St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-09-13


assaults upon Hebrews and the crop of
dues.
The next step resulted in Colonel Pic
quarts arrest. He appeared in the cham
Der Of deputies, where he declared that
the zee canaile" letter was a forgery.
After he was thrown into prison Colonel
Henry was given his place at the head
of the secret service department.
Then the affair dragged along. Zolas
second trial and the resulting exile the
was fined 1900 francs and sentenced to
six months Imprisonment on the first
triaD kept matters alive.
Some time after came the news Of the
arrest of Colonel Henry on the charge Of
forging the secret document which con-
victed Captain Dreyfus. Fast upon the
heels of this came the news of his suicide
with razor which he had been allowed
to keep for the purpose. Then the re-
visionists took hope once more.
Excitement following Henry's suicide
had not subsidized when the dismissal Of
General Boisdeffre as chief Of staff was
announced. Then came the dismissal Of
NJ. Cavaignac as minister Of war and the
suspension of Du Patty de Clam from ac-
tive duty. Nine. Alfred Dreyfus made a
formal demand upon the keeper of seals
for revision of her husbands convic-
ton, and General Zurlinden, who had
succeeded Cavaignac, was relieved. Cha
nome took his place, and EsterhaZy dis
appeared mysteriously. Just prior to
these falls from grace, on Sept. 20, 1898,
tLo Ill nf bo thn
court of cessation to investigate and re-
port upon the propriety of granting Drey-
fus new trial. In May 1899, the court
decreed that Dreyfus had been convicted
illegally and was entitled to another
court martial. On the third day Of July,
1899, Dreyfus reached France, and his
second trial opened on Aug. Z, with Colo
mel Jouaust, director in the engineer
corps, as president. General the Marquis
de Gallifet, an uncompromisingly honor
able man, had in the meantime become
minister of war, and the conspirators
soon came to realize that no more non
sense would be tolerated.
Dreyfus' lawyers in his second trial
were Maitre Demange, who had defend
ed him when he was first accused, and
Maitre Labor, whose conduct of the
lola case made him famous. The latter
was given entire charge of matters, al
though for the first week or so Demange
was unassisted owing to the fact that
Labori was shot down on his way to
court. His recovery and his subsequent
brilliant and merciless handling of the
titled conspirators was one of the most
sensational features of the trial.
The first days proceedings were public.
The prisoner was arraigned and declared
his innocence. The bordereau was shown
him, but he declared he had not written
it. 1t was long and searching exam
nation, touching his acquaintance with
Esterhazy, Colonel Henry and his alleged
dealings with representatives of foreign
governments.
General MERCER was the first promi-
nent army man to testify. He stated
that he had become thoroughly convinced
of the guilt of Dreyfus and explained
that his opinion was based principally
upon the conviction that Dreyfus had
written the bordereau. His opinion re-
NAMED the same despite Esterhazy's con-
fession that he (Esterhazy) had written
it. He also ntimated that CasimirPe-
rier, president Of France at the time, was
fully cognizant Of everything that had
been done and made no objection. Cas-
imir-Perier demanded to be confronted
with MERCER and denied emphatically
that the true facts of the case had been
stated to him. He also stated that Le-
brun- Renault, the captain who testified
that Dreyfus had made a partial confess
sion to him, had falsified the truth and
that Dupuy, the then premier, was pres
ent at the interview. When Dupuy had
questioned the captain as to the cause Of
his presence there the latter had said
that he had been sent down to the presi-
dent by MERCER to receive dressing
down" for his indiscreet disclosures to
the Figaro newspaper. Casimir-Perier
also denied the assertion of the general
staff that the country at the time had
been on the verge of war with Germany.
MERCER admitted that an explanation
of the secret dossier had been prepared,
but that he was unable to produce it, as
It had been destroyed. He felt that he
had right to do this as the document
had been prepared for his personal use.
NJ. Lebon, former minister of the colo
MES, after admitting that the story of
the horrible treatment accorded to Drey-
fus on Devils island was correct, said
that he had been ordered by his superors
to adopt course Of the utmost rigor.
This was the only point in the trial at
which Dreyfus wept.
Nine. Henry, the widow Of the colonel
who, after confessing that he prepared
the bordereau and being arrested there.
for had committed suicide, testified that
her husband was firmly convinced of the
guilt of Dreyfus and that what he had
done was simply for the good of France
General Rogets evidence was vitriol
lie diatribe against Dreyfus from begin
ming to end and was practically repeti
ton of Merciers testimony.
NJ. Bertullus, the examining magistrate
who received Lieutenant Colonel Henry's
confession of forgery, said that an eX'
haustive examination of the case and the
application OF the principle of exclusion
tended to convince him that it was moi
possible for Dreyfus to have committed
the crime Of which he was accused.
Colonel Picquart, star witness for the
defense, next testified.
Coming to the discovery of the bor
dereau at the time that he was in charge
of the secret bureau and had been or
dered to investigate the Dreyfus case, he
described how the handwriting of every
body at headquarters was examined ant
told how Du Patty de Clam was assigned
to compare the handwriting of the docu
ment with that Of Dreyfus. De Clan
urged Dreyfus' immediate arrest and Il
search OF his house, which was made
but, the witness added, nothing was dis
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