The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-04-30
DREYFUS APPEALS.
Celebrated French Army Case May
Be Opened Again.
He WRITES A Polite REQUEST
Dreyfus Claims Tha. the Court That
Tried Him Was Unduiy influenced
By Outsiders.

Paris, BY Cable.-Alfred Dreyfus
has submitted to Minister Of War
Andre lengthy letter, in which he
earnestly asks for the re-opening CT
his case by means OF an investigation
by the Minister, as the supreme head
OF military justice The letter, which
is dated Paris. April 81, confirms the
reports that Dreyfus had been living
quietly for some time. 1t promises to
cause a tremendous agitation among
the various elements Of the political
groups for and against Dreyfus. The
first part Of the letter is an earnest
plea that the court which condemned
him at Rennes was improperly in
fiuenced, first, by the annotated docu-
fnent ascribed to Emperor William
and, second, by the false testimony Of
one of the witnesses, Czernski..
After arguing On the extent to
which these contributed to his con-
demnation, Dreyfus recalls in graphic
terms the long series of horrors to
which he had been subjected. The let
ter throughout is couched in highly
dramatic style, which Is likely to
make 1t one Of the notable papers Of
the case. It refers to Esterhazy as
'one who stands before the entire
world as the culprit." One Of the pas
sages, showing the rhetorical style,
is as follows:
Il will not recall, Mr.. Minister,
what I have endured since 1894. Pic
ture to yourself the horrors Of a sol
dier whose life was devoted to duty, to
work. to loyalty, and to profound de-
votion for his country and who in an
instant is stripped Of his good name
and despoiled of the honor Of himself
and his children. For five years this
soldier is subjected to horrible suf-
ferings. They seek to crush him physi-
cally, to annihilate him morally. He
Is absolutely innocent Of all crime and
struggles in vain to penetrate the mys-
terry, proclaiming his innocence and
struggling with all the forces OF his
mind and body for that supreme pleas
ure Of vindicating his good name and
character. Days, months, years pass
thus in most cruel agony, amid the
toTtrres of a murderous climate. At
last he is brought back to France, the
guilty one is discovered and the sol
dier hears himself proclaimed inno-
cent by those who before reviled him
as a traitor. It was thus, Mr.. Minis
ter, that I hoped to see my martyr
dom ended But alas il | returned to
find the devotion Of friends who had
battled for the truth 1t was to find
also that deadly hatreds had been un+
loosed.
IN the processes Of 1894 was stab
bed in the back; cannot imagine how
such conditions can prevail through
falsehood and deception. But. so 1t was
and my second condemnation was but
an aggravated reaffirmation OF what
occurred in 1894. When the guilty one
was known and Unmasked and Ester
bazy was recognized as the author OK
the treason, the same men who had
cheated Justice in 1894 again sougnt
in 1899 to cheat justice for the second
time By the same criminal manoeuV-
res. Conscious of these methods, the
government of the republic will not
permit itself to keep in prison one
who is known to be innocent.
"In constant thought of ultimate le-
gal revision, | have reassembled nttie
by little all the divergent elements OF
testimony contributing to my convic-
ton. have remained silent with tine
firm conviction that justice wouid
surely have its day Of triumph. Tne
victim of criminal tactics and yioia-s
ton of the law twice committed
against me, now I address mysef 70
the supreme chief of military Justice.
and, supporting myself by new facts
which have been elected and by the
existence OF the pretended bordeau
and note by Emperor William l ann
going to ask that you institute an IN
eS euirs first upon the uses made Of this
false document at Rennes and the
consequences it produced on those
rendering judgment; second, upon inc
false and fraudulent testimony CT
n,,rn,cLi or RouQeS. eft