ONE of our great reporters we also have in France great reporters reporting to us the impressions felt during a trip to the United States, noted this one:
"What strikes the foreigner most at first is certainly American abruptness. Abruptness in words, in gestures, in the way of acting and even in eating and drinking. Politeness is reduced to the strict minimum. The best seat belongs to the first to arrive; the best piece to the first served. It is very simple and avoids any discussion... In the trams, in the trains, at the theater, everywhere where there is a crowd, everyone jostles and crushes each other's feet with a touching fraternity; but no one complains or gets angry.
And our reporter added:
"After twenty-four hours, the foreigner, shocked, bruised, stunned, after having protested in vain against this cursed abruptness, begins to cordially detest the Americans... Now, this strange fact happens, that after six months, the same foreigner adores America and its citizens, swears only by them and, completely Americanized, forgets old Europe. Why? Simply because the first unpleasant impression of abruptness has faded. He has consoled himself for being jostled or has become accustomed to it. He experiences peace of mind in no longer looking for formulas and, if he always regrets a little the form, he realizes that on the other hand the substance is excellent."
One could not better analyze one of the intrinsic characteristics of these men for whom, throughout life, it is a question of "doing things quickly to make money. But, under these conditions, it is understood that it is not a small problem for the agents of authority to make order reign in the street.

Inevitably, the American police have had to model themselves on the faults and qualities of the people to be kept under surveillance. Like them, they are abrupt; they do not hesitate to resort to the most energetic means and as, on the other hand, all the citizens of the United States are keen on modern inventions, they also call upon the latest practical applications of progress to fulfill their most difficult task.

The newspapers over there have given us, these days, a new example. At the slightest sign from the policeman in the street, cars must, as in our country, pull over to the edge of the sidewalk and stop. But it sometimes happens that a driver does not obey this order and, in good faith or not, continues on his way. In old Europe, they just grab the fugitive's number and give him a ticket. He will have to go and explain himself in court. It's long, complicated, and risky.
Over there, they've just adopted a faster method. From now on, when a car driver no longer obeys the signal given, the policeman, instead of taking his notebook and pencil out of his pocket, will take his Browning and, with a well-placed bullet, will puncture one of the rear tires. The car will have to stop.
And, since it is preferable, all the same, that the clumsy shooter does not go and injure a passerby, they have created a shooting school where policemen from New York and elsewhere will come to practice, not on a stationary target, but on a screen where the cinema will scroll the image of cars speeding at various speeds.

Brutalism and modernism! Don't think that Americans could be shocked by such an expeditious procedure. On the contrary, everyone applauded it.
Aren't they used to this way of doing things? If, in the street, a passer-by contravenes some police regulation, no long report, no endless formalities! The officer tells the offender: "It's such and such a sum." The other pays and receives in exchange a receipt for the sum, a receipt detached from a counterfoil book.

As for the modern inventions used by the American police, there are none that are neglected. To transport themselves from one point to another, the officers use cars and motorcycles. Planes fly over the cities to report, by wireless, any unusual event that may occur. To arrest dangerous criminals, not only do they not hesitate to use firearms, but they also commonly use gas or narcotic projections. Finally, to combat the smuggling of alcohol which, since the institution of the dry regime, has gradually taken on unheard-of proportions, a real army has been set up, a real fleet has been mobilized. Any ship caught at sea and refusing to stop at the first signal is immediately cannonaded. Admit that you have to go there to see the artillery at the service of the police!
The Americans are right to use these radical means since they consider them necessary at home and no one objects to them. For our part, let us hope that, at home, we will never need to resort to them.

Claude FRANCUEIL.