The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-06-01
OF THE DREYFUs CASE

WINGED of Dreyfus' innocence, and Matthew
Dreyfus, brother of the condemned man,
and NJ. Scheurer- Kistner, one of the vice
presidents of the senate, began an active
campaign In his behalf. and on November
Is, 1897 Matthew Dreyfus wrote a letter to
General Billot in which he accused Compile
Esterhazy of being the author of the IA
nous memorandum
In reply Compile Esterhazy requested an
immediate inquiry and on December 81
Comandant Ravary reported in favor OF
not prosecuting Esterhazy. In view, how
ever of the public clamor. Esterhazy was
tried by court-martia1 and acquitted on
January IL, 1898.
The following day Colonel Picquart, who
had been recalled from Algeria in Novem-
Der to attend the Esterhazy courtmartial,
was arrested, these charges being preferred
against him: First, that Picquart had him
self forged the petit bleu in order to ruin
EsterhaZy; second, that he had, before he
left the general staff, communicated Drey-
fus' secret dossier to his counsel; third,
that he had distracted certain documents
from the secret dossier.
But the acquittal of Esterhazy and the
prosecution of Picquart did not stop the
public elamor. and on June IS it broke out
again with increased violence by the pub
LEGATION of Emile Zolas famous letter of
accusation against the chiefs of the army.
He charged that General de Boisdeffre,
General Gonse and even the minister of
war himself, believed Esterhazy wrote the
famous bordereau, but said the staff,
knowing that Esterhazy's condemnation
would lead to revision of the Dreyfus
courtmartial, refused to reopen the case.
He concluded as follows:
ZoIo's Famous Accusation
I accuse Lieutenant-C Colonel du Patty de
Clam of having been the diaboical worker
of judicial error uneonsciously 1 am
ready tn hplipVp Of win do
Tended his nefarious doings for the last
three years by the most absurd and Gull
pable Vaccinations. I accuse General
MERCER of being the accomplish, at least,
through weak intelligence, in the greatest
1nlqulty OF the century. l accuse General
B1lot of having in his hands the certain
proofs of the innocence of Dreyfus, and
OF having suppressed them, thus rendering
himself guilty of treason against humanity
ana justice, for a political reason and in
order to save the compromised staff.
accuse General de Boisdeffre and General
Gohse OF being the aeeomplices in the
same crime, te one through religious an
mostly, doubtless; the other, perhaps,
through the esprit de corps' which makes
the war office that sacred and uuassail-
able ark. l accuse General de Pelieux and
Sommahdant Ravary of having made a
hagitious investigation, whereby | mean an
hlquity of the most monstrous partially.
coA we nave, IN the report of the last
mentioned. an imperishable monument of
candid audacity. [ accuse the three av
perts In handwriting, the men Belhomme
Narlnard and Couard, of having drawn I'm
ialse and fraudulent reports, unless med
lcal examination shall prove them 10 he
Nietiihs OF disease of sight or of judg-
Elent L accuse the officers of the war
ministry of having organized A press cam
palsh' IN order to lead public opinion
astray. Finally, 1 accuse the first court
martial of having condemned a man on a
document Kept secret, and l accuse the sec
ana i,nS eolftmartlai of having covered this
iiesahts by order, and of committing in
It's turn the judicial crime of knowingly ac-
quitting a guilty person.
Inc FRENCH government was forced tn
prosecute the novelist for these unpuali
iiea accusations, and then began the long
1-old trial. which, while it lasted, convulsed
france ana her colonies, the people gem
orally taking sides with the government
ana the army against lola and the friends
OF Dreyfus. Serious riots occurred in
Paris, Zola's life being constantly threaten
ed and several Hebrew stores wrecked.
After stormy trial, without a precedent
Tor its dsgraceful scenes, ZoIa was SEN
fenced to one years Imprisonment and a
hne of 5000 francs. On the novelist's an,
peal this verdict was annulled but he was
put on trial a second time last May, was
again condemned to imprisonment and on
Trying to Prove No Error
The government was now anxious to
prove to the country that there had been
no judicial error. M. Cavaignac declared
from the tribune in the chamber that he
had IAN absolute gertrude" of Dreyfus'
guilt, saying, in substance that he had
seen documents Ghe forgeries executed by
colonel Henry other than those produced
at the trial and which left no doubt of it.
The deputies greeted NJ Cayaignac's dec
iaratlon with enthusiasm, and it was voted
that the speech should be placarded ON
the Waiis OF $1,000 communes at the public
expense. Six weeks later August 20
Colonel Henry made confession of having
forged evidence" against Dreyfus, and
the following day committed suicide
revision now became imperative and
In spite of the most strenuous opposition
made by the army chiefs, the court of cas-
sation declared there was justification for
reopening the case Estorhazy meantime
mad fled from France and was now openly
mentioned as the author of the bordereau
The government, relentless IN its pe~sccu--
ton OF Colonel PicquaTt kept him confined
in the military prison of the Cherche-Midl.
in Paris, and he was only saved from be-
ing tried before a courtmartial before the
Dreyfus case was decided by the action of
the court of cessation which granted a
stay. The supreme tribunal began the
work of revision on October 2S last, and
after hearing the testimony of the prin-
cipal persons connected with the case
placed itself in direct communication with
Dreyfus himself on Devils Island. In a
telegram from Cayenne on January the
prisoner again protested his innocence.
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