The age-herald., 1899-08-15
] the incorrect behavior of his subordinate toward the chief of the state.
Another Case of InsuDordInation

Another Case of lnsuDordlnation
 Another instance" said M. Casimir- [ Perier: "General Mercier undertook to
 shorten the service of 60.000 men without i consulting the chief of tine state, thus lack | Ing in the respect he owed to the chief of | the state"
 l M. Casimir- Perier next protested against the assertions made by General Mercier in regard to the role adopted by the chief of l the state in this affair, Whereupon the gen. l eral interjected that he had spoken of the 1 attitude assumed by M. Casmir-P -Perier be- l cause he had sworn to tell the whole truth M. Demange asked General Mercier if he had explained to the cabinet how he recon | cied the relations of cause and effect and 1 the patriotic emotion aroused by the al- l legged treason, and the communication Of | the secret documents to the courtmartial. The general repeated his statement of Saturday his hypothesis of the situation. M. Demange asked NJ. Casimir-Perier if reached between France and Germany on 1 the subject of Dreyfus
 M. Casimir-Perier replied that before his | interview with the minister on the 9th the | question of Dreyfus had never been raised between them and Germany. | M. Demange asked Gen. Mercier why he | had not included in the dossier of 1894 the l doubtful translation of agent B to his gov ernment under the date of November 2. In reply General Mercier said not one of the
  l cated to the judges because there still ex- isted doubts in his mind. M. Demange re- marked that the text was communica ted to Sandherr as official, and therefore were impossible.
 M. Demange then asked that M. Pa leogue, of the foreign office, be called, in order to state that only single version Of the telegram was given him, as he had l understood General Mercier's uncertainty was aroused by the receipt of a semi-of- fcial draft of the telegram At this point Major Carriere, the representative of the government, asked that it be clearly shown that two versions of the telegram were given, one official and one semi-official. M. Demange said that in communicating the official text November g. Sandherr em- phisized it's official character. Counsel next asked General Mercier if explanations of the secret dossier were not
 included in the dossier relating to the yer
 sion.
 The general replied that he considered these explanations were given for his personal use, and that was why he de- stroyed the document. At this M. De- mange expressed a sense of astonish-
 ment and asked General Mercier if he did
 not have reasons for suppressing the docu-
 ment.
 The witness repudiated the suggestion.
 Dreyfus Makes Explanation
 Dreyfus at this point rose from his seat
 and asked leave to explain in regard to
 the assertion that he had traced on a card
 the itinerary of a certain journey of the general staff. Both the itinerary and jour-
 ney, he asserted, were purely fictitious.
 M. Casimr-Perier then said he de-
 sired to reiterate that he had never
 promised anything to Dreyfus, adding alone that he had spoken in regard to the
 condemned man. Therefore, M. Casimir-
 Perier reiterated his protests at the letters of Dreyfus referring to negotiations Dpmanpa how Dreyfus came to say M. Casimir- Perier had promised him a public trial. After M. Demange had asked M. Wall deck-R Rousseau to intervene with M. Casi- mir-Perier (then president of France) to obtain publicity, M. Waldeck- Rousseau re- ported that the president appeared favor able to the suggestion and counsel there- fore thought he might communicate the fact to Dreyfus.
 M Demange added that it must be re- | membered Dreyfus wrote the letter four years after the occurrence and his recol- lection of the facts naturally lacked pre- l csion.
 | M Demange expressed regret at the fact l that the letter had been published and | apologized to M. Cassmir-Perier, who | thanked counsel for his expression of re- | gret and explanation.
 General Tiilot Testifps | General Billet, former minister of war, ! was the next witness. He was in uniform, | sat with crossed legs and gave his evil
 dence in q conversational manner. He said | he would be n years of age tomorrow. l Like everybody else, he added, he had l some knowledge of the Dreyfus affair be-
 fore taking the war portfolio. While feeling deeply on the subject, he l remained aloof from the matter until he re- | turned to the cabinet In the early days
 of his administration, the witness contin-
 ued, M Scheurer- -Kestner, Ga former vice. : 0f @
 he ought not to investigate the Dreyfus af-
 fair M. 6cheurer-Kestner, the general
 pointed out, had made similar repersenta-
 tions to M de Freycinet and got the same
 reply from both, that neither of them | were very conversant with the affairs. l General Billet dwelt at length upon the | action taken by M. Scheurer- Kestner, to l whom he recommended prudence. M. l Scheurer-K -Kestner finally communicated to ] General Elliot his conviction of the inno- cence of Dreyfus but the general found the evidence insufficient and asked him to in-
 vestigate the matter further.
 The general then dwelt on the roll of Col onel Picquart, whom he said he holds in the highest esteem.
 | "He is intelligent" said General Billet,
 land gave valuable information about
 the organization of neiglnboring army | and its artillery. This information showed | the necessity of consequent reforms in our | artillery, commenced by that great initia- | tor, General Mercier.
 | "I, who am neither an engineer nor expert in handwriting" added General Bill ! lot, "saw in that direction the grand work | he accomplished
 l After this General Billet referred to Col l onel Piquart's proposition to entrap Ester | hazy whom he suspected, but General Bill
 lot forbade this. He added that Colonel { Picquart always acted witout authoriza- i tion.
 Thought Well of Picquart | General Billet next referred to the emi- i net services Colonel Picquart rendered to l the army, leading to his being entrusted
 with a confidential mission to the east and : afterwards to Tunis.
 He energetically protested against the
 allegation that he had desired to send
 Colonel Picquart to a place from which
 he would never return. He explained his
 devotion to the country and army and