The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1899-08-17
The Attack On LIZ bori

AT IdSG CQ6 assassin udS udu6 Ills
appearance in the Dreyfus affair.
There is nothing surprising nor unex
peeted in his entrance upon the stage
unless it is the fact that he has chosen
as his victim the counsel rather thap
the client. 1t has been feared from the
fret that the m0mentous event of the
trial would witness the deadly work OF
the murderer, but it was naturally be
lieVed that his aim would be directed at
Capt. Drey fus himself. Although
Labor was severely wounded, it is not
as yet expected that the effort at his
assassination will prove success. The
deed looks like the essence of madness.
It is difficult to attribute any sane mo-
tive to the attempt to put Labor out
of the way. Possibly it was thought
that he was in possession of information
which might either establish the limo
cence of Dreyfus or invalidate If not
altogether destroy the testimony of
MERCER. The latter looks like the
most reasonable proposition. It is not
difficult to believe that Mercier himself
is the instigator of the attack on
LabOri. That MERCER is both knave
and a coward there seems little reason
to doubt. The fear that the Counsel of
Dreyfus might be acquainted with his
knavery and have the means whereby
to establish it before the court may
have so aroused his cowardly and
treacherOus nature that he bethought
himself of this crime as way to secu-
rity. Certainly whoever perpetrated
the deed was aware of the fact that it |
could only promote rather than deter
the cause of the condemned Dreyfus.
Laying aside as altogether unworthy
and out of the question the suggestion
that the Dreyfusards themselves insti i
gated the attack in the hope that it.
would react III their friends favor, il
seems to indicate that the enemies of
the prisoner are conscious that their
cause is waning. 1t is only desperate
emergencies that call for SO desperate
remedies MERCER has been the chief
hope of the prosecution. If, as it seems
reasonable to believe, either he or his
friends who are acquainted with his
predicament, have sought to mend it,
by disposing of Labor, their hope isl
surely a forlorn one. Whatever may
have been the purpose of the deed it is ]
81 q to finally serve one purpose, and'E
that is the acquittal of Capt Dreyfus.
Such acts under such circumstances
have but one result. If there has been.
a suspicion heretofore that the object of
the accusers of Dreyfus was a criminal
one, that suspicion is confirmed to the
point of certainty by the employment
of ambush and assassination by these
same accusers. An honest, well |
grounded cause has no need of such
methods.
TTeacheTy, suicide and murder, VlO-
lence and frenzy, all the ingredients Of
revolution, have been painfully mani |
fest in the history of the Dreyfus scan |
dial. In the presence of such conditions
the immediate outlook of France is by
no means pleasant one. One is i'm
PEELED to the apprehension that serious
events are pending and that the gov
eminent of France is again to undergo
a fearful eruption. 1t makes little dit
ference what is the outcome of the trial
so far as the guilt or innocence of the
condemned is concerned. The hope
for amelioration in either case is small.
Current events never forecast coming
events precisely, but if the nature of
the people of France, their past history
and existing conditions are any indica-
ton, the French Republic is approach.
ing a serious crisis.