Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-02-11
EMILE lola ON TRIAL.
Charged with Slandering Mill
tary Government.
The Case Grows ont OF Zols's Defence
of Dreyrus. the Military Exile, and the
Acnniitnl Of EsterhazY.

The Case Grows Ont OF Zols's Defence
of Drey rus. the Military Exile, and the
ACquittRl of Esterhszy.
Emile lola the eminent novelist, is on
trial in Paris charged with uttering i'm
putations casting a stain upon the military
government of Paris" There is a heroic
element in Zola's attack upon the French
military establishment, and the proceed
ings against him are being watched with
interest throughout the world. The indict-
ment stripped of legal verbiage, charges
that he was an accomplice of NJ. Perreaux,
managing editor of L'Aurore, in de ivering
to Perreaux the famous letter, addressed to
NJ Felix Faure president of the French
Republic, and published in L'Aurore on
Jan. 19, in which the military government
of Paris is severely scored for the acquittal
by court-martia of Esterhazy, arraigned
for disclosing the defences of Paris, the Of
fence for which lola strenuously contends
Dreyfus was unjustly convicted.
The prosecutor general has not placed
in issue the whole of Zola's letter to Presi-
dent Faute, but has selected certain pas
sages appar ntly as Zola's friends:say, for
the purpose of combining the investigation
strictly to the Esterhazy court martial and
of excluding testimony touching the Drey-
fus case. The portions selected are as fol
lows:
IA court-martal by orders has Just dared
to acquit one Esterhazy in a final blow to
all truth and Justice And it is finished;
| France has this stain upon her cheek; his
tory is to write down that, under your adj
ministration, such social crime could be
| committed They have pronounced
| an inquitous sentence which will forever
! weigh on our court martial which viii
henceforth throw suspicion on all their de
cisions. The first court martial THAT which
tried Drevfus) may have been without un
derstanding: the second that which triec
Esterhazy) is necessarily guilty. / accuse
the second court-martial of having covered
this ilegality (the sentence of Dreyfus) by
orders by committing in its turn the judi
ciary crime of acquitting knowingly uilty
man"
The assize court has decided to admi
evidence on Zola's behalf supporting hi
attack in the Faure letter upon Gems
MERCER, DeBoisdeffre, Billot and De Pei
lieux, and upon Col du Patty de Clam
lola accused Col du Patty de Clam of hav
ing been 'the diabolcal workman of thu
judicial error Gen. MERCER of having be
come an accomplice by weakness of mind
of the greatest iniquties of the century
Gen. Billet, the minister of war, of having
stifed proofs of the innocence of Dreyfus
Gen de Boisdeffre, of being an accomphc
in the same crime: Gen de Pelheux, o
having conducted AN iniquitous investl
CATION All these officers, lola charges
were forced to procure the acquittal OF rs
terhazy, since they cannot allow the In
nocence of Dreyfus to be acknowledge,
without the war office crumblng beneat
the public contempt
a remarkable feature of the case Is tn
number of cabinet ministers, ambassador
and other distinguished personages
France and foreign nations who have bee
summoned to testify in NJ. Lola's defence
This array of witnesses includes repre-
sentatves of the Russian,I Belgian, Ger
man, Austro- Hungarian, Italian, BIRTHS
and Spanish governments, many Of whor
} NAV claim exemption from appearing,
diplomatic privilege they may exercise a
will
, Owing to the strong Republican guar
detailed TO preserve order in the ASST
court room the anti-Semitic feeling OF tn
audience was suppressed at the openin
proceedings Tuesday. In the excite
, state of the public mind in Paris disorder
demonstrations in and about the court ROOF
are likely TO occur Under the Frenc
, law a secret trial may be ordered, in whic
event the trial may lose some sensations
features. If lola should be convicted c
, defaming the military government of PAR
t he may be fined or imprisoned. There hav
( been disorderly scenes in and near tn
court room during the trial, and lola hs
, been insulted 10y the street mobs on his wa
to the court room His life was threatene
and friends feared he would be lynched.