Arizona republican., 1899-02-16
TO DEFEND CCbRTS
Dreyfus Revision Dq 'ofe in
 Chamber of Depu4 4ies.
Five Ex-MinisterS Outline The Opposi- lion to inc Governments ffaCk on the Courts of Cessation Ma zeau'S Re port.

Paris, Feb. 15.-Several me3nb ber5 Of
 the chamber of deputies. including ex-
 Ministers BrissOn, Sarrien, BaIthOu.
 Poincar and Bourgeois and ex-Ambas-
 sador Decrasis, have collectively sent
 letter to the government in reIer-
 ence to the attack on the crimiLa al chamber of the court of cessation. They say that they base their belief in
 the innocence of the judges upon M.
 Labret's statement to the chamber Of
 deputies, the inquiry of Nj. Mazeau,
 first president of the court, and the
 report of the committee of the cham
 Der. They declare against the Pro- pOsal to deprive the criminal chamber of the right to deliver judgment upon the Dreyfus affair, contending that the government bill for that purpCs9
 is not 9 law Of appeasement. but a statute of civil discord.
 Tn the course of the letter the writers say: If the court is disquaIi- fled it will mean the triumph Of cal umny. The whole court of cessation will then be called in question, and the highest jurisdiction of the country will be placed by the executive at the mercy of defamation. France has as much need of a respected judiciary as of a strong army. To pass q law Of mere expediency would be stroke of brute force, affecting the liberty, honor and life of French citizens"
 This indicates the basis of the opp0- sition the government will have to meet in the chamber. Ex-Minister Ribot is expected 10 vote and use his influence against the bill.
 The report Of NJ. Mazeau, first pres ident of the court Of cessation, upon his inquiry as to the truth of M de Beaurepaire's accusations against cer- tain members of the criminal section of the court. are published here this morning. They consist of summaries of the evidence given by anti-Dreyfus witnesses complaining of the hostility of President Loew and O6ancfllor Bard toward them and the testimony of others affirming the correct and i'm partial attitude of those gentlemen.
 II. de Beaurepaire has written let ter to the Echo de Paris explaining l why, on Dec. 26, he wrote to N. Bard, | saying: While noting with pain that we are widely separated in this affair, none the less remain your old and sincere friend" He justifies this ex- pression upon the grounds Of the tra- ditional politeness obtaining among | the magistracy, although at the time | of his writing he was already collect l ing gossip upon which to base his at tack on NM. LOew and Bard
 The Journal office publishes NJ Mazeau's report, whfcn includes let ters from NM. Loew and Bard refut- ing M. de Beaurepaire's accusations. Even Gen. Chanoine, formerly minis ter of war. testifes to their impar- 5iality. There is nothing in the entire collection of documents that gives even vestiga of ground for the at .acEzs upon the criminal section.
 The meeting of the cabinet was ex- 3lusively devoted to a discussion of the 'evision bill. It was decided to de- nand the immediate consid eration and adoption of the unmodified measures 1y the chamber of deputies, and by he action of the house, the ministry will stand or fall.