The representative., 1899-08-03
DREYFUs CASE
Like Culminate in q Saint Bar
ew Day Against the Jews
raj Slaughter Threatened.

captain DreyfuS mas recovered Wha
his Punishment has cost him, his righ
to make will, his right to inherit ant
and receive gifts, and his civil status
he Is an accused person in whose favOl
there exists presumption Of innocence
tinues to suffer the punishment to which
he was condemned by judgment tha
has no longer any legal existence. The
court of cessation had the right to order
a suspension" of the punishment. II
did not do SO, any more than in the
other great revision cases of Cauvin and
Janet and Leger-each afterward ac-
quilted by the court Of assizes. Each OF
these prisoners, instead, profited by a
| regime of favor" simply, as does Drey-
fus. Dreyfus has his meals from Rem
mes restaurant. His prison bed has
yellow cretonne hangings. And he looks
| out on garden.
From his room in the military Jail of
| Rennes he can, now and again, hear the
yells of the crowd, waited on the
breezes to the night. What can he think
of them? The illusions of his voyage
are certainly dispelled. He cannot still
imagine, as he has imagined all these
years, that Gen. Boisdeffre is his friend,
and that his letters have at last touched
the good heart of Felix Faure! Dreyfus'
ignorance of the strange and terrible
campaign is the most touching thing.
He thinks that time and diplomatic
changes have permitted the great chiefs
to do him justice. He has always
dreamed-his letters show it-that he
was sacrificed though only temporarily,
to some great state necessity. He
begged Gen. de Boisdeffre hundred
times to lift the veil "Now / can thank
Boisdeffre!" is said to have been his first
joyous remark when the revision was
announced to him. Nov / can thank
Boisdeffre!" Think Of it!
A fine old Frenchman, cultivated,
couteous, tall, digniffed ard well pre-
served, type from out the old, aristo-
cratic past, the Comte d'E-, is an an
ti-Dreyfusard. The Rennes court-mar-
tlal happened to be mentioned by
thoughtless outsider, and the match set
to the powder. ooh, they will simply
send him back" the count said calmly,
at the start. "The court Of cessation
has said there was an informality in the
first trial. Perhaps. Now he will have
another trial" Then, seeing looks of
certain wonder in some faces, he blazed
up Indignantly. why, you know the
swine is guilty, arch-guilty! His family
knows it, everybody knows it! The
Jews care nothing for him; they would
let him rot as a disgrace except they
want to use him to crush anti-Semitism
out of France! l don't care anything
about the details! Don't talk to me
about the details!" the old man began
to thunder. "All wait to hear is one
thing-Dreyfus condemned and sent
back to his island by the Rennes court
martial! Shoot him-hang him, give
him to the dogs! Or
"Or else?" we asked.
"Or else"-the old mans eyes flashed
like a maniac 's-."or else, the massacre.
Yes, look forward to it. You will
never see the exposition! Next year
there will be no exposition! France
will rise, and you will see another St.
Bartholomew! Kill, burn! Shoot, stab
and drown them out Of France! Clear
out the vermin!" he hissed, his face
transfigured by his fury. Let the gut
ters run with their pig-blood! Stab!
Shoot! wait the great day. the great
day of the deliverance Of France!" We
sat there in the smoking room, silent
and astonished, while the old man drew
himself up, took his hat and walked out
into the night.
Have you heard talk like that be-
fore?" l asked another Frenchman sit
ting there. He had not, he, an "intel-
lectual,' conscientious Dreyfusard, |
with his natural associates,
men of his own opinion, or else simply |
passive. But Portuguese young wom-
an, much in the high social swim, said: |
Eyes. you can hear talk like that all |
day."
On the other side, l just overheard a |
between two friends of the |
revision, men of place, one-the most |
ptimistic-having been dismissed from
a professorship in the university be-
cause of his convictions. "All goes
well!" beamed this brave intellectual"
All goes we'll. We triumph"
Hum said his more cautious friend /
I want to see Dreyfus acquitted first!"
'But you have it, and unanimously.
Has not Dreyfus been acquitted by the
court of cassation?'
"But the court-martial? Are YOU
posted as to the sentiments of the army
what the great chiefs say out loud and
what they are preparing? All these fac
,ious generals and insolent fcolonels who
only preach revolt, class hatred and in
Have you been about and
heard things?'
Il have just come from Rennes,'' the
optimist answered, heartily and hastily.
I walked the streets, talked to the citi- /
3sssa4as s