The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-08-30
MERCIER IS BOLD
ENTERS THE DREYFUS COURT
MARTIAL WITH DEFIANT
AND SURLY AIR
TO FIGHT TO THE DEATH
THAT is APPARENTLY THE DE-
TERMINATION OF THE THREAT
ENED FRENCH OFFICER
HIS ARREST IS PROBABLE

Appearance in Court Came as a Sur
prise to Many - Col. COrdier
Amused the Spectators and Treat
ed Dreyfus Fairly, but Told Little
That Will Benefit the Prisoner
NJ. de Freycinet Testifes.
RENNES, Aug. 29.-Ncither side was
pleased with the outcome Of today's pro-
! ceedings before the court-martial that is
! trying Capt Dreyfus. The Dreyfusards
| expected that Col. Cordier, who was dep
uty chief Of the intelligence department
under the late Lieut.. Col Henry, would
testify that the bordereau was received
| directly by the late Col. Sandherr. Had
the expectation been realized, the testi-
mony would have been strong point in
favor of the accused, because it would
have been a reply to the anti-Dreyfu-
sards, who have all along contended that
Henry received the bordereau and for
warded 1t to Sandherr, thing he would
not have done had the bordereau been,
as the Dreyfusards assert, written by
his accOmplice, Esterhazy, for, in that
event, Henry would have recognized the
handwriting when he received the .bor-
dereau from the German embassy, and
would have suppressed it instead Of for
warding it to Sandherr.
Col. Cordier, however, testified today
that he was absent from the intelligence
bureau when the bordereau arrived, but
he believed it was received by Henry.
Not 1IIy tot al tod fIoa
Dreyfusards, but they had good reason
not to congratulate themselves on the
remainder of Cordier's testimony, as it
was wholly favorable to Dreyfus.
On the other hand, the procession of
generals and officers of the general staff,
who demanded an opportunity to con-
| front Col. Cordier, was a good piece of
| tactics from the point of view of the
anti-Dreyfusards, because all the points
they contested were not of the first i'm
portance, yet their very appearance on
the stand in contradiction of some of
| Col. Cordiers statements left disagree
able impression.
| MERCIER'S DEFIANCE.
The appearance of Gen. Mercier to
question Col. Cordier came as a surprise
to many in the audience, who had sup
posed that after last Saturdays scene,
when Mercier was confronted with Capt.
Freystaetter, he would remain quiet But
| MERCER is game to the death. His action
! today was interpreted as intended to
! show that he was not going to throw up
| the sponge. The part he played in 1894
! lays him open tC arrest, and this is a
constant topic of discussion in the cafes
and other meeting places in Rennes
There appears, however. to be a good
reason why the government will not take
any serious step until the trial is over.
| Col Jouaust, the president Of the court
| martial, could adjourn the trial indefinite
| ly if MERCER, who is an important wit
| ness, were arrested If the trial were ad
| jcurned for more than forty-eight hours,
/ it would lapse, and the proceedings would
! have TO be gone over again from the be-
| ginning.
| Today's attendance was the largest
! since the opening of the trial Every
! body was on the Qui vive to hear the
! testimony of Charles de Freycinet, sena-
! tor, former premier, former minister of
| foreign affairs, and former minister of
war This adroit politician, 1.-The white
mouse" of French politics, sat upon the
! fence as we'll as he could His express
sion of a fear that the DFeyfus agitation
would injure the discipline of the army
| greatly annoyed the Dreyfusards, as cal
culated to influence the judges against
the accused. But he followed it with a
! eulogy of the pioneer Of the Dreyfus
campaign, M. Scheurer-Kestner, former
vice president of the senate whose
! character he said he held in the highest
esteem.
M. Labori then secured another con-
cession for .Dreyfus, by getting NJ. de
Freycinet to admit that he could not re-
call a single fact to show that money
had been sent into France from abroad
! to help the campaign in favor of Drey-
! fus. The general impression, however,
is that his appearance on the stand has
not materially helped the accused.
CORDIER WAS JOLLY.
Col. Cordier, deputy chief of the in
telligence department under the late
Lieut.. Col. Henry, and who, since his
/ previous appearance in court, had been
! released by the minister of war, Gen the
Marquis de Gallifet, from his oath of pro-
/ feSs1onal secrecy, was the first witness
called today. He testified to the effect
that the late Col. Sandherr, and not
Lieut.. Col. Henry, received the famous
I bordereau. The witness deposed strongly
in favor of Dreyfus and was most
. amusing in delivering his testimony. He
kept the court and even the Judges in
roars of laughter by his comical manner
/ and witticisms. He is short, stout man
with a jolly face and a very red nose
The colonel declared that his belief in the
guilt of Dreyfus was first shaken when
| the date of the bordereau was given as
May. The witness declared stoutly that
he was now convinced Dreyfus was in
nocent. Col. Cordier then spoke I'D
strongly for Col. Picquart, as a con-
scientious soldier and an honorable man.
and threw light upon the situation which
existed in the offices of the intelligence
department of the war office. He ex-
planned that Henry was jealous of
Picquart because the latter was given
charge of the statistical section. which
! Henry had hoped to get for himself
Cordier expressed the belief that it was
because of Picquart that Henry commit
ted his forgery.
Referring to what he styled the ''huge
undertaking of Richard Cuers, La Joux
and company" the colonel declared the
object was nothing less than recruiting
| German spies for the service of the
French government. He said the organ
ization would have been of the greatest
utility in the event of war, and said re-
! grets were frequent during the last war
in regard to the lack of spies.
| Cuers, he pointed out, spoke French ad-
mirably, and therefore 1t could not be
maintained that only German was spoken
| at the interview at Basle, between Cuers.
| Henry and Lauth.
One of Cuer's special services, Continued
| the witness, was furnishing GERMANY
with false information. He therefore was
| sometimes obliged to say he had sue