The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-09-02
WAS HENRY A MARTYR?
His Crime May Have Resulted From
Misguided Patriotism.
OoNNIvANOE IN HBNRY's SUICIDE

The Belief Is General That High Of
ncials Indirectly Aided the Accused
Ofncer in Taking His own Life. and
Perhaps Persuaded Him to DO So.
Paris, Sept. 2.-The Dreyfus case pre-
sents no new feature, but there is a
plentiful supply of rumors. The first
of these is that Dreyfus Is dead, no
letter having been received from him
for some weeks. Another report Is that
General De Boisdeffre, who has just
resigned the post of chief of the gem
eral staff, has committed suicide. Both
these rumors are undoubtedly without
foundation
Colonel Patty de Clam is on a vacation
trip in Switzerland, and there is no
confirmation of the statement of La
Patrie that he had been arrested for
completely in the Henry forgery.
General Gonse, assistant chief Of the
general staff. who rendered his resig
nation on Wednesday to M. Cavaignac,
minister for war, has been persuaded
to withdraw it, as his retirement un-
der the age limit will occur next month.
The lul In news, however, has in no
way limited the popular excitement
The latest cartoon of NJ. Forain hap
PLY hits off the situation. 1t repre-
sents two soldiers-one standing. the
other sitting on a bench and reading a
newspaper What are you reading?"
asks the former. about the czar's
letterY mo. SIR" he replies. "about
the Henry affair"
Speculation Is keenest over the mo-
tives for Lieutenant Colonel Henrys
suicide. Looking to the view the whole
nation has adopted regarding the guilt
of Dreyfus, 1t is argued that Henry
may have supposed he was acting in
the country's Interests even in forging
the letter. which would satisfy the ma
tion Of the justice of the sentence with
| out production of the real evidence,
which would be undesirable on the
highest political grounds. In that case
Henry might have posed as a martyr
to misguided patriotism.
The traditions OF the intelligence de-
partment which. at the time Of the
condemnation of Dreyfus, was under q
conspicuous anti-semite. Colonel Sand
I herr, would probably have led a blunt
mind like Lieutenant Colonel Henry's
| to construe the slightest hint from
above OF the desirability of killing off
the anti-Dreyfus agitation to an order
to do so by any means.
Colonel Sandherr, who was then suf-
fering from incipient paralysis, seems
! to have been the head Of a general con-
| spiracy to hunt Jewish officers out Of
the French army. Dreyfus, man Of
| naughty demeanor. of vast strategic
| knowledge, would naturally be selected
as a victim of these Vaccinations.
1t is asserted that Colonel Sandherr's
last days were haunted by a fear,
amounting to terror. lest the Illegal and
f1ippant nature of the evidence upon
which Captain Dreyfus was condemned
should be revealed and weaken the
prestige of the intelligence department,
| and that he enjoined upon Henry his
subordinate, to guard the departments
traditions at all costs.
The carelessness of the authorities In
allowing Henry to have a razor and in
not watching him is generally interpret
ed as connivance and perhaps as per-
suasion, since officers under arrest and
likely to be condemned should accord
ing to military regulations, be con-
stantly watched while Lieutenant Col
onel Henry was left for hours alone
and allowed to lock the door on the in
side.
If there were persuasion, 1t is not
likely to have been difficult. Had Henry
been expelled from the army, both HIM
self and wife would have lost all PEN
sion rights. AS 1t is, the widow becomes
entitled to a handsome pension. This
seems a more likely motive than the
explanation, based upon the alleged in
coherent letter he left behind, that he
bad lost his reason.
Colonel Henry left letters addressed
to the minister for war and to General
Boisdeffre, in which he protested that
he had not realized the gravity of the
act which he committed "solely for the
good of the cause"
Having died uncondemned his re-
mains are entitled to military honors,
but his brother will take the body to
Pougy, near Chalons, where 1t Will be
buried tomorrow with the strictest
privacy.
Several officers of the general staff,
1t Is said tonight, have asked to be sent
back to their regiments General Re-
nouar, the new chief of staff. Is under
stood to have free hand and to be at
= liberty to replace all the staff officers
If he thinks fit. 1t is expected that he
will resort to a process of publication.
The governments position Is most
unhappy Notice of interpretations in
|
ident Faure is censured for leaving
Paris at such a critical moment. Great
efforts are being made to get the sig
natures of a majority of the deputies,
which is a necessary preliminary to a
cOnvocatlon of the chamber.
The movement In favor of a revision
in the Dreyfus case Is growing by leaps
and bounds. Considering recent events
Major Count Walsin Esterhazy retains
an amazingly cool attitude. In the
course of an interview yesterday he ex-
pressed establishment that Lieutenant
Colonel Henry was allowed to have a
razor. Henry's death, he said, was re-
gretabe because. doubtless, he had
other revelations to make" Count Es-
terhaZy intends to appeal against his
enforced retirement from active SER
vice in the army.