Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-27
DREYFUs NOT THE FIRST MARTYR

arrivals at the McBurney house.
NOT. THE FIRST MARTYR.
Paris Corr. Philadelphia Times: Drey-
fus is by no means the first man to
suffer for 1.-The honor Of the French
army" If it were possible to reveal the
secret chronicles of the French war office
it would be an easy matter to prove that
this is neither the first nor the twentieth
attempt on the part of the war depart
ment officials to screen the guilty at the
expense of the innocent. |
Near the end Of the reign of Louis XIV.
in France all the affairs of the French
government were in great confusion.
Count de Bellegarde, who was the colonel
Of an artillery regiment, noticed that
some other officers connected with the ar
senal were committing gross frauds upon
the government in connivarce with con-
tractors and inspectors. Being a man OF
honor and integrity, he promptly report
ed the matter to the minister of war. The
latter in turn reported it to the director of
the arsenal, General de Saint Auban. The
general Indignantly denied the coloneIs
charges, protesting his innocence both OF
himself and the other officers, and, not
satisfied with that, denounced the colonel
as a traitor. The coionels position was
thus promptly changed from that Of ac-
cuser to accused, and investigation of his
ease was ordered, the officer in charge OF
it being a particular chum OF General
Saint Auban. The colonel was arrested,
imprisoned. put through the mockery OF
trial and sentenced to degradation in a
fortress of 20 years. The sentence was
carried out. The colonel was practically
buried alive in a dungeon, where he was
never allowed to see any one nor hear the
sound of a human voice, while the scour-
drels whom he had accused were promot-
ed and honored.
The colonel's wife, however, was a Wo-
man of great spirit and resource. Conn.,
dent of her husbands innocence, she de-
voted her life to his vind.cation. Another
relative of the colonel, Baron de Chargey,
also interested himself in the matter and
presently. brought charges against Gener-
al Saint Auban of having committed for
geries and having suborned perjury N or
der to convict Colonel de B~ellegarde. Va
rious other friends also interested them
selves in the matter and soon were aDle
to present a very strong case to the MIN
lister Of war. He, however, refused to DO
anything in the matter, saying that the
coloners case had been finally ~adtudicat-
ed and could not be reopened. So the mat
ter dragged on until Louis XIV. died and
Louis XVI. succeeded to the throne. Then
the queen, Marie Antoinette, became in
telested in the case ard through her Ell
forts ana lN1UCnCe lue HilnlolcI ~ wal
was removed, a thorough inquiry into the
whole case was instituted and Colonel de
Rellegarde was released and fully V.ndl-
Gated Just about four years after his con-
domination. The points of resemblance be-
tween this case and the Dreyfus case are
obvious. Another, small but interesting,
is that the Christian name of the wife OF
Colonel de B%ellegarde was the same as
that of the wife of Captain Dreyfus-
j.. namely, LUCE.
Then there is the case of Jean Fabry
who never obtained justice. On June 2
1915, a court-martia at S~trasburg, pre-
!, sided over by General DesbureauX, SEN
fenced Fabry. by a majority of five votes
in seven, to five years of penal sefV1tuue
to the restitution of 10.354 francs "misap-
propriated by him. and to military degra-
dation. F'abry was connected with tbs
accountants department Of the navy anc
l later was transferred as office paymastel
to the One Hundred and Forty-trst resl'
7 ment of the line, whence he went to the
/. depot general for refractory conscripts
( at Strasburg on November l. 1918. Wnei
Fabry discovered the reckless condltlof
1 in which the accounts had been kept nc
1 lost no time in reporting the matter &c
the colonel of the regiment. then TO tht
s1b-inspectors general and finally to tho
: inspector general.
His report in every case was received
with a shrug of the shoulders.
+ led by the recommendation mot to be too
) jealous" or hi might get himself IN ser
ious difficulties. Fabry, however. was no
. to be suppressed. but announced his IN
l tention of carrying the matter to the MN
lister of war. So soon as he maze thl
. announcement his opponents planned MI
:. destruction. A settlement of the OctopeI
i accounts was demanded by the colonei
) Notwithstanding the fact that they hat
D tlzo, eot+l,I M tina first 6SV FdDfV 1Olne(
l the depot. Knowing that he had his &C
count books and documents in supper
not only of his honesty, but also OF tn
! information he intended lodging with TN
minister of war, Fabry refused to be IN
Inundated. :,
! Fabry was a man of sanguine DISPOSE
n ton and indomitable courage. Notwltn
standing his arrest he prepared his repor
and sent it to the minister of war. care
fully describing the confused state of tn
accounts as a result of the culpable neg
" lect of Sub4Lieutenant Desprat. lhis re
n port was forestalled by that of lnspecto
General Shiele. who meanwhile had or
dered Fabry's imprisonment and mao nj
private house ranSacked ana a sum y
nearly 10. 900 francs confiscated.
Fabry was imprisoned for SIX years
two wears of his being on remand. Our
Il ing his incarceration his wife revea!e'
her noble spirit by devoting her Who'll
d time to an attempt to have him released
y and - years after she had secured nj
freedom they were both working jealous
ly to remove from their name the un
n merited stain. Long before his release
n had been virtually admitted that ever
n count in the indictment against Fabr
was trumped up: that the accusation ma
l. been sustained by numerous forgerle:
and that the whole personnel OF the ad
ministration, from the war minister t
&c A, --.-.. .Jl>1y had hnnc noivad II