New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-08-15

| tcipate In the proceedings
at was TO have been NJ. Laborfs task 10
take General MERCER in hand. M. Demahse' a'
/ ISOLATE counsel, was quite unprepaieu io' Wv
task. and the few questions he put VINE" '."
| oraI Nercier resumed the stand this morning
were practically OF little effect. 80 'ha' ue",
Merc,er escaped cheaply. Moreover. NJ De-
| mango was deeply affected by the a''eh'p' "
, assassinate his colleague. and WAS qu''e
to do himself Justice ,,. -,
General MERCER, in reply to the presuen'
] A.. oo,r, reiterated his belief that MAJOR
Count Estcrhazy. in spite Of the latter o""
| declaration was not the author OF the DOT
| dereou which the witness claimed, was written
| IN tracing paper and was found In an embassy
CAs1M1R-PERIER FACES MERCER
~,.o, ,,orc,er was then confronted with NJ
Cas,m,r Perier. the ex-Presdent OF Frahce' nc
49,. soo,area that Mercier's story. told on the
witness stand on Saturday. Of the imn''ne sno,
~ ,,o,,,oen Germany and France in 1871
80. Grossly exaggerated The ex-Presiueh'
| oo,,r,a,ned OF the action Of Generai Meroiei'
! ,bor Minister of War; in moving Oo"" uoop'
.. tho ,rontior without consulting him.
| 1-,o contamination Of General MERCER WIN NJ
| c,,,ir por,er lacked entirely the draWauo
| oOoroctor Anticipated. Both men were weleheu
| do,.r nv the tragedy which had just occurred
! This was especially the case with NJ. Casiiii'i-
| Porter. whose attitude was quite suooueu VIZ"
| cornared with his heated indignation OF SAT
| urday. ~
! Tho nresdent asked NJ. Casimir-Perier to ex-
-, 49,. circumstances of the confession Drey-
| f,s is alleged to have made to Captain Lepfu
! Do,o,lt NJ Casimir- Perer persisted IN MS
| s.a.a,,ept Of Saturday that he had never re-
! ooi,.od anv condolences Of this character from
| CantaIn Iebrun- Renault. He added that NJ
| Dunuv then Premier was present When CaP'dii
| Tebrun- Renault called at the Elysee' fa'iS'
Moreover" said NJ. Casmr-Perier, mere 10
| letter from NJ. Dupuy, which ASK may w
| read" The letter asserted that captain N
brun- Renault when questioned by NJ DupuS'
ron,iad that General MERCER had sent him to the
President to receive dressing down ioi ITO
| indscreet disclosures to the Figaro
| General MERCER here interposed, saying zap
tain Lebrun- Renault spoke to me In regard TO
| .ho confessions in the presence Of General
Gonse. who will testify thereto 1t was then
| that 7 ordered him TO go to the President OF
the Republic"
| NO BUSINESS OF MERC1ERS
| Regarding General Mercers declarations last
| Saturday on the witness stand, NJ. Casihlr-
| perier said: General MERCER had no rishl
whatever to intervene in diplomatic CONVERSE
ton I would have prevented such interference
| 1t was I alone who conferred with the Nhs'ei'
and declare that the impression l derived
from, that conversation was one of complete
calm otherwise the incident would not nave
| been closed by the framing of note.
"yya had no telegram from Berlin that even
tho II was in regard to note that the Min
| ister referred TO Berlin. If there had been any
news IN regard to the matter on the evening OF
| ,bo 9Th we should not have waited until the
| 9Th 10 publish the note. There was not ois-
match addressed to a friendly Power relative 10
| the incident The incident has been magniheu'
| Resides. IN the event OF diplomatic comphca-
| tons the President would have communicated
with the Minister Of Foreign Affairs
General MERCER replied that he went to the
| Flvsee Palace as Minister Of War. He recalled
| that General de Boisdeffre could TESTIFY IN re-
| gard to the orders received.
NJ. Demange seized upon this declaration and
| insisted that General MERCER repeat the state
| ment that he had given the order to General de
| Boisdeffre on the 9th relative to mobilization'
| NJ Casimir- Perier, resuming his testimony
said he did not desire to reply to certain or Cen
| eral Mercier's insinuations. II do not wish to
answer them." said the ex-President; the cir
| cumstances are too sad ard too tragic for me to
| desire TO enVenOu tie uiSCuooiOii' am '''~
Of myself and Of my conscience. I would only
state that General Mercler has made every ef-
| fort TO mix me as deeply as possible In this
affair But have remained aloof. as affirmed
during the progress Of the investigation"
DIsREsPECTFUL TO HIS CHIEF.
The ex-President then complained of the in
correct behavior of his subordinate toward the
Chief Of the State. "As an instance" said NJ
Casimir- Perer General MERCER undertook to
shorten the term of service Of sixty thousand
men without consulting the Chief Of the State,
thus lacking in the respect he owed to the Chlef
Of the State"
NJ Casimir-Perier next protested against the
assertions made by General MERCER in regard to
the role adopted by the Chief of the State in
this affair, whereupon the General interjected
the assertion that he had spoken Of the attitude
assumed by NJ Casimir-Perier because he had
sworn TO tell the whole truth.
NJ. Demange asked General MERCER II he had
explained to the Cabinet how he reconced the
patriotic emotion which he asserted had been
aroused IN him by the discovery of the treason
with the communication Of the secret documents
to the court martial. The General, IT. reply, re-
peated mis- statement Of Saturday.
| At this point NJ Demange asked NJ. Casimir-
Perier IT, on the 9TH an understanding had not
been reached between France and Germany on
the subject OF Dreyfus.
NJ tasmir- Perier replied that before his In
tervlew with the Minister on the 9th the ques
ton of Dreyfus had never been raised between
them and Germany.
NJ Demange asked General MERCER why hi
had not included in the dossier Of 1894 the
doubtful translation of the telegram of Agen
"B" to his Government under the date Of No
vember 2.
STILL HAD HIS DOUBTS.
cali hat. nft bl