Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-22
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

party fever runs high, and especially
when international or interraciaI In.
| tr1gue grows desperate, forgery is an
easy weapon of offense.
There is the case of Capt. Dreyfus.
the victim of terrible race prejudice In
the French army. He was proved"
guilty of having betrayed national
secrets to Germany, and the docu.
ments We're brought into court and
identified as in his handwriting"
He was disgraced. his sword broken
in front of the arm%, his uniform
stripped of military stttons, and he
was drummed out of the army and
exiled
1t CHANGED that, prior to that
tragedy, Dreyfus had written a letter
to Col. Buneau Varilla, applying for
a certain assignment in military en-.
gineering. Col. Varilla, now owner.
with his brother, of the Paris news.
paper, LIE Matin, remembered that
Dreyfus letter in his files, and care
fuliy studied 1t, proving eventually
that the evidence on which Dreyfus
was convicted was an absolute
forgery.
varilla later told DR.. Charles
Moore, chief of the manuscript di.
vision OF the Library of Congress.
now ne had proved the differences in
the handwriting in the genuine Drey.
rus letter and in the evidence
\ X y X
That description set DIR. Moore n
thinking of a famous letter in AmerA
ca. 1t was President Lincoln's to Mrs
blxby, the mother of FIVE sons who
mad all persisted in battle, expressing
the gratitude of the Nation to the he.
roic mother.
Aueged reproductions of that Lin.
coin letter have been published, but
although they purport to be photo.
graphic facsimiles of the original.
DR.. Moore proves that all are for
geries-not in Lincoln's handwriting.
The wording is undisputed, but the
a Ia or handwriting is false.
The actual original is lost.
In the campaign for the presidency
oy Gen. James A. Garfield, a letter
was circulated, two weeks before cleo.
tion, purporttng to be a facsimile of a
letter written by Garfield to II L.
Morey OF the Employers Union. Gar.
neid was a member of Congress when
the letter was dated-January "a.
1881. 1t defends the employment of
Chinese cheap labor. This would have
ruined his political future, but the
forgery or handwriting was too clum-
sy to gain any credence, after Gar.
field had written a vigorous denial.
October %, 1885. saying, Its stupid
and brutal sentiments I never Ax.
pressed nor entertained"
In view of the written program of
the Soviet Communists to attack the
personal regulations Of all officials
OF nigh Office, it is expected that some
clever forgeries will yet indicate that
PRESIDENTS and Secretaries of State
in modern times, are quite as bad as
We're Gn0r0a IVochinrto,~
Adams.
In President Coolidge's address tn.
gay, In honor of Washington, he out.
lines a plan for international celebra.
tion In 1882 of Washingtons 2OOth
join. ~ WIZ
In an article published in the Lon.
don Express. in 1904. written by the
late Andrew Carnegie, the distinguish.
ed Scotchman said:
when we come to the population
or the United Kingdom, we And al.
ready In England and Wales SIS per
square mile. What thoughtful man
could wish much further increase3
Mark the contrast! America
1t Is evident that Green was
right when he wrote, years ago, that
the home Of the English speaking race
was not on the Clyde and the Thames,
but upon the Hudson, the Delaware.
the Mississippi and the st. Lawrence.
There is not room for 1t in the dear o.
home. but there is. fortunately. in tie
new lands OF her children in Canada
and the United States"
The famous English Journalist, Will.
liam Stead. in 1900 published a book,
"Americanization of the World" in
which he, too, predicted a reuniting
OF Great Britain and Canada with the
United States, the capital to b In
America.
In the first Lincoln campaign, Sec
rotary Seward made a speech upon
the steps Of the capitol of Minnesota.
n which, with the eye Of prophecy and
the voice Of oratory, he predicted that
the ultimate capital Of all North
America, from Panama to Alaska,
would be mot far from" where he
then stood. That was before his
folly" in buying Alaska. Perhaps
1882 may start toward the fulfllment
Of prophecies, and descendants OF Gen.
may find the sequel to the
of his alleged love OF the king
he was fighting. But as all prophets
agree the capital will be In America,
why not In Washington?
fr~~.-4~Sx to41 hv rsanI ~ .CoyIinal