New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-08-27
PARIS.
THE DREYFUS TRIAL NOT YET HALF
OVER.
PROSECUTION HAS PRODUCED NO REAL
EVIDENCE. But THE ACCUSED OFFICERS
POSITION NOW Is THOUGHT TO BE
WORSE THAN BEFORE THE
NEW TRIAL
fsy CABLE TO THE rRrsrxE.l

OF the Dreyfus trial. and the Government COM
missary and counsel for the defence agree that
about twenty more sittings will be necessary.
This halfway house Of the Journey affords oppor-
tunity to UP what has been so far accom-
plished by the prosecution and by the defence.
note the effect produced on the public mind.
and also TO take a spyglass view of the political
situation which unhappily for France. is still
inseparable from the Dreyfus case.
1t is ridiculous at this stage OF the proceed
!ngs TO suppose that II the prosecution pos
sessed any crushing facts or documents incrimi-
mating Dreyfus such evidence would not already
have been put before the court by jealous wit
Eesses like Mercier Boisdeffre. Gonse, Roget
and their acolytes. Eliminating the documents
now known to have been forged falsiied
setting aside the conflicting testimony OF hand
writing experts-and especially the cabalistic
prestidigitarap representations OF NJ Bertillon
which. even If they were understood by the
court, and his conclusions accepted. might be
interpreted as showing that Esterhazy wrote
the bordereau quite rlauslbly that Cap
tain Dreyfus wrote it-sifting the tedious chap
tiers OF unsupported af1rmations OF irrelevant.
malicious chatter and erratic inventions. one
finds that only two points creating a presurS-
ton Of Captain Dreyfus's guilt have been
tablished by the prosecution.
The first o. these is that, when attached 20
the Fourth Bureau OF the General staff dur
ing the summer and autumn Of 1893, not
withstandlng his previous denals he had spe-
cial facilities for obtaining the secret informa-
ton indicated by the caption OF OF the
five documents enumerated in the bordereau;
namely the points Of concentration for the
troops OF couverture In the eastern terri
torial region in the event Of mobilization
This Is clearly established by the testimony %
Colonel Berth, who during the summer and
autumn OF 1893. Sub-Chief OF the Fourth
Bureau, and such was Captain Dreyfuss
immediate superior. Captain DreySus ecknowl-
edges this. and admits having been intrusted
with the secret OF the combination locks which
opened the cupboards where the plans were
kept. This proof Of opportunity hitherto de-
MED but now accepted by Captain Dreyfus, IS
after all merely an inculpatory presumption;
but unlike almost all the other evidence so far
adduced by the prosecution. II constitutes evil
dence that would unquestionably he admitted
and would have weight IN an American court.
The second point established by the prosecu-
tion-and this upon evidence that would not be
admissible in an American COURTS that Cap
tain Dreyfus was OF prying. inquisitive dis
position. Such from a technical legal point OK
view is the sum total Of the progress SO far
made by the prosecution. It is safe to say that
no unbiased American who has attended the
sittings OF the Rennes court martial, as The
Tribune correspondent has done. and who has
subsequently scrutnized with the aid Of
French jurist the stenographic reports Of the
trial which the Figaro" publishes daily in its
six.page afternoon edition can find so far any
presumption OF guilt sufficient 10 hang dog on.
Nm tba 9TH In who felt
convinced OF Captain Dreyfus's Innocence when
the Court OF Cessation pronounced judgmentye-
voking the sentence OF 1894 and decreed new
trial feel disappointed that the defence has failed
70 adduce new facts crushing proof establish
ing Captain Dreyfus's innocence unquestionably.
The impression prevailing in Paris among those
who have all along been favorable 10 the pris-
oner is that his position is not good to-day as
f. was before the Rennes TRIAL began. and II is
significant fact that several large bets have been
made at OF the most prominent Partisan
clubs with odds OF TO /. that he will not be
acquitted The most disquetng feature is that
the public az large and almost all the newspa-
pers ignore the purely legal aspects OF the case
and continue 20 blaze forth with brOadsides Of
abuse and insult for their opponents General
MERCER is largely responsible for this for he
went 10 Rennes with the avowed determination
70 make the Dreyfus trial his Austerlitz or his
Waterloo 'Lui gu MOL" were his defiant
words and Maftre Observation-Disclosures wisely or
not from his clients point OF view. who has be-
seeched his counsel TO let MERCER and the Cen
eraI STAFF aIone-has accepted Mercers chal-
lenge
The latter's criminal audacity in endeavor-
ing through General Chanoine TO influence the
Court by fllsihed document which he hoped
a.. 60 Gov
tain Dreytus or mis- counsel thereby repeating
his tactics of 1894. has caused profound i'm
preston IN Paris. and shows what desperate
means are being used 10 secure the prisoners
condemnation-the condemnation which the Pre-
torian Generals OF the former General STAFF have,
according 10 good authority. been counting upon
70 give them such moral victory and prestige
that In conjunction with the deeply laid Ma
tionalist and Royalist plot (of which the nelo-
dramatic anti-Semit defiance OF Guerin at
Fort" Chabrol is but one provocative episode)
10 precipitate street fighting. MERCER or Roget
might have become the horseback
prepared TO undertake the role OF Monk or a
Cromwell as might best suit his convenience.
May not this also explain the attempted assassi-
nation Of Labor? This plan was nipped in the
bud by Laboris forensic onslaught upon Mer-
! cier who was by the advocates masterful ques-
| tioning brought TO bay and now stands discred-
tied even with the Reactionists. Clericals and
! Nationaiists Had It not been for Lebori he
might have become their leader instead OF now
standing before the country on his own defence
! confronted with an impending criminal investi-
! cation.
| Paris is quiet and orderly except in the imme-
| date neighborhood OF NJ. Guerin's beleaguered
| fortress General De Gafet holds matters In
| an iron grasp and is likely 10 do SO as long as
! Parliament does not reassembie; but or this
| there is fortunately no immediate prospect
| ,frre than three hundred passengers sailed on