The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-06-03

II -
court 10 the eass Of ons particular
imam deere was NOW a preyf lstfaif
lpolttieal. social rellg ious. universals
;1litt d single word laurtce BaEress
has eli AIRED I'll EN- Ind 3 of the PariIas
tmsnt afy maj britt conc erning the real
moi Of thelr mt onal homage Stp
| szola IN gu have triumph ed the
In the collected aedi tions OF Zola.s
works the document known to thu
wide world from It's imperious formula
|"J'accuse.r appears only as ga letter
to II. Felix Fallre, resident OF the re-
public. Three years later lola, who
could not forsee the near. approach OF
sudden death, wrote second letter.
which the world carcely noticed, ito
NJ. Loubet, Preident OF the republic
He expressed. with that violent elo-
quence to which battle raised him his
sore disappointment at the apparent
ending OF Case and Afrair-Dreyfus
convicted a second time and accept
ing pardon, and lola himself am
nestled against his will. and new ac-
cess to the courts, thus seemingly
barred. These two essential docu-
ments. by which alone. perhaps. lola
has earned Immortality. i are some
what lost in their chronogtcal placs
among his writings on the Dreyfus at
fair, all making UP a single volume to
which his favorite words have been
given as title: la verite en- Mar.
che ss!l
lola did not live to see the defini-,
tive rehabilitation Of Dreyfus by the
Court of Cessation in 190G--and even
then there was much lacking to salts.
fy his desires. But the incomplete
publication OF the testimony given be-
fore this tribunal, legally and judicial:
" supreme, is sufficient to estimate
the support which ten years have
brought to his first accusations. OF
the consequence of his letter ,"J'ac-
cuse" in French politics and society
and religion. 1t is impossible to give
any estimate for they have started to
rumble infinitely down the ages.
1t Is difficult to realize now how ll:-
tie was known In general about the
Dreyfus case when lola took up the
cudgels. The original trial. so far as
was known, had passed OF regularly.
Anti-Semitic influence was suspected
from the obvious fact that the motor
| ious Libre Parole had information at
first hand from what was secret tri.
bunal legally.
Now, after ten years. after all the
work done by the Court OF Cessation
to prove the absence from the start OF
any case against Dreyfus. there has
still been no judicial clearing up OF
what threatens to remain one OF the
problems of history. And. which Is
worse, no legal responsibilities have
been hxed.
Zola himself wrote bitterly to Presi-
dent Loubet when amnesty had come
to "close forcibly" this first period of
the affair. which, SO far ms lola and
his accusations are concerned. still
endures. "They promise us. as an In.
demni,y, the justice of history. 1t Is
little like the Catholic paradise,
which helps to keep quiet on earth
wretched dupes choking with hunger.
Suffer, my friends. eat your dry bread,
sleep on the ground, while the lucky
Of the world keep in featherbeds ANA
are fell on luxuries. So leave GRIMM
ais to walk In honor while we, the
just, are pushed into the gutter. And
when we are dead We shall have
statues"-he did not add prophetically
IN the Pantheon.