The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-08-19
thus explained certain matters win con-


there wns no qnestion of prohationers
going TO the manouvres. This be point
ed out, would have curtaiied the period
Of probation in an entirely unusual man
nor. After dealing with the testimony
of experts at the court martial OF 1894.
Picquart proceeded TO examine the secret
tcssier, close analysis Of whioh, he as
srted. was particularly necessary owing
to the weight the document had with
the members OF the court martial in
1894. This dossier, continued the wit
ness, may be divided into two parts. The
first contains three documents. One, a
document known rs thesAvignon docu-
ment, the terms of which are about as
follows: doubt the proofs. Service
letter situation dangerous for me with
French officer. No Information from an
officer of the line. Important only as
coming from the ministry. Already some
where else." Two-Ths document con-
tanning the words: "Cette canaille de
D., Three--A document which is moth
ing but the report of journey to Switzer-
land made in behalf OF a foreign power.
'sThe second part of the dossier,' contin-
ued picquart, CONSISTED partly Of sup
Elementary review of the first. Ii con
tains the pist Of seven documents, one of
which, 'Cette canaillede.D,' win serve TO
the purposes Of comparison. Itsalso con-
tanned the correspondence OF attaches
"A and 'B.' These initials, 1t should be
borne in mind, represent Col. Schwartz
koppsn. formerly military attache at
Paris. and Maj. Panizzardi. the former
military attache of Italy at the French
capital"
At this junoture the Colonel said 1t
would facilitate proceedings IL he were
permitted to see the secret dossier, add
ing, II have already hau 1t In my hands,
but fear my memory may fail me ON
some points.
"What yoa ask. replied the president
Of the court martial, sis impossible.
The minister's orders are absolute. The
secret dossier can only be examined under
certain conditions.
81 regret 1t, answered picquart, bat /
viii try to refresh my memury."
The witness next explained why Major
Patty du ClaFu's translation of the Avg
non document which has been classed g.
idiotic, was open to doubt and why the
document II it had any meaning what
ever, was as applicable TO Esterhazy ns TO
Drcyfus. Regarding the correspondence
of military attaches, the witness demon
strated tho insignificance Of the infoTina-
ton asked. While Pa.y du Clam regard
ed the correspondence as convincing and
as clearly indicating an officer of the
second bureau, Picquart maintained that
the terms Of the correspondence indicas.
cd that tho writer intended to ask a
friend and not spy, for the informa-
tion desired. Many headquarter OH
GERS. no pointed out. were en- cordial ana
absolutely Legitimate terms with the for
eign military attaches. Col Picqnart
then took up the Cate cansiIle deD'' doc
ument. He called the attention Of the
court to the fact that it was addressed
by Schwartzkoppen to Panizznrdi and
not vice versa as long believed. After
giving his reasons for believing Dreyfus
was not the person referred to In that
document Plcquart showed Patty du
Clam endeRyored to ascribe the author
| ship OF the document upon Panizzardi
with the view of establishing a connec.
ton, which In reality did not exist be-
tween the various documents in the in :
dictment against Dreyfu The document
referring to the French agents Journey
to Switzerland of which Schwartz koppen
said to have been informed, was only
slightly commented upon by the witness.
as he did not attach importance to it.
The minute dvtafi which the Colonel
dealt with the evidence the clearness of
his language and his deductions, had
great effect upon the audience and ELECTED
general admiration. The former chief
of the intelligence department concluded
his explanations. saying: May I be
allowed 20 express deep regret at the alb
sence Of Major Patty dn Clam? 1t sesms
to me Indispensable that this officer, who
wrote the commentaries on the secret
dossier, should be summoned to give evil
dence here. He would give us his remi-
niscences, and I would help him.
(Laughter.)
"But," added Picquart. "Sinse 1 am
dealing with this question Of commen-
taries of Major Patty du Clam, permit me
to point out to you. gentlemen, that this
document was not the property of any
particular minister 1t was classified as
belonging to the intelligence department
and, as you see. 1T formed part Of well
defined dossier-a -dossier which was shut
up In one Of the drawers of my desk and
which was distracted from it.. This COM
mentary therefore, is upon secret dos
sier document which was Improperly re-
moved from my department." (Sensa-
tion)
continuing, the witness remarked,
"MCntion was made yesterday Of the dis
appearance of documents. That Is the
case In point. Turning to the second
portion OF the dossier Picquart described
q number OF documents in it as forgeries,
and said the police reports therein CON.
tained nothing serious against Dreyfus
de explained that they embodied the
theme mostly utilized by police sniaa g.,