:40:04
I have exciting news, Monsieur le Maire.
Paris is interested in my plan.
:40:10
- What plan is that?
- It's in the letter.
:40:18
Why don't you tell me?
You said it's your plan.
:40:21
I forgot. I apologize.
:40:23
- Apologize for what?
- I forgot, you don't read.
:40:28
Your clerk mentioned it.
:40:30
Neglected your education
to make your fortune, I suppose.
:40:33
What is Paris interested in?
I'm all ears.
:40:38
Because of Vigau's extraordinary growth
during the past five years...
:40:42
I've proposed that we make
a detailed census.
:40:45
Well, that would be interesting.
But how is it a police matter?
:40:50
Modern law enforcement demands modern
methods, and that means information.
:40:56
For example: How many people
have moved here in the last decade?
:41:01
Where did they come from?
What's their background?
:41:05
Is our criminal population homegrown,
or are they outsiders?
:41:10
Without information we cannot know
how to control the dangerous elements.
:41:20
- You might be making a mistake.
- What mistake is that?
:41:25
Sometimes people move to a new town
to start with a clean slate.
:41:30
You might be doing more harm than good
by prying into their private lives.
:41:35
An honest man has nothing to fear
from the truth.
:41:38
For example, Paris knows...
:41:41
that my father was a thief...
:41:43
and my mother, a prostitute.
:41:46
If my mother or father
were to move here to Vigau...
:41:51
I would want everyone to know
who and what they are.
:41:53
- Even if they had reformed themselves?
- Reform is a discredited fantasy.
:41:59
Modern science tells us that people are
by nature lawbreakers or law abiders.