The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-14

| fenco were permitted to inspect in private,
are still undivulged and it Is, therefore,
impossible to say what documents, au-
thentic or spurious, may have been added
to the collection since it was examined by
Col. PGCoUART and denounced by him as
containing no evidence against the accused.
II one may Judge, however, from the serene
and confident bearing exhibited by DREY
FUSS defenders after their inspection of
the secret papers these do not contain any
even ostensibie proofs OF guilt, and there
seems to be q consensus on the part OF in
telligent onlookers that the general effect
OF the proceedings has been favorable to
the prisoner.
Tho fact that, thus far, the obstacles IN
the path Of justice appear to have been
| surmounted will be viewed with keen salts
faction by those alive to the magnitude OF
| the forces which have been arraycd against
the friends OF DREYFUs in spite OF the
| unanimous judgment in favor OF revision
pronounced by the Court OF Cessation, The
| position taken since the publication OF
that memorable decision by what must be
admitted to be a large majority Of the
French people is almost unintelligible to
| English and American observers. 1t would
|
| the sense OF justice; at all events, they show
much less OF it than they evinced 1874 years
ago when the rehabilitation OF the mar
tyrcd protestant, JEAN CALDAs, was ac-
claimed with enthusiasm. The highest so
ciety Of the ancien regime flocked to visit the
widow OF CALDAs and her children pending
the sentence Of the Supreme Court, and,
when they were acquitted and set free, the
| public squares and promenades Of Paris
were thronged with the jubilant partisans
| OF innocence.
Now, on the other hand, DREYPUs is more
| intensely hated by the mass OF Frenchmen,
| since his innocence has been made mani
| fest, than when he was universally sup
posed to be guilty One OF the greatest
ladies in France has not shrunk from say
ing that she "hopes DREYFus is innocent
so that he may suffer thousand times the
more" This Is the spirit that dictated the
Infamous telegram sent to him under the
| official imprint Of the Colonial Office, after
he had been two years on the Devils Island,
the telegram containing the lying an
nouncement that his wife had just been
delivered OF child. In fact, in the eyes Of
French people that consider themselves
we'll bred, there Is only one man in the world
| more odious than the innocent DREYFUs
and that Is Col. PICQUART.
Under these circumstances 1t was i'm
possible for General the Marquis DE
GALIFFET inflexible champion OF justice
as he Is, to pick out Of the whole French
army seven officers who would not be pre-
disposed against the accused That the
present court-martial, headed by Col.
| Tor Eo, To-
evident since 1t convened last Monday,
though a certain change in it's attitude has
been remarked since the production OF the
secret dossier and especially since General
MERCIER, who appeared rs witness on
Saturday, failed to furnish any serious tes-
timony against tho accused. Nevertheless,
il this court martial succumbs to the
nearly irresistible pressure exerted by the
army and by the majority Of Frenchmen,
and II it follows the precedents set by other
military tribunals since the first arrest OF
DREYFUs 1t will convict him for the very
reason that he Is innocent. How can that
be held n reason, it may be asked by for
| eigners? Because, to acknowledge tho in
nocencc Of DREYFUs is to aff1x an inefrace-
able stain upon the honor OF tho General
STAFF, which Is made up OF the chiefs OF the
French army.
1t will be recalled that, Just before the
present tribunal convened, the Ministry
headed by NJ. WALDECK- ROUSSEAU felt con-
strained to remind 1t publicly that its
function was restricted to trial OF the
accused on the precise charge formulated
by the Court OF Cessation, tho charge,
namely, OF having delivered 10 foreign
power the documents which were enumer-
ated in the bordercau written by ESTER
HAzY, and which. as Col. SCHWARTZ
KoPPEN has declared, were delivered
to him by EsTERHAZY himself. Although
thus admonished touching the limita-
lions OF their function, tho court
martial has permitted the inquiry to
take far wider range, and thus far, at all
events, the defence has not protested against
the widening OF the scope Of the investiga-
tion, under tho apprehension, apparently.
that, should any alleged discriminatory
evidence be excluded, the enemies OF DREY-
Fus would pretend that his acquittal was
only technical. BY disrcgarding tho in
structons of the Court of Cessation touch
ing the range of their inquiry, tho military
tribunal has given. obviously n free hand
to forGcrs and perIurcrs, but, il one
may judge from last weeks proceedings,
the stock OF such scoundrcls has run short.
thanks, probably, to tho presence OF De
GALIFFET at tho War Office.
or tho kind OF evidence which proved
effective at the first court-martial speci-
mems were furnished on Saturday by
General MERCIER, who, it will DO remem-
bcrod, was Minister OF War when DEEYFus
was convicted in 1894, and who, it was
exultanty proclaimed by tho ant-Drcy:us-
tics. would again explode bumb-shel
undSr tho accused. Tho only explosion
which took place on Saturday was ono Of
dcrisIon when MERCER left the stand.
He repeated the old story that the
Cdndile de Dieter referred to DREY
FUs, although Col PIcQUA.T has pointed
out that the I'd" was inserted oyor another