Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1877-10-17
eAmsEr1xs SECOND TRIAL.

GAMBErrKS SECOND TRIAL.
Particulars of an Interesting
Event.
Paris Correspondence Of the London News.
The Gambetta prosecution has gone
through a further stage. but tar from the
one. 1t will he presently seen that
DIES not think the time yet come to
make a speech on his own behalf. Thanks
to a IA &c ticket and the pilo,sge Of an advo-
cate I got without any trouble into the
without having To jostle through a
crowd and lines Of policemen. You may
have perhaps heard the correctional cham.
Der stigmatized as q dark hole" That is
not Il correct description. The area is
very small, not longer b one of the little
observation-disclosures courts in Lincolns'inn.
But the room is high. cheerful, with hand
some wood panels and roof, aud plenty Of
daylight. The misfortune is that when a
trial Of great political interest occurs there
is not room for a fair proportion of the
public which would like to attend. The
room was as full as it could be without
unseemly crOwding, and yet l am sure there
we're not in all present. including judges.
counsel, and officers of the court, so many
as two hundred persons. There were at
least thirty advocates in their robes. who
had to give up their usual benches to a
public favorvd by tickets, and were hus-
tied together most intentionally. l
counted IS French journalists allowed
to take notes, though lot 10 publish them.
This is a iberality exceeding that Of the
correctional judges whotried NJ. Montalem.
bert under the empire, for I remember that
on that occasion not only were the ink
stands taken away, but any one seen using
q pencil was threatened to be turned out
Of court unless he left off writing. Every
available space on the bench was occupied
by friends of, OF persons strongly recon-
mended to, President Grattery. The
folding.doors of the judges, private room
were thrown wide open. and many for
whom no seats could be found stood in the
gangway peering into court.
owing to the importance of the case, the
procureur-general himself would conduct
the prosecution. But he appeared in plain
clothes, and sat by the side of his substi.
tute, NJ. Gastsmbide, studying the case. 1t
would have been his right to speak had he
pleased but the substitute would have felt
hurt at being superseded, and it is a most
unusual thing for such a high f%unctionary
as the procureur- general to take part in q
prosecution in a court of first instance.
There we're only two ladies in court. One
was Nine. Gastambide. the young wife
of the substitute, who had a seat on the
bench, and another was one of twenty.fOur
in a section of second.bes places allotted
to the public with tickets. A very few
indeed of the real public get standing
at the back Of the court as a reward for
many hours waiting. NJ. Challemel Lacour,
a senator, and NJ. Spuller, an eX-deputv,
personal friends of Gambetta. were the
members of the upper and (late) lower
houses that I observed
At a quarter past IL NJ. Gambetta and
Murat, the responsible editor of the
Republique Franchise, came into court.
NJ. Gamhetta took his seat by the side of
his advocate, NJ. Allou, and a moment after,
silence was called for the judges. The for.
NAL preliminary questions occupied but a
few moments. 1t was remarked that NJ.
Gambetta, echoing the words of the presid.
ing Judge, that he was the political director
of the Republique Franchise and an ex.
deputy, added with much emphasis, "Yet
and a member of the Paris bar" Presiden,
Grsttery, then asking him if he had any
observation to make, NJ. Gambetta merely
said, at is evident that the prosecution
against me is political. The proper Judge
in such a. case Is public opinion represented
by a Jury. I therefore plead the imcompe.
tence Of this tribunal, and leave it to my
eminent colleague and master, my counsel
NJ. Allou, to argue this point" NJ. Allor
then rose, and spoke for two hours. HI
said among other things that it was shock.
ing to think that, after all the bloodshed
and misery that France had gone through
in her struggle for civil liberty, there should
be legislation which at this hour prevented
the police from following legal debates in,
volving questions of the highest import t.
the liberty of every citizen. In England
the atmosphere Of which the illustriout
Montalembert said, on an occasion much
like the present one, he loved to relieve
himself by breathing, the best p,rt of the
public Libraries we're nnwritten. What they
had to envy England was the Irresistible
habit Of public liberty which was ingrained
in the national mind. Dealings lastly with
the ofense against the president of the re
public in the celebrated phrase, "se soumeNr.
GU Sc demettre," he C implanted that thes,
words were in the indictment previously
separated from the context, which showed
that the marshal, not personally mentioned
in the course of the whole speech, was only
alluded to as part Of the government. and
that nc separate ofense against him could
possibly be sustained. In conclusion, he
besought the tribunal to free Themselves
from the embarrassment of expressing ar
opinion on a pure political conflict and tt
send the case to the only proper judges
it was to be tried at all before the new as
sembly should ~adjudicate upon the respon
sibilities Of all parties to the conflict,
jury.
The procureur substitute On. Gas ambide,
= very young man, after paying a compli.
ment to his eloquent adversary, NJ. Allou
said it was unjust to blame the government
the judges, or himself for the refusal of pub
licity of the speeches at the trial, which, il
. fault at all, was the fault Of the law. He
contested the value of the presidents cited
by NJ. Allou rs dating from . monarchical
period and being inapplicable to republican
1 institutions. and relied UPON a recent iudp