Omaha daily bee., 1899-08-20

defense is going to bring. After 1t Is heard
Dreyfus' innocence will be made so mani
fest that not single judge can dissent from
an acquittal."
NJ. Cavaignac, former minister of war,
naturally cast his ballot for conviction.
After what we have proved in court" said
he, ito doubt the verdict is to insult the
good sense Of the judges. l think they can
not hesitate to send the traitor back to
! Devils sland-or better-to execution.
But, whatever the verdict, we shall see a
fearful political convulsion when the case
ends. France will either be under the boot
of the few or thoroughly cleansed of all
the internationalist, unpatriotc elements
that have at heart the destruction of our
glorious army"
Mme Severine. the most distinguished
female journalist in the world, is one of
this jury of brainy people. Here is her
utterance: Everyone knows l am certain
Of Dreyfus' innocence. l fought for him
when we were but fifteen and were stoned
in the streets. But to my mind. the result
of his trial is doubtful. His judges seem
full Of animosity and blind military preju
dice. II these condemn Dreyfus a revolu-
tion will surely be attempted and probably
will be successful. A few officers cannot i'm
pose sname upon FRANCE, an enllSnleneeu
nation"
Before he left Rennes, Casimir-Perier,
former president of the republic, was kind
enough to give me the opinion that follows:
II cannot becomingly predict the decision of
the court But one thing cannot be gain
said: The condemnation of Dreyfus was
| illegally obtained in 1894. and cannot be
maintained for single instant. No citizen
| Of any civilized country can be sentenced
on evidence which he has not been allowed
| to discuss. When Mercier, then minister
OF war, informed me that he in
| tended to communicate some secret
documents proving Dreyfus' guilt, I was
| of the impression those documents would
/ be shown to the accused and to his counsel.
! The fact that they were secret need not
| have prevented this. Demange could have
been pledged to secrecy with perfect safety.
/ have never been able to understand how
war could have been precipitated IL these
secret documents had been shown to Drey
| fus. Moreover. I deny again, as l denied
before the court-martial. Merciers allega
| tion. There was never the most remote
danger of war with Germany at that time
| l repeat l must decline to state at this time
my opinion of Dreyfus' guilt or innocence
! But am free to say I think that. even If
/ he is found guilty, the five years torture
! he has suffered, the dishonor inflicted on
him, will seem sufficient punishment Per-
sonally l would be in favor of simply
exiling the man from France should he be
found guilty. cannot believe his judges
will send him back to that rock"
Show Up the Generals.
Bernard Lazara made me the statement
| that follows. Lazare is the distinguished
| lawyer of Paris, the first man who took up
! Dreyfus' side of the case in the press, the
author of several remarkable books on the
! subject, the constant adviser of the Dreyfus
family. but to whom he is not related
"There may be some doubts now as to
! the final result OF this trial." he said, but
a few days hence even the most obdurate
must yield The defense lis preparing to
bring evidence to prove with what deliberate
rascality Mercier, Roget Gonse-all of them
| manufactured the chain Of lies and misrep-
reservations which constitute their accusa-
tions. Mark me, the most interesting part
of the trial is to come. Soon there will be
nothing left for these generals, and their
impudent confidence is born Of their ignor-
ance OF what is to come"
General Roget, who has proved himself
one of Dreyfus' bitterest enemies, said: DE
spite all that has been said, ! was per-
fectly disinterested when / began to study
the affair. 1t is ridiculous to say that we
generals Of the French army can have re-
ligious or other prejudices that drive us to
endeavor to secure conviction unless we
knew Dreyfus was traitor. He is traitor
and Jewish gold cannot save him"
'Dreyfus is guilty" declared General
Mercier. who did most to secure the con-
demnation OF Dreyfus. Guilty" repeated
Mercier. I'VE have proved him guilty by
| tUit IA will n
vertibly before the end His acquittal is
impossible "
Max Nordau, the criminologist, who has
studied the case with intense interest,
said to me: sat the beginning of the rial
the judges were evidently strongly preju iced
against Dreyfus Now / think ! can see in
their countenances and in the nature OF their
questions that they recognize the possibility
OF a great plot against the man and mean TO
save him from the real criminal BY all the
laws OF civilized nations Dreyfus must be
acquitted. For II he is guilty, there is GER
tainly no evidence to prove 1t. Personally
l am absolutely sure of his innocence. Unless
these officers who are to determine his fate
are like ignorant redskins, wholly swayed
by their medicine man, his acquittal is GER
tain"
Maurice Barres, the And-Dreyfusard who
has attended the trial and carefully studied
the evidence, cast his vote thus:
II feel like the peasants who are trying to
shield Laborie would-be assassin. These
peasants say: The man they seek TO re-
habilitate at Rennes is a descendant OF
Judas. He has given over France TO the
foe So the man who tried to shoot him,
or his lawyer. must never be found
II may disaDprove Of the peasants CON
duct" added Barres. but for my country 8
i CONTINUED on Second Page.)