c on the nomination
of the Minister of the Interior, in the proportion of one for every ten
thousand inhabitants. In cities and towns having a population of less
than six thousand, these officers are appointed by the Prefet. They are
charged with the duty of enforcing the laws and the regulations of the
municipal police, the pursuit and arrest of criminals, and they have
authority in all controversies and litigations brought before the
Tribunals Civils, or those which never appear in court. The immediate
chief of the police, or _gardiens de la paix_, of each arrondissement,
is the Officier de Paix, who has his headquarters in the Mairie of that
arrondissement, and who is the functionary to appeal to in all matters
connected with the public highways. "(1) If you have cause to fear any
scandal, if you have need of police protection, he will give orders to
have a gardien posted at your door; (2) if you have any cause of
complaint against individuals, cab-drivers, cartmen, street-vendors, who
crowd the street, or who make a disturbance before your dwelling, he
will draw up against them _proces-verbaux de contravention_ [which is a
very efficient remedy]; (3) he is obliged to assure, by the gardiens de
la paix, the safety of children who have to cross wide streets when
leaving school; (4) at night, it is he who sends to the hospitals the
persons who may be found sick or wounded in the streets; (5) it is to
him that notice must be given of the disappearance of old persons,
children, sick, or those demented; he immediately notifies the municipal
police headquarters, which, in turn, sends word to all the posts
throughout Paris."

Gardiens de la Paix is now the official title of the efficient Paris
policemen, who were formerly known as Sergents de Ville, under which
title their corps was organized in 1829. Modified in their organization
in 1848 and in 1859, they were disbanded on the memorable 4th of
September, 1870. Like the firemen, they are all soldiers, and in case of
war rejoin their respective corps. From the point of view of the police,
Paris is divided into four great divisions, each including a certain
number of arrondissements, and having at its head a _Chef_. Under the
orders of the Commissaires are placed the twenty-five Officiers de Paix,
and the Inspecteurs Principaux, their substitutes; next in rank come the
Brigadiers, a hundred in number, then the eight hundred and eighty
Sous-Brigadiers and the seven thousand o