Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-09-03
The Drcyfus Mystery.
ATLANTA .Constitution)

Though the general public is taking
great interest In the Dreyfus case. IL pre-
sents 10 q great many a sort OF mystery.
Has this man been so terribly WrOnged
because he is a Jew2 The European pre-
JUDGE against Jews is well enough I'M
dersJoOd, but this prejudice, at its worst,
cannot explain the treatment Of Dreyfus.
Therefore. there Is 2 mystery IN the case
The Constitution has already suggested
solution Of this mystery. but II is
brought ont more clearly by the National
Review. OF London, which. from the first.
has taken an extraordinary interest in
the case, and which has employed its re-
sources 20 get al the bottom facts I'm the
affair.
The editor Of the Review asserts that
the members Of the French headquarters
STAFF have for years past engaged I'm the
business Of selling confidential informa-
ton TO the foreign military attaches IN
Paris. I'm order 20 increase their small
salaries and enable them 10 keep up an
pearances I'm keeping with their official
positions. In this business EsterhaZy act
ed as broker and gO-between. He had a
retaining fee from the attache. and in
addition. received special pay tor any i'm
pOrtant document that he might secure.
To be successful he was compelled TO
share his spOils with the members Of the
STAFF who had access to the coveted docu-
ments.
All went well until one day Esterhazy
left upOn the table OF Major Won
Schwarzkoppen the paper known as the
bordereau. which consisted simply of q
list Of documents which the subsidized
French officers were ready 70 furnish.
This bordereau the German attache
never saw. It was delivered while he
was absent. and was stolen from his Ia
bic by q French spy, carried 20 the
French War Office where IL happened 10
be seen by an outsider before the guilty
parties could destroy it. But for the fact
that this bordereau fell under the inspec-
ton of "a person who was not prvy to
the traffic which had been going on.
there would have been 10 Dreyfus case
IN 1904
But the presence Of the outsider In the
War Office at the moment when the bOr-
dereau was returned made it absolutely
ncce sary for the trafickers 10 find a
scapegoat. Their dilemma may be ina
gined. IL was absolutely necessary TO the
safety Of all TO save Esterhazy, and &C
cordingly. the Dreyfus crime was con-
cOctcd and carried out He was select
cd as the scapegoat because he was
jew with few or no friends on the gene
raj staff. When Dreyfus was selected as
a victim, Esterhazy, crazed with anxiety
went 90 the German Embassy, produced
pistol, and demanded that Major
Schwarzkoppen should testify that the
jew was the guilty party. The reply Of
the Major was to kick the rascal from
tho embassy.
In selecting Dreyfus as the victim OF
their awful conspiracy the French cff
GERS depended largely on the sympathy
and support of the anti-Semites IN the
French capital. The event justified their
expectation AS soon as the name OF
Dreyfus was suggested the anu-Semitos
began 10 nm the air with their bowls.
Had Esterhazy been arrested his cOnvic-
ton would have dragged down all those
engaged I'm selling the secrets Of their
country
Having disposed OF Dreyfus. the traffic
was resumed. and the 'leakages" from
the War Office were greater after the vic
tim was sent 20 Devils Island than ever
before IL was known that Estorhazy
when he was engaged i'm his nefarous
business received no less than $4,000
from foreign governments. The rascal
has since admitted writing the bordereau,
but says he did SO at the request of his
chiefs in order 10 make a legal case
against Drayfus. As "a matter OF fact
every document enumerated In the bor-
dereau was actually delivered. and is to-
day in the possession Of either the Ger
man or the italian War Office.
The French staff has always known
who the guilty party was. As 20 Mer-
cier. the National Review says he sim
ply allowed himself 10 be terrorized by
the gang. and became one Of the worst
Of the criminals I'm his efforts 10 convict
Dreyfus The first trial was held behind
closed doors, because il was known that
the German attache would not stand by
and permit an innocent man 20 be con-
demned FOR delivering documents which
he had received from another person.
such. briefly stated. IS the origin OF the
Dreyfus case. In no other civilized coun-
try I'm the world at this day and time
could such q revolving crime have been
committed