The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-10-30

/ >ro.,o ,he difference between the corrup-
| ION despotisns Of the Orient ana the
| administration OF justice In British colo-
| nies. ,,nrrttnrcr
"rhe thlrd point which | wish TO em-
nhasize Is the matter OF race preJudice.
| m NOT the controlling FACTOR, IL mas ceI
,atnlv been very important element
snd ft h peculiarly sad that this
| IND have been the case OF France.
,.hich tirst of All the European Powers
,'an,,ineIv emancipated the Jews. Aud
| Sovy the Jews have loved France. Be-
hold Drevfus even I'm the moment OF his
| degradation, When MS ISIloW oiilCeIs
sn,,rned him like a dog, crying out 'Vive
~" ~ Frsnce.' Germany has always re-
la1~,,ad - the right 20 ill-treat the Jews
So '1 ~ Russia the Jews are not alone in
ansl~ az - nersactIted. but in France the
pe,l,s yo,,-s mad expected better things.
.,yst do not wish 10 deny that much
-, -. said for the cause OF those who
nay IN, themselves 'Nationalists.' The
ploe,,tiai genius Of a people is generally
s,,-,, ~ hest advantage when NJ is i'm
.',.d With the ancient characteristics
% - ,.,ce some people OF mixed blood
ore strong. as for instance, the EnGt
i,sb neonle. But the predominant race
element should undoubtedly direct the
ecai,.e Of n country and a minority race
eho,,id NOT try to be unduly conspicu-
ons Rut this race prejudice is child
80 beu IL attacks private character, it
~, ~ moral personality, IL inilicts the
$50 insult Il deprives it's victim OF So
cjai position. 1t is not likely that there
was a regular conspiracy against Drey-
f,,s in the beginning but after suspicion
had been aroused the real conspirators
looked around for s1me one upon whom
they could fasten the blame. Perhaps
Al was a chance resemblance of his
10 that In the bordereau.
although that has been disputed by
some experts. but the most that was
ever proved against him amounted 10
nothing more than that he at least
might have done IT, Then why was 1t
that. when the charge had once been
made. VI lodged so tenaciously? 1T was
because Dreyfus was only a jew. Being
a Jew. it might be taken for granted
that he was that sou Of a man.
POWER OF PREJUDICE.
Nothing is more impervious to proof
or logic than prejudice. Race prejudice
pre- judgment-in nine cases out Of ten
is inaccurate. You would not judge
of a flower or a geological specimen
that way. and yet you will show less
TO a human being. This
Dreyfus case is an object lesson To the
world Of what race prejudice can do, l
wonder how many people there were
I'm this country who. when they first
heard OF the Dreyfus case said. He's
probably guilty, because he's "A Jew
And now the point comes up. who Is
the real hero OF this case? Some say
Picauart, because he sacrificed his ca
reer as a soldier for the sake of secur-
ing Justice TO a man whom he did not
know. Some say Zola. who y dured
obloquy and the risk Of personal vio-
lence while others give most credit to
that great champion OF DreYfus, who
although the first TO enlist I'm the cause,
died just before the prisoners release
But for my part. TO my mind, the hero
OF the Drevfus case is Dreyfus. To be
sure. he only suffered. but how he suf-
fered. what fortitude he displayed in
fighting off madness and suicide. never
giving up his determination 10 remove
the disgrace from his wife and chill
dren. And now the whole world holds
him innocent. so that we have as last
lesson the force of justice"