The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-18

or consent Of the military governor
general Of Paris, secretly tried and
convicted by court martial, whose
members were chosen by Gen. de Bois-
deHre 1t may be noted, by the way.
that, when the secrets continued to
leak out, after the Imprisonment Of
Dreyfus, this general also appointed
the court martial that acquitted the
notorious Esterhazy. He it was, too,
who. at the trial Of lola, under oath,
pledged his honor as French noble
man and officer that Zola's assertions
or the existence Of a conspiracy against
Dreyfus In the war department were
without foundation, and declared that
II the defendant were acquitted he and
all the principal members OF his staff
would resign, since the acquittal would
show that the army officials did not
enjoy the fullest confidence Of the
French people. In connection with
this oath he also Informed the jurors
that. since he and his staff had origin
ated the system of natural defense, his
withdrawal would be a menace to the
country's safety. AS we all know, Zola
was convicted and another bar was
cage.
But, nevertheless, the illegality Of
that trial weighed upon the honorable
portion OF the French people. They did
not know what the evidence was; they
had been told that 1t would not be
safe to publish the facts, and, there
fore, the trial had been strictly secret
and military. But they could not
rest; uncomfortable whispers about
dark deeds were heard, and the sor-
roWful but determined face of Nine
Dreyfus was not long absent from
them.
Revision Of the Dreyfus case was
again whispered, discussed, demand
ed. Then the minister Of war came
before the people with his word Of
honor that Dreyfus was not uniustly
condemned, and read a letter which
was supposed to Danish all doubt. But
alas! on the 31st of August Col Henry
confesses to the forgery Of this letter,
commits suicide and Gen. de Boisdeffre
resigns. But why should the general
resign? He was acknowledged to be the
best born and most brilliant officer in
the French army; was practically COM
mander-in-chief of all the military
forces in the country, and bore a name
which had been continuously associ-
ated with the war department for 400
years, barring the period from 1893 to
1876. Is not his resignation somewhat
peculiar? Is there not also something
significant in the fact that this gen.
eral has been favorite at the Rus
sian capital for years; that it is per-
sistently stated that the French Sc
crets came into possession of the Ger
man government through Russia, and
that. at the maneuvers of the Russian
grand army, De ~Boisdeffre met the
German emperor, discussed with him
HannlbaPS tactics at the battle of Can
nae, and was afterwards in constant
correspondence with him until the de-
velopment Of the Dreyfus affair. These
facts, in connection with the emper-
crs warning to France not to make
use Of the letters claimed to be a part
Of the "bordereau," on penalty of a
declaration of war; and his majesty's
assertion that they are absurd for
geries, make it seem as if Dreyfus
was the victim Of circumstance and
De Boisdeffre the villain Of a deep
laid plot. The world anxiously awaits
the denouement of the tragedy and is
encouraged to believe that the fight
for justice will be kept up by lola,
who, though in hiding at present, yet
sends message of. warning to the
French that in the new trial they must
not attempt to shield the guilty at the
expense Of the innocent. .sass