New-York tribune., 1906-07-13
AT LASTI

the supreme pufpOrC or Une DAYS news Holh
Paris There are other items worthy OF con-
sideration. Alfred Dreyfus is vindicated- The
iniquity of Rennes is pilloried. The vibrant
"J'accuse!" Of ZOla posthumously becomes
note Of victory. An indelible brand of infamy
is fixed upon the SOrdid cabal which for a time
dominated or terrorzed France. These are all
important achievements. But above all else we
must place the fact that France herself, despite
the malign ObsessiOn Of SO many years, despite
delays and blunderings and hesitancies almost
unparalleled, despite such a web of intrigue
and conspiracy and menace as the world has
seldom seen elsewhere has at last undOne, so
far as it could be undone, the hideous wrong
which was perpetTated in her name twelve years
ago. and has vindicated her own justice and
her honor. Upon that achievement she is en-
titled to and she will receive the unfeigned and
cordial congratulations Of the world.
Note the superb completeness Of the courts
decision. 1t is not merely an annulment of SEN
tence and order of retriaL 1t is a complete
sweeping away of sentence, OF condemnation, Of
trial, Of accusation, Of everything in the case.
There is to be no retriaL Captain Dreyfus-
he is captain again, now-is legally put back
where he was in 1894, before a word of accu-
satiOn was ever breathed against him. The
charges against him are quashed, along with
the verdict of the wretched Rennes court His
record is restored to it's former unsulIied state.
ments on which he was condemned was a for
gerry; second that another of them, which he
was said to have betrayed, could never have
been in his hands; third, that the Rennes court
excluded testimony calculated to establish his
innocence; fourth, that the bordereGW attrib-
Uted to him was really written by Esterhazy;
and, finally that no motive Oh reason for his
alleged crime is discoverable. Therefore the
court holds that, all the accusations against
m h0 & nj
necessity for a new trial" And, again: 1.-THE
accusation against Dreyfus was completely
"unjustifed" Nothing could be more positive
and conclusive than that. 1t makes the case
a chose jNgee, as they tried to call it years
ago. with vengeance.
The time is yet to come when it will be pos
sibe for men with vital sense of justice in
their souls to regard with entire equanimity the
story Of these last twelve years. Passion will
rise at the recital. But there need be no fear
that the hottest passion of today will do injus-
tice to the league Of deviltry Of which Dreyfus
so long the victim. The calmest, coolest
record of the historian will be that Dreyfus
was made the innocent victim of a conspiracy
which comprised unmentOnable personal de
baucheries with the most venal and sordid pub
lie treason; that he was selected as the victim
chiefly because his virtues made him OdiOus
to the cOnspirators aud because the circum-
stance of his racial descent suggested the IA
cility of creating prejudice against him; that
through abhOTent forces of corruption and ter
rOr important military and civil officers were
dragged into the foul work; that deliberate and
persistent efforts We're made to destroy the
mind or the life Of the victim, in order to pre-
clude the possibility of his vindicatiOn and the
exposure of the villany which had been ar
rayed against him; and that thus for twelve
years the fair fame of France was sullied with
the wantOn condemnation of a man who was
not only innocent bat who was known by his
accusers and judges to be innocent
And what hideous ruck it was, and through
what lOathsOme mire was the republic dragged!
The depraved, degenerate Esterhazy, the cow
ardly Henry, the astoundingly preposterous
Patty de Clam, the briberies, tha forgeries, the
perjuries, the murders which were committed
to shield scoundrels and to fix guilt upon the
Innocent the bOrdereGUT, the dOSsieTS. the petits
bIeues, the chooses jWg6eS, and the rest Of them.
What Walpurgs Night witches kitchen it all
seems to the haunted memory! Nor can we for
get the heavy price which France had to pay
for the villany of handful of her false sons
President of the republic was forced to re-
sign and thus to close in shame a career which
had seemed auspiciOus of noblest achievements
Prime ministers and cabinets were made and
unmade International relations were threat
ened with compromise. The very life Of the
republic itself was threatened, as it had not
been threatened by monarchlcal or imperialiSt
pretenders And all this to shield the vileness
of an Esterhazy and to tickle the egregious
vanity of Patty de Clam!
Happily, there other details in the record,
and other names beside those which have gone
down in infamy or in contempt The indomita-
BILE will Of Alfred Dreyfus, which enabled him
to shout defiance into the very faces of his
enemies, and which kept his mind sane and
his body alive for five years Of intended but
Intellectual murder, gives human nature fresh
cause for pride. The unfaltering cOnstancy and
devotion Of his family and friends form a pas
sage upon which recollection will admiringly
dwell. Nor will the world neglect to cherish
for their connection with this case If for moth
ing else-the names Of ZOla of Scheurer- Kest-
ner, of Rein2ch, Of Picquart, of Labori, Of
MOrnard, of Waldeck-R Rousseau, of Clemenceau
and Of others who in their unselfsh love Of
justice have impersonated the best spirit Of
chivalric France and in the end have vindicated
the honor of their country. Never was there q
a viler conspiracy, never was there a more
wicked attempt TO do injustice in the name Of
justice, and never was there a more complete
vindication Of the right, than this historic case
has presented. do you believe in God, com
mander" Victor Hugo makes one of his ro-
mantle figures inquire. Yes" is the reply
sometimes at times like thsr'