The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-07
1MpREssIoNs REcEIYED ABROAD.
An Interesting Letter by Attorney E. P.
 aruIne--The DreY fus Cnse

An Interesting Letter by Attorney E. P AryIne--The Dreyfus Case.
 To the Editor of the Journal and Courier: l I stayed three weeks in Paris, anG | then went to Frankfort on the Maine
 Frankfort, as you know, was once the
 political center of Germany. Before the | establishment of the empire, when both | north and south Germany was repre- | sented in the common Diet, this as- ! sembly sat in Frankfort, and it was the commercial, political and intellectual center of Germany Though it has lost | this position, it is still one of the lead- | in cities of Germany. Though it has lost that I have ever seen finer looking set of people in any city than l saw in Frankfort. From Frankfort went to Mainz on the Rhine, and from there went down the Rhine to Cologne. I shall have to own that l was greatly disappointed in the Rhine. So far as the scenery is concerned it is far from |
 have always been told, however, that
 it's principle charm was it's old castles.
 I did not see any of them. There were
 several buildings that bore some re-
 semblance to castles. Most of them
 were fitted up in modern style and were
 the villas of princes and millionaires.
 thought I saw the ruins of one castle
 on the summit of the Drachenfels, but
 I was told by an American, who had
 been there, that this was even more
 luxuriously fitted up in modern style
 than any other castle on the Rhine.
 There were several parties of Americans
 on the boat, on which l sailed up the
 Rhine Before the day was finished they
 all got together and had good time,
 They all agreed with the opinion which
 I am expressing here. l was just about
 as much disappointed with Cologne
 and the great cathedral. l do not think
 it much superior to Notre Dame. I
 have yet to see any church that has
 thrilled me as did Westminster Abbey.
 From Cologne I went to Holland,
 staying there only a day or two, from
 there taking the steamer for home.
 My stay in Paris was intensely inter-
 esting on account of the political situa-
 tion there. While I was there the
 Dreyfus trial began at Rennes. I did
 not go there, as it was eighty miles
 from Paris, and should not have been
 able to get q seat in the hall without
 having a good deal of military influence
 to aid me which I did not have.
 I think there is quite mistake in
 this country In regard to the Dreyfus case. In some respects 1t is the most wonderful trial l have ever read about
 There is no question but that military information of great value was be- ttayed by some French officer to the German government. This is conceded
 on all hands. The question is, who did 1t? The answer to this question is still hidden in profound mystery, Il is com monly supposed here that there is no case against Dreyfus. Such is very far from being a fact The testimony was far from being complete when I left Paris, but l had time to read that of General Mercler. who was the witness most relied upon by the prosecution No one who reads that testimony whether his judgment has been trained in that direction or not, can fail to be impressed with the honesty and sinceri-
 ty of the witness. I have spoken of It, as do the newspapers, as testimony. Really it was not testimony at all. but an argument from beginning to end I can scarcely believe that the procedure of this trial has parallel anywhere in the civilized world. The witnesses go upon the saand. tell what others have told them, state their differences and conclusions, make arguments and even deliver harangues, and this is what the French newspapers call testimony.
 The telegraph brings us this morning the a-called testimony of Cornuschi, the refugee, whose entire state ment consists of what some unnamed German officer told him, and this the Associated Press tells us is considered of vast importance. It would not be admitted for a moment in any English or American court, civil or military.
 Mercier's testimony, as I say is per haps the most complete statement of the Antl-Dreyfus case. He says that 1t came to the knowledge of the war de- partment that information had been sold to the German government. From some source, we are not informed what, the famous bordereau fell into it's hands. How this document was ob- tained is, l suppose, a part of the secret dossier, and which has never been made public, and was read, as you will re- by the present tribunal with closed doors. The bortereau is memo 'andum of items of information which .he author of 1t proposes to dispose of. The suspicion of the war department ighted in a perfectly natural way upon Dreyfus. When the bordereau was ex- amined by the officers of the depart nent it was suggested that the hand writing in which it was written resem- oled that of Captain Dreyfus. It was submitted to the examination of Ber- helon, an expert on handwriting who | compared 1t with specimens of Dreyfus' writing Berthelon came to the con- ,lusion that it was the handwriting of oreyfus, and still maintains this opin- on before the present tribunal The has since been submitted. ,y order Of the Court of Cassa ton, to | 'arious experts. whose opinions differ, | Ome thinking that it is the handwri- | ing of Dreyfus others that it is that | If EsterhaZy.
 An officer of the war department act ug under orders, sent for Dreyfus and | lictated something to him. in which he |