The times., 1899-09-08
scene such as is now a daily feature.
wherein General Roget Captain Cuignet,
and Colonel Picquart all appeared together.
The BEGINNING of the End.

scene such as is now a daily feature.
wherein General Roget, Captain Cuignet,
and Colonel Picquart all appeared together.
The Beginning of the End.
After recess Major Carriere announced
that the evidence was all in. The court or
dsred all officers and witnesses to retire,
and Major Carriere began the closing ar
gument OF the prosecution His delivery
was painfully slow and labored. He began
by affirming that he had no personal opin-
ion of the case since il had been revised.
The 1894 trial had. like all French military
trials, been honorably conducted. Perhaps
its methods were not always commendable,
but it never lacked good faith. The prose-
cutor then quoted the Court of Cassations
order for the revision and for the first time
since the trial began the limitation of the
enquiry placed upon the present court mar
tial was clearly emphasized. Nevertheless,
Major Carriere proceeded TO argue that
Dreyfus probably wrote the bordereau,
question which the Court of Cessation de-
cided in the negative. He suggested yari-
Gus theories, among them one OF his own
/ that Dreyfus in debating the bordereau
unconsciously initiated both EsterhaZys
and his brother Matthews handwriting.
Curricre's yngue Argument.
Major Carriere proceeded to discuss
technically the documents enumerated in
the borderesu. but his comments became
disconnected and rambling. Several times
he came to a full stop idly lingering the
papers before him while an assistant
prompted him. His speech lost all con-
tinuity as he went on and became almost
childish His mannerisms excited the
ridicule of the audience as they have done
several times during the course OF the
J lsG anr1f uvh
logically and developed force and strength
for the first half hour. seemed to fall to
pieces and the speaker completely lost his
grasp of the subject.
Truth does not always look like
truth" This was the cleyerest thing In
Major Carriere's plea. He discussed with
some detail the question as between the
guilt of Esterhazy Dreyfus, arguing
that Colonel Sehwartzkoppen would not
/ deal with an individual SO unreliable and
eccentric as EsterhaZy. He repeated the
evidence of certain witnesses that infor-
nation contained in the bordereau was not
available to Esterhazy. Military prac-
tice.~ continued Major Carriere. could
find nothing against Esterhazy, and those
who knew the prudence and care of mill
tary justice understand that this impor-
tant decision was not reached without
good reason"
picauart Denounced.
Finally. Major Carriere's remarks took
| an unexpected turn and reached culmina-
/ tion. which rather surprised his hearers.
He dealt solely with Colonel Picquart's
work saying when he (Carriere) first ex-
I amined his reports and evidence he became
practically convinced that Dreyfus was in
nocent But went further" declared the
prosecuting officer. Il examined Colonel
~ ELL 4
deeper than the Court of Cessation, and
! discovered tricks, frauds, lies, and machi-
/ nations where this officer sought to in
volye Esterhazy and free Dreyfus- Then
! my eyes were opened. Then / saw the
whole monstrous plot on the part of Colo
mel Picquart who has now convinced me
Of the guilt OF the man sitting there point
ing at Dreyfus). and ! demand mis- condem-
nation as traitor"
His Listeners Puzzled.
! The listeners were completely puzzled
at this strange summing up and the savage
assault on Colonel Picquart, which was
not based on any evidence before the court
II was impossible to understand and few
attempted TO explain it, for Major Car
| riere's recent conduct of the case has been
! a subject of amusement for the past two
weeks. His peroration was listened to in
silence. and without further incident the
court adjourned
Dreyfus listened TO Major Carriere's two
hours speech without scarcely moving a
muscle and without sign of emotion.
II is officially announced that if a YER
I diet Is not reached tomorrow it will be held
back until Monday. NJ. Demange says he
will not finish his plea tomorrow. NJ. La
bori viii follow him briefly, therefore it
is impossible that a decision can be reach
ed this week. The generals and other Of
fcsrs have left Rennes on orders from Cen
| eral Gallifet, the Minister OF War.