New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-04-23
Treason Charge Dropped
as French Senators Con-
vict Ex-Pre1nier of AS
sOciation With GERMANY
One to ) Years i'm
Prison Is Penalty
Throngs About Cham
ber During Noisy Ses-
sion; Feeling Divided

TAR1O, April ~ tby Inc Associated
ss).-Joseph Caillaux, former Pre-
mier Of France and twice Minister Of
Finance, stands tonight convicted Of
having placed his personal political am
bition during the war higher than the
interests Of the country that honored
him and gave him BIRTH CailIaux, while
escaping conviction for high treason,
was found to have been recklessly i'm
prudent and very close to REASONABLY
ambitious. For such is the interpreta-
tion Of the verdict of guilty of com
merce and correspondence with the
enemy" which was rendered to-day
against him by the French Senate
This is the first verdict of the sort
rendered in any of the Allied countries
since the war began. commerce." as
interpreted by the Senators who were
the Judges not meaning financial trad
ing, but commerce by means of com
mon ideas, while correspondence" in
this particular case is employed in the
sense of association.
Verdict Quickly Rendered
The Senators entered Luxembourg
Palace this afternoon with the deter
mination to have finished with the
affair, which has taken up their time
during the past three months. They be-
gan the discussion in . vigorous. bust
nessllke manner, presenting u strange
contrast to their bored attitude during
the closing days Of the trial. No one,
however, took seriously the prediction
that the verdict would be reached this
evening. But after the court had dis
posed OF the high treason charge and
that of Intelligence with the enemy
and had declared its own sovereignty
in less than four hours, word was
passed that decision was impending,
and Luxembourg Gardens were. filled to
overflowing in the neighborhood of the
palace by dense crowds. and police re-
serves had to be called out.
The ballots followed one another
with great rapidity. The partisans Of
the former premier were thrilled with
JOY and hope when the treason charge
was so promptly eliminated, and conf
IDENTIFY predicted acquittal, and began to
apportion among themselves the port
folos in the Cabinet which Caillaux
was expected to form within six
months after his release
When they failed in their attempt to
have the Senate refrain from establish
ing itself as the highest constitutional!
authority, with power to find the ac-
cused not guilty as charged, but guilty
of lesser oHense, their enthusiasm
waned.
Chamber Shut to Public
* The doors of the deliheration cham
ber we're closed-almost hermetically
sealed. Two ushers stood by each for
the purpose apparently Of warding off
,te,,f
casionally a disheveled, perspiring Sen
ator would rush out of the chamber
and make direct line for the Senate
bar, where he was Immediately sur
rounded by correspondents offering to
purchase for him the best vintages in
France if only he would talk.
At times the noise-shouts and the
ringing of bells-Reard within the
chamber was almost deafening. 1t
seemed on several occasions as though
the deliberations might degenerate into
a free-for.all fight. 1t was stormy
scene, jurors room in criminal
court building multiplied by twenty
The verdict may mean a sentence Of
five years banishmcnt for Caillaux,
which may. however, be diminished to
one year, according as eXtenuating cir
cumstances are found. Incarceration
in fortress is another sentence which
MAJ be pronounced tomorrow when the
High Court reconvenes. 1t was the con-
sensus that the sentence would be
light and that the twenty eight months
which Caillaux has spent in jail and a
sanatorium would be taken into con-
sideration.
ExPremier in SanatOrium
The former Premier's attorneys were
dsconsolate over the verdict and
(Enrtinned nm neft naual