The record-union., 1899-06-25
PRESENT DAY THOUGHTS.
BY G. Grosvenor DawS.

~ =. Grosvenor DAVE.
Delight over Dreyfus.-A few days
from now-undess, by an accident
which is not impossible. under the cir
cumst ances- Dreyfus. re-autired in the
uniform of his rank. will set foot upon
the SOIL OF his country. This poor man
AFTER an absence Of over four years
from France-the country that had de-
graded him and condemned him to per-
petual Observation-Disclosures by an al
most theatrical revolution of the wheel
or fortune from the solitary confine-
ment OF Devils Island and will face his
accusers once more in a new trial. The
eHorts put forth and the risks endured
by those who believed in him have
Deem SO extraordinary, that there is no
case or modern times that can compare
With MS. AT one time it looked as
tnougn france would be forced into a
war with Germany because the accus-
atlons against Dreyfus impugned the
nohor Oh Germany; and more than once
nas q revolution in Paris come near to
mead because Of the feeling for or
against the accused man. In addition
70 All these spectacular dangers to a
republic of 3S,O00,0CO the greatest of
Frances writer's. Emile ZoIa-a man of
generous impulse and wonderful brain
dared death and endured exile, that he
might say to the republic of his love
the fearless words of warning that he
felt ought to be uttered.
The Frenchnan is so volatile that
g 70
interest of France in the case has been
no greater than that felt by other
civilized nations. The whole thinking
world, but chiefly America, has watch
ed the matter almost breathlessly, for
reasons which will be elaborated later
II Is probably correct to say that the
nckle bouevardiers have comprehended
less OF the disgrace that was attaching
itself to the France Of Liberty, Fra
ternity and Equality" than many an
Intelligent American farmer reading
his weekly paper far off from the route
OF travel This second trial may pos
sibly contain revelations not earlier I'M
derstood, but it will, in all likelihood.
result in the acquittal of Dreyfus. The
plain man who loves fair dealing
whether he lives on the steppes of
Russia or the plains of Texas, the
ranches of Australia, or the moors of
Scotland together with our own farm
and factory workers has felt that in
any. event a second trial should be
granted to this poor creature, who, like
the scape-goat of old was burdened
with the sins of people and driven
forth never more to be seen again of
men. Because this sentiment, this
hunger, this demand for justice was a
real thing and genuine impulse of
the human heart, a positive tone of re-
joicing was in the voices of all good
men when they heard that the second
trial was to be held.
What has made plain, thinking men
tremble for France in this affair? The
reason is not far to seek. Though none
of us are perfect, though none Of us
live fully up to our ideals, even though
some Of us be gross and almost ignor-
ant that there are such things as
ideals, yet when we are brought face
to face with the fact. we would rather
see a man given a fair chance than
have him suffer from a foul mischance;
particularly if all the facts of his case
ly as those of Dreyfus have been. In
fact the old heart of humanity, cracked
and SCARED with thousand misdeeds,
has still much OF soundness in it and
this famous case has brought it great
~ into evidence. It has been no dis
grace to any of US to be thus stirred
up-even excited-over the fate of a
man whom we never have seen and
perchance never shall. Our fear was
that France, the republic; France, the
inspirer of some of the ideas now en-
bodied in our own form Of government;
France, the country of Rochambeau
and of Lafayette would for the sake
Of shielding prominent army officials al
low this man to rot and die. Thus we
trembled, because a country that once
voiced the hope Of men appeared ready
not only to blind Justice but to slay her
in the temple Of her friends We saw
in this dreaded happening sure proof
Of national decay that we did well to
fear.
Again, think, the fact that Dreyfus
is a Jew had much to do with the feel
ing on this side of the water For,
while, in a comic way we attach all the
qualities of the hog to the race that
will not eat him, yet we feel most sin
cerely that a man is not to be dealt
with hnrshly in relation to crime just
because he is a Jew. So, therefore,
when we found reproduced in our own
day the worst elements of the most
heartless Jew-baiting of the Middle
ages, our sympathies were drawn to the
man more than ever because Of the ac-
cfdent of his birth; and we rejoice at
the present proof that even Jew has
rights which an infidel nation is bound
to respect. Worked into the fabric Of
our resentment also was the fact that
II, the revolution. In the rehelliau. and