Evening journal., 1899-09-28

had put in an appearance--and II |
Grouchy had not been a traitor he and
his men would have put in an appear
'ance-the allied armies Of England and
Prussia would have been routed, swept
from off the field. And II Marshal Ba-
zaine did not play the traitor to the
third Napoleon. why did he, with 15O,-
900 men, make a lamb-like surrender
Of Metz to the then Grown Prince of
Prussia-and that, too, without strik-
ing a single blow for freedom?
We have a thorough and unqualified
detestation for standing armies, mill
tary parades. Illuminated warships
and all the rest Of the wretched and
cursed paraphernalia connected with
the crooked and hell-born game Of
War, that barbarous sport of sup
posedly civilized age. But so long as
this altogether unnecessary evil exists
An evil which exists solely in the in
terests of an idle and privileged class
then just so long must the element of
treason. whenever and wherever found,
be treated in the most rigorous and un-
compromising manner. And that is ex-
actly what the recent court-martial as
sembled at Rennes very righteously
lendeavored to do. If we divest our
lselves Of all sickly sentimentallty, all
feelings Of maudlin sympathy which
tend to obscure the reason, we shall
lthen arrive at the inevitable and logical
conclusion, namely that the prosecu-
tory evidence presented before the
Rennes court-martial warranted that
Court in finding Dreyfus guilty
of participating, wilfully par
ticipating. in perhaps the most bastard
by and villainous act Of treason known
to the modern military world Of Eu-
,Irope. True, the French Cabinet has
deemed it expedient to grant a quail
fled pardon to Alfred Dreyfus, ex-Cap-
I, tain of Artillery. But it is extremely
} doubtful IL the highest military tri-
bunal will ever reverse the verdict Of
the Rennes court-martal Be all that
as it may. however, Colonel Jouaust,
director of the French Engineer Corps,
and his concurrent colleagues are to be
congratulated, not vilifled in the most
scurrilous and approved fashion, in
that they allowed neither the venomous
utterances of hostile foreign press
nor the rabid rawlings of the Zola-like
scum Of the French populace to divert
their feet from, what seemed to them,
the path Of duty, or to hinder them
from acting in behalf of the higher and
better interests Of the French nation.
II is to be hoped. apart from the
diversity Of opinion anent the Dreyfus
j case, that the present French Republic,
5 founded as it was upon the ashes of a
} corrupt and effete monarchy, will soon
safely emerge from the harbor Of civil
p discomfort, and once again, with all its
e original and pristine strength, take It's
a Legitimate place in the galaxy OF greai
D nations. Any argument opposing SC
devoutly to be wished for a consumma-
= tion would be the very reductio ad alb
5 surdum. and the very essence Of that
e spirit of jealousy, all too prevalent and
I IAN too apparent, existing between the
q nations of the earth. Let England
t with her unconquerable love for machi-
70 nation, war and conquest, keep alive
J., liz she so desires, the embers OF bit
y ter antagonism between herself ant
T. France. But let the people Of this sis
e ter Republic remember that there ex
I list, or ought to exist, relations o
= complete amicability between France
= and the United States, relations whicl
= -lshould not be strained or disturbed b.
Q the outpouring of a false sympathy TO
few traitorous Frenchmen wit
proved recreant to the trust reposed II
= them by their native land.
e We cannot exclaim "Vive L Armee,
# for the very good reason that we fal
+: to perceive the least utility Of pro
o fession which practices the art @
W killing" But we can and do expires
p the wish that the industrial civil an
g governmental conditions of France, on
N Of the wealthiest and most progressiy
s- of nations, will continue to go on an
le prosper: that France herself will enjo
+ a complete and durable immunity froI
IN the horrors of internecine strife, an
S, that there will ever be peace With
l. her walls and prosperity within he
" palaces. ERNEST IsITT.
Dr. Philadelphia, September q, 1893.
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