The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-08-25

Dreyfus, and declared he did not believe
Dreyfus was capable of the crime for
! which he had been sentenced.
! NJ. Labori-Were there any foreigners
al NJ. Bodson's house?
M. Linolle-I do not remember.
M. Labori-Do you remember seeing
any foreign diplomats there?
| NJ. Linolle-Not at all. Besides, M.
Bodson was not of foreign extraction.
He was the son of an Orleans vinegar
| merchant.
STIR IN COURT.
There was considerable stir in the court
| when the name of Col. Maurel, who was
president of the Dreyfus court-martial of
| 1894, was called, and the colonel appeared
! at the witness bar He started by en-
phatically denying that any communica-
| tion, verbal or writer, was made to
the members of the court during the
| course of the trial He said that they
| only knew the case from the documents
| IN the dossier and the testimony given.
Then the colonel, saying he only desired
to speak of matters upon which his recol-
lection was clear, proceeded to declare
| that he had nothing to say in regard to
| the expert evidence of M. Charavay, M.
! Teyssonieres or M Pelletier, but, he add
| ed, M. Bertillon's testimony appealed to
the eyes and minds of the judges. 1t
| has been said that the judges did not un-
! Regarding the evidence given at the
| ccurt-martiaI of 1894 witness said he con-
| sidered that Maj. du Patty de Clam had
only given the court a circumspect repe-
tition of his report while the late Col.
| Henry's evidence would have been more
| forcible If less exaggerated At the
same time, Maurel continued, he believed
Henry had spoken without passion. The
prisoners attitude at the trial was cor
rect and calm. His repeated dentals and
| protests were far from astonishing the
witness They seemed perfectly natural.
| The only letter handed to Col. Maurel
during the course of the trial was not
brought by Col Picquart. The letter,
moreover, was returned the same evening
to the officer who brought it. Replying
to M. Labori. Maurel said ne did not
know Gen. Mercier and had never seen
him since the trial until June last.
M Labori-Can Col. Maurel tell US to
| what he attributed the secret conlmunt-
| cation Of the dossier?
| Col. Maurel-I have not the slightest
idea
NJ. Iabori-Can you tell the name of
the officer who brought you the private
letter?
Col. MaureI-1t was Du Patty de Clam.
(Sensation.)
CORNERED BY LABORL
NJ Labori-Were there many docu-
ments in the secret dossier? Can you
| state what they were?
Col Maurel-I only saw one of them.
1 did not look at the others, because my
mind was already made up
NJ Labori-Had the other members OF
the court also made up their minds?
Col. Maurel-Yes.
! Witness added that two members of the
court confided to him on this subject.
M Labori-Can you tell us how, know
! ing, as the judge, that it was your duty
| to seek conscientiously for information
and to expect sincere communications
| from the public prosecutor, that is TO say,
communications setting forth all the
points in the case, both for and against
| the prisoner, you could be of the opinion
| that your mind was Loyalty made up after
| reading a single document? prolonged
sensation)
Col. MaureI said he failed to clearly
grasp the question, and M. Labor re-
peated his query, whereupon the witness
replied that he could not answer, be-
cause if he did he would have to speak of
the first document in the dossier, which
convinced the court of the prisoners
guilt
At this point M. Labori said he would
like to confront Col. Maurel with Capt.
Freystaeter, another of the judges at the
court-martial of 1894. But Freystaeter
was not present, and Col. Maurel prom
ised to wait a few days and give the cap
tain an opportunity Of attending.
A lively incident followed. M. Labori
having asked leave to interrogate Gen.
| Mercier the government commissary.
| Mai Carriere, took occasion to remark
that while counsel had the right to ask
questions he had no business to draw
deductions to which the lawyer dryly
! replied that he had always acted with
| full knowledge of the restrictions imposed
upon counsel and that he had no need of
| lessons from Mai. Carriere and would not
accept them.
MERCER IS IRRITATED.
Gen. Mercier was then recalled, and it
was noted that he had donned his uni
form for the first time. The impression
thereby created was that the general, ex-
pecting a hot cross-examination thought
his uniform would perhaps protecShim.
NJ. Labori said he desired to know If
Gen Mercier admitted ordering Col. Maui
rel to communicate secret documents to
the court-martial of 1894.
Gen Mercier-I know 1 did not have the
right to give formal orders to that effect
but 1 gave moral orders in manner suf-
iciently clear. (Sensation.)
Counsel proceeded to closely question
the general, referring to the 'Dixt' arti-
Gle in the Libre Parole.
Mercier replied that he was so accus-
|
paid no attention to that article. He
added that he paid no more attention to
! the eulogies of the Libre Parole than to
the statements of other newspapers.
Replying to further questions, the gen
eral said that when Dreyfus was arrest
ed he knew of no other proof against
him than the bordereau. There were
therefore only suspicious, but it was
urgently necessary not to lose time in
arresting him, in order to stop the trea-
sonable practices.
NJ Labori here asked Col. Jouaust to
secure the evidence of NJ. Papilland, ed
itor of the Libre Parole, in regard to the
'Dixi'' letter, in which the name of Drey-
fus was disclosed as that of the officer ar
rested for espionage.
AS Col. Jouaust hesitated, NJ. Labori
insisted on the necessity for an eXami-
nation of Papilland, in order to reach
the truth I am seeking for"
1.-The whole responsibility for this case, .
counsel added, Il believe really rests on
the late Col. Henry and Col. du Patty de
Clam"
Resuming his examination Of Gen. Mer-
| cier, NJ Labori asked him several ques-
tions as to why he at first ascribed the
date of the bordereau to the month Of
! April.
Gen. Mercier said that in 1894 he was
only acquainted with the general rea-
sons which existed for believing Drey-
fus guilty, and had not paid much at
tentior to the details.
NJ I.abori-In short, you considered 1t
in the nattire of sensational move to
have Dreyfus prosecuted and sentenced
Did you examine previously the charges
against Dreyfus?
Gen Mercier-I only examined the ma
ture of the documents betrayed.
M. Labori-Was 1t not necessary for
that purpose to fix the date of the bor-