Evening star., 1898-10-15


PLANTATION. On the other side of the sheet
there Is printed the crowned head of a mil
itary dictator. Holding it to the light, this
mead hts on the headleSs soldier.
Friends Of Dreyfus.
The friends of Dreyfus also have their
special weekly full of bitter sketches 1t
IS called lie Sittiet,' which means 'Whis-
tie. but means also Hiss" This week it's
front page has Felix Faure and General
Zurlinden engaged in pulling down the
statue of Law. But, reversing the old
proverb, Right makes might" the rope
breaks and the general falls to the ground
While the calm statue rests immovable
II Is a very different thing TO believe in
iHe innocence OF DreyfuS and to believe i'm
SiFInS him new trial. The son Of HUI
Suenot minister. himself belonging 10 a
party violently devoted to mere abstract
justice, makes this very broad distinction
% ptleEe III the innocence Of Drcvfus?
My father does. / do not. Still / v,onId
see him retired for the honor of the couu-
try. Another French acquaintance Of
mine believes him guilty, but would see him
istE,ed even though II be to the dishonor
Of the country. He says: 1T is a ones
il"H OF ending an IntJlerable state of af-
lars tnhappily all the socialist anarch-
Isl ana extreme radical forces. that detest
tEe military system, have joined hands
Win The real. GiSinterested friends of prev
fu&, ana are making their own capital ONT
OF the affair. To yield 10 the friends OF
TO
yield to them is To continue to give them
their opportunity for agitation"
Told Under the Breath.
For months past it has been understood
IN society that the affair must not he
mentioned. To aliudc to it in general con-
NcTsation is to be impOIite. This leads to
all manner Of whisperiugs, in which the
desperate efforts of the army hierarchy at
cpHcta!ment are given the most dramatic
explanations. Here is one that has NOT
seen The IlSht Of print at least in EurOpe
some one-DreEfus or another-commu-
HICdted 10 the Germans the information
that France was preparing to, invade them
through tho neutral territory of lux4n-
bours and Belgium. The CONSERVATION in
iHe German war office on receipt of the in
te4llSence can only have been euu3Ied h,,
lhe distress at French headquarters on the
proof OF It's betrayal France had pre-
pared 70 break the treaty of Parls, Nv
lldi treaty both France and Germany had
s'lyl4Al.- CONcuant-d to respect the neu-
lrailjy OF the TWO little states that lie be-
tween them on their northern frontiers A
more fragrant breach OF good fajth can
scarcely be imagined; for, just as il takes
years OF intricate SChening on the part of
iHc invader 10 draw up such a mobilization
plan, 50 II takes years OF equally painful
preparation on the part of the threatened
country To meet ii. Railways must he
! bul!t. iortitications thrown up, bases of
supply cstabIIshed-and all ostensibly for
OtI-Sf purposes. certainly the Germans
would have been justified in declaring war
immediately, had they dared ayow' tho
source from which they got their informa-
ton Let this fact be forced out now and
rance Will see herself in a most dauperous
/ position
And do you believe the Germans are as
sISilns in this Dreyfus agitation for the
| sake Of bringing out this factY' | asked
| my Ithch informant.
ndoubtediy!' he answered The Ger
mans and the Englshr'
One View.
! Belgian government functionarv to
/ whom 1 repeated this in Brussels laughed
at it. There is no secret" he said scof-
| hngIy. and all those scares are nut ont
| simply to intmidate the people. The real
| facts are these: Dreyfus was the first Jew
/ oihCer 10 be admitted to the Headquarters
| stan OF the French army. The anti-Jewish
/ ieeAnG Is exit eme, you know They
| tried 10 get him out in every way. He
would not go. His presence almost drove
! them wild. l do not say they went at il
1 deliberately. But something was going,
suade each other that the Jew was at the
/ bottom Of ii. They made d mistake, and
| il Is too late 10 so back"
| But. on the other hand" | insisted
| four successive ministers of war have for
/ Inaily declared upon their honor that they
| know Dreyfus to have been guilty"
! 'Humi' replied the Belgian, medit atiyeIy
Here 1t is-the conflict between the army
| honor and the civilians "intellectuaT'
| doubt that some mistake was made
| What will happen" | ask an anti-Drey-
| tuS partisan, If new trial is ordered?'
What VIII Happen.
| What will u,aa hi.