El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-11

A verdict has been reached in the
Dreyfus case and publicly delivered.
Still the suspense that has oppressed
the world for so many months ia not
lessened. The general expression of
opinion is that the outcome of the far
cical trial at Rennes is shameful, but
can not be final. Some people believe
that such a prosecution as Dreyfus has
suffered could not have been inflicted
upon an innocent man; that Dreyfus
may be innocent of the
specific charges upon which he
Was tried, but that his defense
appeared to involve him in transactions
of a character that would not bear the
light of day. With such conjectures
as this neither the world nor the
French court martial had anything to
do. Dreyfus was accused of q specific
crime against his country. The charges
were drawn up in writing and every
circumstance with dates and names
was duly set forth. The only question
before the court was whether Dreyfus
was guilty of these specific acts. or
not guilty. 1t is a to
say that no one who
attended the trial, or who read
carefully the reports of evidence
therein presented, as sem out by ac-
credited press correspondents, could
possibly have but one ~opinion-that
Dreyfus was not guilty of the offenses
charged against him. Almost every
day the court held a secret session. at
which evidence was presented by the
prosecutors of Dreyfus to rebut which
his friends and advocates were given
no opportunity. From first to
last there WAS apparent
the relentless pursuit and persecution
of a man who had been used as a tool
to carry out the incredibly base de-
signs of his superiors in rank. To the
unprejudiced observer it would seem
that while his defense did not seem to
be either aggressive or adequate, the
charges against him we're left without
proof. The very most that can be said
to sustain the claims of those
who, in maintaining the honor
of the army, sacrificed their
own, would be that there was
some cause to suspect the man Drey-
But the universal rule of evil
dence, that a reasonable doubt must al
advantage the defendant, If here
applied would result in quick aud alb
scquittal. Through the mael-
whirling eddies of bitterness
about which the prosecu-
lion revolved. One was the
army, ever the army, it's
honor" its supremacy: the other was
the anti-Semite agitation, which seems
lever to lose it's malignity. Under
these circumstances Dreyfus's case
look on an entirely new Significance.
The man at the bar became the repre-
tentative of a hated race on the one
hand and of civil government On the
other, opposed by the Jew bsiters snd
representatives of army domina-
ion. Outside of France the circle
VI influence was broadened still
urther, and the world looked upon the
lrama at Rennes as the test of q ma
honor. So it is France that has
ost, it is France that has suffered, it is
france that will have to bear the
tigma of this outrage. 1t is to be hoped
hat the nation that has allowed itself
o fall so low in the moral
Gale will suffer a penalty so severe
hat the effect will be regeneration. ,
t is not q question that affects nations :
trough their centralized govern t
aents. Diplomats are not concerned. {
Tails of legislature will not echo the !
tory of Frances disgrace. But more 9
otent than all this, the case comes
home to each individual. Men
nd women the world over
ave a sense of personal {