The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-09-05


scene between the President Of the cour
martial and counsel for the defense, NJ
Labor. declaring that General Roget
who came more as a public prosecutor
| than as "a witness. refused to reply tC
probing statements.
| little later NJ. Labori pushed the
question on General Billot on what is
known as the liberating document
General Zurlinden then came upon the
platform dressed In the uniform of his
rank and with inseparable eyeglass. He
| spoke few words respecting the General
Stairs belief in Major Esterhazy.
| N. Demange asked General Roget his
! opinion of Major Esterhazy
| II have an absolute conviction" replied
General Roget, and cries of .Ohr' from
the audience that Major Esterhazy is
| a stranger to treason
| General Roget then delivered a short
| discourse in reply to the statement of NJ.
des Fonds Lamothe on Saturday that the
phrase in the bordereau, Il am going to
the maneeuvres, showed that Dreyfus
could not be the author of the bordereau.
General Roget maintained that M La
mothei was wrong
Captain Dreyfus arose, and in clear
voice, emphaticalIy insisted that the cir
cular of May II, 1894 announcing that
the probationers would not go to the
manoeuvres was written in the clearest
language, which the Court would see if
it were read. He reiterated that he had
never asked to go to the manoeuvres, for
he was absolutely convinced that such a
request would not be granted
M. Deffes. a reporter for the Temps"
testified that he saw Major Esterhazy in
London, and that the latter confessed
that he was the author OF the bordereau
The witness added that he raised the
question of the letters of Madame Bou-
lancs and brought away the impression
that Esterhazy wrote the .Uh1an" let
ter.
M. Trarieux, formerly Minister of Jus
tice, was the next witness called. He
made long deposition in favor of Drey-
fus, reviewing the history Of the case and
his own part in connection Herewith NJ
Trarieux is an excellent speaker with a
good presence. He has iron grey hair
and mustache, and a clear, resonant
voice, which could be heard outside the
court room.
NJ Trarieux's deposition closed the pub
lie session. He made very telling speech
describing how his original belief in the
guilt of Dreyfus was first shaken and then
completely changed to conviction of inno-
cence by subsequent developments and
the noble conduct of NJ. Scheurer- -Kest-
ner. formerly Vice President of the SEN
ate. The letters exchanged between Cen
eral Gonse and Lieutenant Colonel Pic.
quart also strengthened his conviction. NJ
JtrpF y n1rn nf 11,f,, lone
against Picquart. and said he accused no.
body. He believed, however, that the
Chiefs were deceived. M. Trarieux re,
counted a conversation with a foreign am
bassador, who declared. in tone Of the
greatest sincerity, that Dreyfus never had
relations with him nor with any officer
of his country, while, the ambassador
added, ne possessed documents proving
the guilt of Major Esterhazy. NJ Ira
rieux delivered a very impressive passage.
recalling the execution of the English Adj
miral Byng on the charge of treason,
who was afterwards found to have been
unjustly condemned NJ Trarieux said
that Frenchmen might well dread to have
such a bloodstain upon their history as,
through the execution of Admiral Byng,
mars the history of England NJ Trarieux
said that General Roget and Captain
Cuignet were wrong in the conclusion
they had drawn from the correspondents
of agents .'A'' and 'sB" that Dreyfus was
guilty He reiterated that the Ambassador
to whom he had previously referred had
affirmed that Major Esterhazy was the
traitor: and the former Minister of Jus
tice declared in an emphatic tone which
made deep impression upon his hearers
that no parallel ought OF be drawn be-
tween a model officer like Dreyfus and
Major Esterhazy, who, had not even the
soul of a Frenchman.
M. Trarieux, on alluding to the border
eau, was interrupted by Major Carriere.
who said that while he opposed direct
official application to foreign governments
for documents mentioned in the border
eau, yet if by a side wind the documents
could be produced, he certainly would be
personally very much pleased
This is practically an invitation to Ger
many to volunteer to communicate the
document in question.
At the conclusion of NJ Trarieux's tes-
timony, which was veritable speech for
the defense and which apparently made
an Impression upon the Judges. the court
martial went behind closed doors and ex-
anained the secret espionage dossier
The Court also deliberated upon NJ.
Laboris request that application be made
TO Germany for the documents described
IL The bordereau. The decision was
unanimously reached to reject the appli-
cation on the ground that the Court was
incompetent to invite the Government to
take diplomatic steps to obtain the docu-
ments In question. It was also decided
.1,f 1,oy .,Ia