Evening star., 1899-09-09

decide the Iate OF DTeyluS DfDke Uuii dHt
cheerless, and the court room was fillet
with a cold, unsympathetic light. which
lent sadness to the proceedings. This Wa:
enhanced by the grave aspect of the audi
enCe. The faces of the judges also reflected
the soemnity of the occasion.
The last session of the Court-martia
opened at T::;0 am. Madam Labor was
among the few ladies present, and in tho
porters
The prisoner looked flushed and in i'll
health, apparently suffering from great
strain.
Proceedings in Detail.
The following is detailed account of the
proceedings: Maitre Demange resumed his
plea for the defense shortly after 1:3o a. m.
He began by saying:
when yesterdays sitting was ended l
was about to deal with what is called the
direct evidence. namely. the technical value
of the bordereau. The prosecution by tax
ing separately each of the notes contain
ing information supplied by the writer of
the bordereau. deduced the opinion that
Dreyfus alone could have communicated
the information in the documents.
IF he had not at his disposal pI oOf of this
the prosecutor would have given it, The
rules of evidence require the prosecutor to
prove that DreyfuS possessed this informa-
tion, and nobody but he That is how the
question must be put. We before a
court of justice. with which suppostions
have no place. In order to produce proof /
must ask and must know what was
must have the notes delivered; otherwise
We have to deal with hypothesis.
This IS my first objection, to which /
challenge the public prosecutor to reply -
Counsel, remarking that the hypothesis
accepted in 1894 could not now be main
tanned. proceeded To minutely examine the
theories Qf The headquarters staff, especial
ly those of Gen. Roget. whose arguments he
refUted seriatim. He similarly analyzed the
evidence of Genera. MERCER, retera ting
the arguments as to the utter improbable
ity Of an artilleryman employing the in
correct terms used in the bordereau in
connection with artillery matters
Counsel then reviewed the wel-known
facts in the case. showing that Colonel
SchwartZkoppen. the German military at
taChe a Paris, supplied information 10 his
government. years before, regarding the
''i21 short field gun. He said that only
the internal construction of the brake of
this gun remained secret: but Dreyfus
knew nothing about it. and never asked for
information on the subject from the few
officers knowing il. Therefore. counsel con-
tended. Dreyfus could not have betrayed
this secret.
Regarding the practical tests of the gun
NJ lcnange continued. Dreyfus was SINH
larry ignorant. Gen. Mcrcier's statement
that Dreyfus attended the trials could be
dismissed. as ii had been proved that the
only leakage resulting from those trials
had been furnished by the spy Grener 1t
was thus after refuting the imputations
against Dreyfus. based on the firing man
ual, which he said We're purely hypothetl-
cal NJ Demange continued empha tically:
The prosecution has no right to rest
content with hypothesis. We are in a
court of justice. The defense alone has the
right to say Ii is impossible. 1t is the duty
of the public prosecutor to produce evi-
dence, but he has adduced none against
After showing that the prisoner had never
seen the ''120 short field gun fired counsel
read letters from Esterhazy proving that
the latter attended the Chalons camp and
probably witnessed the trials.
But the prosecution added NJ. De
mango, had not to choose between Drey-
fus and EsterhaZy. Ii had only to prove
DreyfuS guilty and could not do So On
the contrary. We have shown that Dreyfus
did not possess the document commun!-
Gated nor the information contained in
It."
Gen. Mereier's Change of Front.
Dealing with the note referring to the
covering of troops. NJ Demange pointed
Gen Mercier's change of front on this sub
ject In 1894 the general contended that i,
WAS with reference to the commands oI
these troops that the leakage occurred
while he now asserted that il was regard
ing the mobilization and transport of the
troops The prosecution had thus advanced
Two versions which mus; cause the Judges
as no proofs had been furnished. What
right had the prosecution to advance state
mrnts without confederation? Counsel put
il Il the cunsCiences Of the judges and he
had asked this of Cen Mercier himself.
Continuing TO plead with great warmth
and t-pqurncc and with clear. closely rea-
soned arguments. which We're followed with
hreathie-s jnteres; hy the entire audience,
NJ. De:1anEa declared he did not believe in
the completely Of Henry ami Esterhazy.
for Henry was honorable and loyal. II he
had been tire accun1p'ire of Esterhazy
Henry would have dcs; ;royed the. bprdereau.
Possibly Henry had inadvertently di-
vuged information TO t,sterlaZy. under the
impression thai As WAS conyersing with
an honorable, straightforward man like
himself and discovering IN 1898 that he
had placed his hands in Il traitors he com
mIted d crime upon which counsel declined
TO enlarge. since thc perpetrator had al
ready paid for ii with his life. What Other
explanation could be given of the suicide
OF this man with whom the whole army
synpat thized. even after the discovery of
the crime
what Did Henry Mean:
Henry had spoken Of scoundrels. Was
not one of these Esterhazy and the other
WeyI the latter having unconsciously be-
trayed Information Gen. Saussier had
every confidence in Heury's loyalty, and
Esterhazy might have received informa-
ton from Henry or Weyl. who We're un-
conscious informers. A loyal soldier, Gen.
Biilot. had, moreover. said the traitor was
not alone. In his mind he connected the
names OF Esterhazy and Dreyfus.
Counsel d.G not profess to clear up the
matter, but he wished it to be cleared up
II n2ust be proved that preyfus knew Es-
terhazy and " cyl. He t9l. Demange) did
not fear whatever hght could be thrown on
the case. Three men We're in the !ntellI-
gencc depar5ment-tlenry, Es;erhaZy and
Neyl. EstoFhazy had even placed the 9TH
ers under pecUu!dTy obligations, and all
three were c.oseiy bound together.
Replying to the hypothesis deduced in the
note relating to the modification of the
artillery, NJ. Demauge pointed out that the
Information could have been obtained by
Esterhazy at the Cualons camp. while re-
Sardins the Madagascar note, DTcyfus had
never had possession of it. though one
Of his most bittcr po rSecutorS, Col. du Paty
de CIam. had il in his office Reverting to
the firing manual. coUnse, showed how Es-
terhaZy secured copy Of it and pointed
to the fact that his government had askeC
Col. Schwartzkoppen for supplementary in
formation, which showed that the origina
intelligence incomplete and supplied
by an incompetent person, not an artillery
man
Sch,sartzLoppen's Memorandum
The memorandum TO Col. SchwartZkop-
pen asked for the firing manual, which
must therefore have been offered. and 70,
!