,
One reason for their, anxiety to' get
Into prison Is that they can work from
the moment they enter. Their work Is
not merely paid for but they can spend
part of their earnings at the canteen and
what they get must be luxury Indeed to
them. It occasionally happens that ft
tramp determines to lay up a little cap
ital tor himself, mort than hla ordinary
two or three months would furnish. His
plan is simple, effective and without the
least danger of incurring a criminal
reputation. The penalties for insulting
a court of justice are very severe. The
Intention of legislators was to prevent
such offences. What they really did in
making the law was to open an easy
road to comparative comfort and a sure
savings bank for several years to any
who choose to avail themselves of the
privilege. The aspirant to comfort and
savings begins by breaking a gas lamp,
the tramp's favorite locklng-up offence.
He Is rewarded with perhaps thirty
days, when he Immediately Informs the
president that he la a pig, and In return
for the Information, is gratified with
the two or three months he was looking
for.- If he possesses a trade he is sure of
coming out with seven or eight hundred
francs, besides living well in the mean
time. The court of' appeals for the depart
ment of the Seine in which Havre lies,
is at Rouen. A .couple of hours ride
took me to the quaint old city. The
prison is In a suburb called by the sin
gularly inappropriate name of Bonne
Nouvelle, Good News, almost exclusive
ly occupied by Qerman and Polish Jews
the Invincible, indestructible race which
I had seen in former days in many an
eastern city where in synagogues old
Rabbis commented on the Talmud and
announced the Liberator. One cannot
help thinking where do the poor Jews
of this quarter come from. How have
they established themselves In this sub
urb of Rouen with those stalls., of which
they alone and the Auvergnats alone
have the secret, those shops where the
seller finds means to get rid of the un
vendable old pieces of iron, old buttons
and pieces of wood apd odd bits of ma
terial? ; Inside a Typical French Prison.
Passing tho indescribable windows
where hang the rags of the crowds that
invade the sidewalk, and through
swarms of children attesting the prom
ise that theif seed shouit. be as the
sands of the sea, I arrived at last at the
prison, one of the largest In France,
built by the first Napoleon. I was re
ceived by the chief warden, a very fine
looking man, who apologized for the ab
sence o' the governor, sick at home.
A moment later a number of prisoners
arrived, some to submit themselves to
the court of appeals. Ranged in a line
the chief took their names and senten
ces. "Why did you appeal?" he said
to one whose sentence was thirty days.
"It was not enough," said the vaga
bond;" I wanted more. What am I to
do in the cold weather? "Then you
want to prolong the situation?" "That's
what!" and .he passed on. "Twenty
three convictions already for vagran
cy," the chief said to me...
"How many prisoners have you here?"
I asked. "About two thousand." "And
how much can they earn a day?" "On
an average, one franc, half (thirty
cents) of which they may spend at
the canteen. Tho rest Is kept until
their (Uncharge. Some earn as much as
five and six francs a day."
While we were talking a prisoner
came from the inside and complained
that he was not allowed to buy any
thing at the canteen. "Perhaps you
have no money," said the chief. "Oh
yes, I have; . I have three francs."
"Three francs! Of course you can take
nothing if you have only three francs."
"Is your restaurant so blooming aris
tocratic, then, that you don't sell any
thing for less than three francs?" "We
sell things for much less, for two sous
even, but we require three francs on
deposit with the office for the coffin."
"What coffin?" "Yours." "What!"
roared the fellow, "do you Intend to kill
me?" "Not at all. We don't Intend
to kill you. But it you die who is to pay
for the coffin?" French administrative
talent looks a long way ahead, evi
dently.' The chief's duties making It Impossi
ble to come with me himself, he de
tailed a subordinate to guide me. The
workshop resembled those of England,
except that they were, If possible, more
cheerless, with their population of
tailors, binders, shoemakers, working
quickly. ' .
It would not bo necessar; for them
to do otherwise to be happyat liberty,
but when at liberty, not o,,e of them
will retain In the feeblest ("degree the
habit of work which they seem here to
be accustomed to. I have often won
dered what can be the spring so utterly
warped In their Interior mechanism.
Some unknown Influence seems to oper
ate In nature to produce human foxes
and wolves and the best solution of the
problem probably Is the suppression of
low saloons and a strong police force.
Compared with the abject degradation
of their lives without the walls, their
condition la by contrast almost com
fortable, but to most men It would seem
altogether loathsome.
The men are not confined In cells at
night; they sleep In Immense dormitor
ies, entrance to which Is guarded by
heavy Iron doors. A bluish air was
hanging In the room where a lighted
match ought to cause an explosion.
No bedsteads were there, but the floors
were covered with filthy mattresses,
still more filthy blankets being rolled up
at the head. ,The place was alive with
vermin. ,1 saw them crawling on the
beds and clothing, and the stench, sev
eral hours after the men had left, was
appalling. ,
"How many men do you put In here?"
I. asked. .
"About two hundred."
"They must be in a filthy condition."
' '"Why, sir, they are not too clean, of
course. We give them a shower bath
occasionally und that Is all we can
manage."
Proceeding along the corridor we met
a prisoner who failed to give the usual
salute and who was roundly abused by
the keeper for want of politeness. The
Idea was peculiarly French. Here was
a rascal proud and happy to work from
4 o'clock In the. morning till 9 o'clock
at night for 60 cents a day, whose one
aim In life was to get money enough for
a drunken spree on those rare occasions
when, once a month he was allowed a
day off; berating a probably better man
thin, himself for not being polite. Had
he been polite all was well, failing that,
no abuse was too great for him.
Heading to tho Prisoners.
Down stairs we found the men await
ing trial seated on benches In a long
stone passageway, cold and damp as a
Vault, the moisture trickling down the
walls, covering the floor with wet and
slime. At one side a prisoner was read
ing In a droning voice for the "distrac
tion," In the French sense of the word,
of the prisoners, and his tone was excel
lently fitted, I thought, to produce dis
traction In the English sense. A mo
ment after, a bell was sounded and they
rushed Into a large yard for exercise.
The day was very cold. A sharp frost
was biting cars and noses. Pipes were
brought out and lltrhted and all hands
started to walk to keep warm.
Presently the door was flung open
again to admit a new comer who was
greeteu with a roar partly of recogni
tion, partly of derision. He was the
most abject creature I had ever seen in
my life. A tattered coat fastened with
pins covered his shirtless body. His
trowsers torn away from a little below
the knees, left the rest of his legs naked,
and a pair of shoes with no soles to
speak of and well ventilated In the up
pers did very little to keep his feet from
the pebbles. Under his arm he carried
the day's allowance of bread given him
on entering. The Instant he got Into
the yard he started off at full speed to
keep himself from freezing.
While looking at the poor wretch with
feelings ' of pity and compassion I
heard a voice behind me say in English
"quite a auue! Tne person addressed
was evidently a man of great piety, ac
customed to be what revivalists and
Salvation Armyists call much In prayer,
for he instantly offered up a short but
fervent supplication that Heaven would
blind him, blast him. curse him and
damn him, and having finished his de
votions he proceeded to observe that the
new arrival was the bloodiest go he had
seen since the last one. I turned to
look at the speakers,' and being turned
I saw three as fine specimens of the
blackleg and cutthroat as ever Balti
more produced in her plug-ugly days.
Their dress and accent showed that our
side of the water was responsible for
them. They were from New York they
told me, and when at home "hung out"
ftt ft etruia gallon' hoarding house la
Water street, of which they gave me the
proprietor's name, but as It is unknown
to fame except perhaps as recorded in
police court annals, I took no notice of
It and it has escaped my memory. They
were sailors and had come over to
Havre and thence up the river to Rouen
where they had deserted, been captured
and were new held until the vessel was
ready to sail, when they would be put
on board again and sent off in her.
I have heard , some swearing In my
time and am not easily excited by any
accomplishment in that line but so In
genious and elaborate a combination of
oaths as formed their vocabulary, was
something fresh, and their cultivation
must have cost them long practice and
study. They had to salt, they said, and
would go to the many adjectlved Havre
on the many adjectlved ship and there
they would desert again, but if com
pelled to go to the many adjectlved sea
with that many adjectlved captain they
would cut. bis many adjectlved heart
out of his many adjectlved body before
they were out. of sight of the many ad
jectlved land. Their looks could never
bring an action for damages against
their language and their deeds would
doubtless correspond to both if they got
the chance. But threatened men live
long and I dare say the captain did not
meet his fate that voyage. Sea captains
are not too gentle as a rule, the forecas
tle of a sailing ship Is not a paradise
with angels, but with such inhabitants
as these three thugs the crack of the
captain's revolver is a better persuasive
than all the precepts of the gospel.
One. Assassin's Bravado.
A short distance from the sailors a
group had formed round a fellow who
was keeping them laughing loudly.
"Who Is that Jolly fellow?" I asked the
keeper. "That Is Bourdon who mur
dered his mistress a few days ago at
Havre. He is waiting his trial at the
assizes."
It was a frightfully cruel murder.
While walking with the girl at night he
stabbed her to the heart and ran. For
tuna1"l) he was seen, chased and cap
tured. I had niet many murderers be
fore but never any of such revolting In
difference. Going up to him I said:
"Well Bourdon, how do you alnk It will
go with you?" "I don't know sir," he
said, 'Tou see 1 am innocent; the girl
stabbed herself, But I have no money
and can get no counsel so I shall have to
suffer. I may get five years. Not that
I expect It. The sentence will probably
be two, but I shall not be crushed if I get
Ave. ,
"Don't you thlnk'lt might be well to
look for something more? Murder Is a
serious matter. The law keeps a guil
lotine for that sort of thing." "Bah! he
said, "What for a 'putln'?" "She may
have been a 'putln,' as you say, but the
Judge will protect her life as carefully
as Ma la no Cat not's."
He mocked at the thought and as I
moved away asked me for some tobac
co,, for your French peasant's hand goes
out as naturally as an Italian organ
grinder's. A few weeks after, I saw an
account of his execution. He had gone
to trial full of confidence, but as the
case went on he grew anxious, then ter
rified and white, and when he was con
victed and sentenced he fainted. Cas
sation followed. . Everything was found
in form. His petition to the president
was rejected and when his last morning
dawned he had to be carried to the guil
lotine. I came away feeling that If the French
system is cheaper It is In the last degree
demoralizing. In the various prisons
scattered throughout the country there
are always more than a hundred thous
and men confined, the great majority
voluntarl.y beciu'e they prefer com
parative comfort and the certainty of
possessing some money at release, to
the squalor of vagabondage or the ne
cessity to work In freedom.
There are three grades of prisons.
The first like that of Rouen for mis
demeanors entailing no political dis
abilities. Next In severity are the
malsonB centrales corresponding to our
penitentiaries. Incarceration In one or
them brings with It loss of electoral
privileges until restored. The last
grade, the deepest and most terrible
which can befall a Frenchman, is
"travaux forces." This punishment Is
not Inflicted In France. The forces Is
transported to the settlement of New
Caledonia near Australia, from which
he la never allowed to return. His con
dition Is-that of civil death. From the
moment the sentence is passed he Is lost
to his family and to his country. Of
course such a doom is the. fate of only
the most dangerous felons. Home there
are, however, who Incur the exile with
out the disabilities. - v
Habitual Criminals aro Transported.
France will not tolerate habitual
criminals In her midst. Any one who
has undergone four terms of Impris
onment for felony for periods longer
than three months Is bandlshed for life
to the same settlement of New Cale
donia, but Is allowed to go at liberty
on. arrival. If ho has a trade he can
find work; If not the government em
ploys him' or a hit of ground with
farming Implements Is given him.
France gets rid of them. What be
comes of them afterward matters lit
tle. The central prisons are twenty-two
In number and they hold about twenty
two thousand Inmates. Galllon in the
department of the Eure, midway be
wen Rouen "and Paris, about' three
miles oft the railroad, Is a village which
grew up around the mediaeval chateau
of the family .of La Rochefoucauld.
The present duke Is the owner. In the
Interior; of the courtyard a slab of
marble let Into the wall tells in a Latin
Inscription of the visit of Louis
XIV In 1660. This was the spot first
chosen for a refuge for Louis XVI,
a place which he abandoned for his un
lucky Journey to Varennes. In 1798
the owner leased It to the government
for ninety-nine years to be used as a
prison. .
When France wants a prison instead
of building a fortress like the English
prisons she confiscates a monastery or
hires a chateau. Tearing out the inside
for dormitories and workshops, a few
bars at the windows finish the work.
Guards are set and the establishment is
ready.
On the occasion of my visit the officer
In charge was one Beaunler. He had
been about twenty years in the service
and hnd just been nromoted to the po
sition of director. The grounds of the
chatPau are nartltloned off In small
yards used by the' Inmates for exer
cising and the different squads are
anxiously kept from becoming too
closely acquainted. The entrance to
the. governor's office Is through an old
tower which has stood there more han
six hundred years.' Sir centuries of
grinning have not tired the old gar
goyles, tho OrlfTlhs. the "Hvdras an!
Ciilmoras dire" grinning todav frcm
evety cnle-n as thev grinned the dav
the carver left them two hundred years
before Columbus sailed to America.
At one end of the room on a raised
dais the "dlrecteur."with several offi
cials was' sitting at a half moon table
listening to reports vof misdemeanors
and to requests of various kinds from
prlsoners--"Why did you commit the
act for. which you are reported?" he
asked one man. "Perhaps if I had been
such an ass. as you 1 would not have
dpne It," was the answer. "Thirty
days 'coachot' " roared the director and
officers hustled the offender out After
the sitting I asked to see the coachot
(dark cell). In ft separate building the
floor of. which Is three feet below the
surface heavy doors gave entrance each
to a cell paved with stone with no fur
niture whatever. The deathly cold
chilled one even well dressed and mere
ly passing. One after another I looked
in and saw miserable wretches shiver
ing, blue with cold, trying to keep their
blood warm with walking. The only
clothing they had on was what the es
tablishment furnished, a cotton shirt,
a jacket vest and trowsers and on their
feet ft pair of thin slippers made from
FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE, By AUSTIN EIDWELL
interest and Ttlue."-
Clarenee A. Heward,
"yirLd7,?f t,0.,l1 Powerfully writtea.'
Heir II. K Handy. .
-t at powerful aieti
lam
aaa dramatis scenes
tasks the book a
weadur te ."-Mrs. Dr.
Helen TUHmnh,
"u great. interest mranaad nlaitdilv
"-ijrjMftJ.P-jB,
worn out garments, if they want more
they must pay for them. When under
punishment extra garments are taken
away. Nothing but this thin bit of
cloth kept their feet from the stone floor,
and their sufferings must have been la
mentable. "How long do you keen men '
here?" "Well Monsieur, the limit It
ninety days but there is a war to keep
them longer. An examination of their
oflences can be put off from week to
week so that they can really be kept
ninety days more if the directorchooses.
Sometimes when he gets hold of a man
he does not like he keeps him that way.
At the end of six months few want any,
more of It". .
More Prison Cruelties.
After a short conversation he hap
pened to mention the "oubliettes." I
asaed to be shown them. Going down
a stone staircase of which I counted a
hundred and twenty-two steps, when I
began to suspect that the center of the
earth could not be very far away, we
arrived at a frightful dungeon, dug or
iginally for who can tell what nameless
cruelty by some lord of the chateau in
the brave days of old. Deathly cold,
giving out the suffocating odor of an
encased vault, black with Egyptian
darkness, well might the man think who
got there that he had left hope behind -"Surely,"
said I, "You never put men
here!" "Ah, out Monsieur, sometimes
but not for long. Three or four days
generally exhausts them; ten days
would probably kill them, but we watch
against accident No one was in the
dungeon at the moment but I could be
lieve that an "accident" might easily
happen In a good deal less than tea
days.
When we reached the upper world once)
more the men were filing from the va
rious shops to the refectories. In no
French pMor. Is there breakfast, dinner
or supper. The meal Is called "la
soape," the soup, because nothing but
soup is supplied by the establishment,
the "soup malgre" made without meat
or any of the ingredients which In our
minds go to make up what we under
stand by the name.
France has an objeetlon to providing
law-breakers with board free. What
will just keep a man from dying of star
vation Is given, anything more must
be paid for either by work or from the
prisoner's own resources.
In the refectory I watched the long
lines as they walked rapidly in. taking
their places at long, narrow tables, each
row sitting behind another. Large
trays lay on the floor filled with edibles
from the canteen. With the name of
prison we associate usually the Idea
of more or less privation and suffering,
but any one who visits the Oalllon re
fectory at meal time must modify fog
any such prejudice.
I hesitate to write for publication
what I saw there. I expect to be told:
that . my Imagination serves me for
facts, and yet I look down at the mo
ment the articles I saw on the trays as
they were quickly distributed to the
owners. A cheap restaurant has not
so many edibles, and I could not help
thinking that the London board of
prison directors would go Into convul
sions had they been permitted to look
on.
Earning Good Wages.
"How do you expect," I asked
M. Beaunler, "that they will keep
out if you furnish them with
such accommodation within?" "We
do not expect It," he said,
"we know that a certain class will
get Into prison anyhow and we make
them pay for their living. The govern
ment will not feed them, but It sees no
reason why they should be starved or
why they should be the only ones from
whom no profit ought to be made. As a
matter of fact the prisons are more
than self-supporting. The canteen ser
vice of the state yields a considerable
Income. Scarcely anything Is sold at
less than a hundred per cent profit.
We will not allow wine or tobacco, but
the necessaries of life are furnished."
In answer to a nuestion about the av
erage earnings: "You shall nee ior your
self," he said. "In a few minutes they
will return to the shops and then you
will be able to judge." In one of the
work rooms where a hundred prisoners
were chair making I spoke to one intel
ligent looking fellow and asked, "How
much do you earn a day?" "About sis
francs, sir." "Six francs!" I exclaimed,
"why a workman outside could hardly,
earn that much." "That Is very true,
Blr, but here we work much longer
hours and we have no chance to 'falre
la noce' go on a spree. 'How long Is
your sentence?" "Five years." "And
you are obliged to save three francs a
day?" "Yes sir." "Then at your re
lease you will have between three and
four hundred francs?" " Yes, sir."
"What will you do with It?" "Well,
sir, you see I am a tailor and I shall
start a little business for myself."
"Have you ever petitioned for release?"
"Oh, no, sir, I am very well here. Out
side I could only earn three francs a day
and would have to support myself. I
could not save a thousand franca in ten
years." Little wonder that Prance has
a hundred thousand prisoners. Not all,
however, are so well paid as this one,
but none leave after a five years' resi
dence without having a thousand franca
and upword for a new start in life.
Passing through the office of the Mon
selur de Dlrecteur on my way to the
hospital I stopped a moment to look at
the library. Well as the body Is looked
after the wants of the mind get but
scant attention. No such collection of
useless, worn out, half destroyed books
hadl ever seen In a junk store. "What do
they want of books?" said the director;
"what time have they for reading? On
Sunday they can read if they please and
if they wish for books they can buy
them; besides they have something
read to them in the refectory." I had
noticed a prisoner sitting In a sort of a
pulpit reading aloud while the rest were
eating. The book was one of those
sickly love novels with the' broadest
of allusions which in America would
bring the Society of the Prevention of
Vice down in fast metre on the seller,
but which in France attract no atten
tion, and this was about the only lit
erature most of them knew anything
about during their detention.
A Modest Dispensary.
At the entrance to the hospital I wag
presented to the doctor who, I was in
formed, was a baron, M. le Baron la
Qrosse. I was afterward told what,
however, I soon found for myself, that
the doctor was In a small way a char
acter. The old gentleman was accom
panied by his dog Toby, with whom he
was generally believed to consult In
difficult cases. However that may be, .
the Intimacy was so close that Toby's
name had been conferred upon the doc
tor who was always spoken of as "le
vieux Toby," old Toby, The hospital
was one of the dreariest of dreary hab
itations. The dispensary looked as
though fifty cents would buy all the
medicines It contained, and the whole
establishment seemed to have the
genius of poverty resting heavily upon
It. In a ward with walls so blank that
one would thank his shadow for some
times falling there, were two rows of
cots,' most of them occupied. Just as
I entered two stalwart prisoners
stepped up to one where lay the body
of a man who had died an hour before.
Not the slightest attention had been
paid him. Hla limbs had stiffened In
the position in which they lay when
death came. His eyes were open and
his Jaw had fallen. The two prisoners
placed themselves, one at the head, the
other at the feet of the corpse and twist
ing the ends of the sheet to form a ham
mock, the body was lifted like a side of
beef on the shoulder of one who car
ried it In this manner to the dead house.
The next day it would be buried with
out the slightest Inquiry the doctor's
certificate of death being sufficient In
the next bed was lying a man evidently
destined soon to follow. "Tou seem
. (Continued on page 10.)
"an aiauing nun oeuaauai mma
Interesting." Jobs W, Maeksy.
"Tate book la Aeetlatd to have a siverssl
cireuUt1on."-Dr. WaanaU, of the Puk
Wagtail Co.
JC8TOUT-S00 pages with to fan pate II
Inetnttons. Aatotrmph coptee to Bad turn
theasttor. Address tit I sekawaaaa IT,
sell Hf sftsseripUeft sale. .
ii-. '" '