Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-09
DREYFUS FOUND GUILTY.

The Inter Mountains advices from
France today state Shat Captain ALFRED
Dreyfus has been found guilty of selling
the military secrets of his government
and sentenced to Imprisonment for ter
years. The verdict Of the court was no
unexpected. From the outset the con-
clusion of the trial was in sight. The
judges exhibited a bias that was unmis-
taxable, and which would have disauali-
fled them in an American court. At nc
time, from the inception of the trial tc
its conclusion, did the French court be-
tray a disposition to accord the prisoner
a fair and impartial hearing.
The French system of weighing the
guilt or innocence of an accused man is
faulty at best, as he is presumed to be
guilty until his innocence is established
by a p~reponderance of evidence. No rules
restrict the Introduction of irrelevant tes-
tin1ony and the personal opinions of the
witnesses. From an incoherent mass of
~ IC OlIctl Vi pOSllfSS
bearing on the status of the case. the
judges are presumed to extract and hon
crabie and conscientious verdict.
Dreyfus was not only made the victim
of ahominabie judicial methods that
ought to damn France in the eyes Of
the civilized world, but he was condemn
Cd ~, J,-a-A.
rupt a gang Of pirates as ever sat in judg-
ment over an honest man. In predicting
the outcome Of the trial, the Inter Noun
tain expressed the opinion that Dreyfus
would be found guilty. regardless Of the
evidence, in order to preserve the stand
ing and prestige Of the army, for his ac-
quittal would advertise to the world the
possibilities for conspiracy, crime and
corruption in the military service Of that
unfortunate country.
This paper expressed the further opin-
ion that his conviction would be followed
by a pardon, thus relieving Dreyfus of
any punishment beyond the disgrace of
conviction. The sentence of ten years,
instead of an indefinite period of exile.
would see to Indicate that the court is
looking for the timely interference of the
president of he French republic, and
that a free and unconditional pardon is
among the still unwritten chapters of this
celebrated case.
Had Dreyfus been given a fair trial. by
honest judges, the world would have ac-
guessed in the result and reversed it.
opinion as to his innocence. But too
much interest has been awakened in this
Famous judicial procedure, and the evil
dent injustice done a ~long-suffering man
through a conspiracy Matched up by the
Din-headed swashbuckles of the standing
army of France, for mankind to look
with approval on the findings of the
court. The world may be powerless to
protect Dreyfus from the vengeance of
his enemies, but 1t can and will visit its
condemnation upsn a country that bru
talizes the functions of justice and makes
a farce Of the rights of man.
But if the world makes a martyr of
Alfred Dreyfus, as the victim of French
injustice, what can be said of his noble
wife? A sweeter picture Of exalted wo-
manhood does not adorn the century in
which we live. For four long years she
struggled to secure a rehearing for her
almost forgotten husband, in exile UNION
the inhospitable shores of DEVILS island.
and by dint or persistent energy and the
tireless promptings of a loving heart,
finally won her point. Again called upon
to suffer the unutterable pangs of defeat,
h will doubtless rise to the sublime
heights Of the occasion and renew her
contest for the liberty of her lover and
the honor of his name.
In Lucy Dreyfus and her prosecuted
husband, history repeats Itself. It was
12o years ago that Captain Antoine Du-
boise de ~Bellegarde, of the French army
"a man who won his spurs in MANY a
hard fought confiict-was made the vic
tim of forged documents and sent to the
salleys, because he exposed his fellow
officers in a scheme to swindle his coun-
try in the furnishing of military supplies.
His noble wife. who also bore he name
Of Lucy, worked for years In his behalf