The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-30
is INNOCENT SAYS CoRDIER.
But HIS TESTIMONY WAS RATHER
UNsATIsFACToRY.


in PoIitics-COrdier Denounced RO-
get. and Said the Evidence Against
Drey fUs Was Insufficient.
Rennes, Aug. 29-Neither side was
Pleased with the outcome of to-day's pro-
ceedings before the courtmartial that is
trying Capt. Dreyfus.
The Dreyfusards expected Col Cordier,
who was deputy chief of the intelligence
department under lhe late Lieut. Col.
Henry would testify that the bordereau
was received directly by the late Col.
Sandherr
Had this expectation been realized the
testimony would have been strong point
in favor of the accused, because it would
have been a reply to the anti-Dreyfusards,
who have all along contended that Henry
received the bordereau and forwarded it
to Sandherr a thing he would not have
Done had the bordereau been, as the Daey-
fusards assert, written by his accompHce,
Esterhazy, for, in that event. Henry would
have recognized the handwriting when ne
received the bordereau from the German
embassy and would have suppressed it,
instead of forwarding it to sandherr.
Col Cordier, however, testified to-day
that he was absent from the intelligence
department when the bordereau arrived,
but that he believed it was received by
Henry.
!, Naturally this statement elated the anti
Dreyfusards, but they had no reason to
congratulate themselves upon the remain
der of Cordiers testimony, as it was
wholly In favor of Dreyfus.
On the other hand, the procession of
generals and officers of the general staff,
who demanded an opportunity to confront
Col. Cordier was a good piece of tactics
from the point of view of the ant-Drey-
fusards. because while all the points they
contested were not of the first import
ance. yet their very appearance on the
stage and the contradictions of some of
Cordier's statements left a disagreeable
| impression.
Mercier Is Game.
The appearance of Gen. Mercier to
question Col Cordier came as a surprise
to many in the audience, who had sup
posed that after last Saturdays scene,
when Mercier was confronted with Capt.
Freystatter he would remain quiet. But
Mercier is game to the death
His action to-day is interpreted as in
tended to show that he is not going TO
throw up the sponge.
The part he Played in 1894 lays him open
to arrest. and this is a constant topic Of
discussion in the cafes, and at other meet
ing places in Rennes. There appears, how
ever, TO be a good reason why the govern
ment viii not take any such serious step
until the trial is over.
Col. Jouaust, president of the courtmar-
tial, could adjourn the trial indefinitely If
Mercier, who is an important witness, were
arrested. If the trial were adjourned for
more than fOrty-elght hours, it would
lapse. and the proceedings would have to
be gone over again from the beginning.
4 Shrewd Politician.
To-days attendance was the largest
since the beginning of the trial. Every
body was on the qui vive to hear the tes-
timony of Charles de Freycinet. senator,
former premier. former minister of for
eisn affairs, and former minister of war.
This adroit politician. the white mousse
of French politics, sat upon the fence as
well as he could His expression of a
fear that the Dreyfus agitation would in
jure the discipline of the army, greatly
annoyed the Dreyfusards, as calculated TO
influence the judges against the accused
But he followed it with a eulogy of the
pioneer of the Dreyfus campaign, NJ
Scheurer-K Kestner, former vice-president
OA tile CtHdte. whose CDdTdClef he Sdl1 ne
held In the highest esteem.
NJ. LabOri then secured another conces-
sion favorable to Dreyfus by getting NJ. de
Freycinet to admit that he could not re-
call single fact going to prove that mon
ey had been sent into France from abroad
to promote campaign in favor of Drey-
fus. The general feeling, however, is that
his appearance on the witness stand has
not materially helped the accused.
Following are the proceedings in detail.
The appearance Of Col Cordier, former
deputy chief of the intelligence department
of the war office, as the first witness at the
Dreyfus courtmartial to-day, aroused
great interest as, since his previous ap-
peaTance. the colonel has been released By
the minister of war from his oath of pro.
fessional secrecy.
Col Cordier said ihat the day after he
returned to Paris from a vacation in 1894,
Col Sandherr, who appeared greatly dis
tressed, handed him a copy of the borde-
Teau on foolscap paper. Sandherr and
Cordier animatedly discussed the borde-
reau, Sandherr considering II ample evil
dence of treason. The document was pho
tographed and an investigation was open
ed, resulting In suspicious against Drey-
fus being aroused. Pior TO this there was
no presumption of Dreyfus' guiA.
Col. Cordier said he believed the borde-
reau was handed TO Col. Sandherr by Col.
Henry.
The "Ordinary Channel"
Cordier then explained what was the
Ordinary channel by which information
reached the war Office.
'sThe ordinary channel" the witness
said, was a very clever spy attached 10
the intelligence department, who had the
habit OF visiting great houses but who
preferred the company Of servants to the
company OF their masters"
Cordier then described The method Of
plecing documents and showed how the
botdereau was pasted together by Henry,
who was usually entrusted with such
work.
Referring to The spy. who has been dub
bed as The Ordinary channel" Col. Cor
der said the former did not directly re-
colve the documents from the embassy
from which they were abstracted. wo-
man, h. explained served az an interme-
diary. and. the ordinary channel having
bsen closed, h was found necessary 70 me-
gotiate directly with the Intermediary
Otherwise tne woman. with whom rend.z-
yous were usually made IN churches,
Dealing with tho leakage discovered by