The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1899-09-23
Saturday, Sept. %, 1893.
THE PARDON OF DREYFUS.

Pioneer Press.
The pardon OF Dreyfus is virtual ac
acknowledgement Of his innocence-a re-
ye--al 81 the verdict Of the military
court which found him guilty of treason
an official confirmation by the French
government Of tie judgment OF the civ
ilizad world that his condemnation was
uaiusf. unwarranted by particle of
proof In all probability his condem-
nation and lis pardon were prear-
ranged parts of the same makeshift pol
itical programme. He was condemned
to atiefv the army, on whose favor the
existence of every government in
France has long depended and still de-
leuds. lie was pardoned to appease
the righteous indignation OF tie lovers
Of justice, if rot to satisfy their de-
Jiands-an indignation backed by the
universal opinion OF the enlightened
world, and which is in time bound to
become the dominant and resistless
sentiment of France. It is an attempt
t. escape from a situation which the
complicated political conditions in
Trance render one OF frightful embar-
BASEMENT to the government. BY his
lorna! conviction not only was the ar
my piacatcd, but its leading generals
saved, at least for the time, from the
dishoHor Of judicial declaration that
their testimony was pack of periuries,
and probably from persecution for the
iafamous paris they had PLAYED in the
Z conspiracy. His pardon Is partial at
tenpt TO atone for an admitted wrong
and if il falls far short Of the plain re-
guircmeuts ofjUstice it leaves the way
open for future fulfllment Of it's de-
maud5.
Nor is the army or the implicated
generals llkelv to resent the pardon of
Ercy Jus. -1Iercier and others have even
leea forward in their expressed APP
Iruval Of it, or at least their assent to
II. Il is prudence not generosity which
dictates this pacific disposition. They
hope hy this parade of magranimity to
Iacate the growing public wrath which
Las been aroused by the revelations
winch the Dreyfus trials have made of
the terrible corruption which pervades
the hierarchy of the French army. But
thls new icniency in the attitude of the
army leaders toward their yictim-this
saaden disposition to forgive and for
gets wholly inconsistent with their
pretended belief in his guilt. 1t is
plain admission that his conviction on
faeir evidence was unjust.
Bat i the pardon of preyfus in any
Shape IS confession Of his innocence,
ii is necessary to know more about the
Hature and conditions Of this pardon, if
there were any, before ii can be inteIlI-
gently commented upon. A full par
don, Or - it might be called, a plenary
absolutlon carrying with i, restoration
To his rank, would be in all substantial
respects the equivalent of formal ac-
qu!tta, by the court. But it, as has been
faresIadawed, il is pardon on condi-
i'au---if i - a l;.,.i.a1 r-a-,3o.,. which
leaves in fall force the most Illuminating
GeHldy consequent on his condelnna-
tion-his dismissal from the army, and
which requires his eyi,e from France
il falls far short Of the demands of JUS
tee. preytus might well have refused
q pardon oil those terms. But he is too
broken in health to Maggie about the
terms ola PARTON which at any rate re-
stores Aim to freedom. His complete
and formal yindicatjon will come later.
tic may safely 5jde the time winch is
surely coming when lie will receive all
The rerar8uon for the wrongs of which
he has been the victim which courts
and governments can make.