Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-08-07

scene at TINS point was most dramatic.
Dreyfus raised his white gloved hand
sloft, as if appealing to heaven to vim
dicate him, and cried in piercing
voice: 1T is iniquitous to condemn an
innocent man. never confessed any
thing. Never
the court by vote of five to two. de-
cided to sit behind closed doors.
In Dreytus' Interest.
New York, Aug. THE Paris corre-
spondent of the Tribune discussing the
questions on which the Dreyfus court
martial. which begins today. will hinge,
says:
One of the consequences of the judg-
ment delivered by the court of cassa-
ton June has been to shift the bur
den of proof from the prisoner to the
prosecution. AT the court martial of
1894 it was incumbent upon Capt.
Dreyfus to prove that he was Innocent
OF the charges brought against him.
This was in accordance with French
law. which places the burden of proof
upon the accused. But at the Rennes
ourt-martial Capt. Dreyfus will ap-
pear as an officer who has been Illegally
condemned, and will not be obliged to
prove his Innocence. 1t will be for the
prosecution to prove that he is guilty
The issue relegated by the court of
cessation to the Rennes urt-martial
for trial is narrowed down to the sin
gle question whether or not Capt
Dreyfus communicated to foreign
power the precise documents enumerat-
iy, ri h. l-...s
the memorandum, without date or sig
nature. written on very peculiar water.
marked tissue paper. which, upon the
evidence OF the late Col. Henry, the
forger, was discovered torn in slips in
the waste basket of Col Won Schwartz
koppen. then military attache at the
German embassy in Paris, and, after
being put together by Col. Henry.
formed the basis of the original charges
against Capt. Dreyfus. There is moth
ing Ia the bordereau TO show thar Capt
Dreyfus had been following treasona-
bic practices, or to connect him in -ar-
manner With it. beyond an alleged sim
iarity between the handwriting or
Dreyfus and that of the author OF the
borderau. The court of cessation has
decided that the bordereau WAS written
by Esterhazy and not by Dreyfus
The court of cessation has already
passed judgment upon all the other evi-
denee adduced against Dreyfus in 1894
including the confession of guilt falsely
alleged 10 naNe been made by Dreyfus
IN January, 1895 10 Capt. Jebrun.
Remand and to Sergt. Depert. as well as
The famous secret dossier, with its for
geries and criminatly manipulated doc
unients. All that IS legally left stand
ing after the elimination by she court of
cessation Of the irregularities that
vitiated the conviction of 1894 is the
bordersaQ. which the court of rassatlon.
on June 3 declared was not written by
Dreyfus. The functions of the Rennes
court martial are now limited to hear
ing evidence and deciding upon the sub
ject of the alleged communication by
Capt. Dreyfus 20 a foreign power,of. the
documents enumerated In the Dor.
dereau, now known to have been writ
ten by Esterhazy. as he himself has
confessed. Dreyfus was unacquainted
with Esterfazy when the oor1ereau was
written and 1t may be safe to predict
that it will be practically Impossible for
the prosecution to prove at Rennes that
Capt. Dreyfus handed over to a for
eisn power the documents in question.
In the report of President Ballot
Beaupre. the conclusions of which were
adopted by the court of cassatton-,a
portion of the record of the court mar
tial of 1924 is cited, from which it ap-
pears that on Nov. 81. 1894, Com
mandant d'Ormeschville (the officer
who framed the indictment upon which
Dreyfus was convictedo showed Drey-
fus the original of the bordereau. Drey-
fus resolutely denied ever having seen
the document before. and explained in
detail why it was materially impossi
BILE that he could have written it.
IF the prosecution succeeds in prov
ing that Captain Dreyfus handed over
to foreign power any one of the five
documents mentioned in the bordereau,
Captain Dreyfus must be condemned as
a traitor and transported back again
to Devils Island If, on the contrary.
the prosecution fails to establish that
Captain Dreyfus delivered any of the
Ave documents to foreign power he
must be acquitted.
General de Gallifet, minister Of war,
has issued instructions to Major Car
riere. government commissary at the
Rennes court-martial, to insure that
the court martial shall not invalidate
its own future decisions by deciding
upon matters not involved in the i'm
mediate issue. These instructions sim
ply pin the court-martial down to the
bordereau, and at the same time leave
the prosecution the utmost freedom as
to the methods they may see At - use
in order to prove their case"