THE DREYFUS DRAMA.

Waikato Times, Volume 110, Issue 18378, 11 July 1931, Page 14 (Supplement)

THE DREYFUS DRAMA.

The mystery of the famous “Bordereau" (or “covering letter"), on the strength of which Colonel Dreyfus was falsely convicted of treason, Is at last cleared up from family papers and other documents in the startling book, “The Dreyfus Affair,” whica Dreyfus’s nephew, M. Jaoques Kayser," has just published. The “Bordereau,” as everyone knows, was actually written by Major Esterhazv, who was the real traitor. It was posted by him to Colonel Schwartzkoppen, the German military attache at that date In Paris But Schwartzkoppen’s recently • published papers show that it never reached him. „ . What happened to it was this, according to M. Kayser—- ’ “Brucker, an agent, who had been dismissed from the (French) Intelligence Branch, and who had sought to reinstate himself, while prowling round the German Embassy succeeded In getting hold of a letter which had just been placed In the military attache’s letter-box. It was a sheet of thin paper. After a hasty perusal, Brucker realised its importance and proceeded to offer it to the ■Ministry of War." I “Alloe In Wonderland” Trial. •f And thus all the trouble began. .'The handwriting had a certain resemblance to that of Dreyfus, then a captain serving on the French General Staff. „ ■ But the oontents of the Bordereau proved that It could not have come fi’om him; the author of it stated that

His Nephew Writes of the Incredible Esterhazy. Some Interesting Disclosures,

he was about to leave for manoeuvres, and Dreyfus was not ordered oa manoeuvres. Dreyfus, moreover, was wealthy and patriotic; he had no conceivable motive for treason.

The oourts-martlal which followed resembled the judicial proceedings In “Alioo In Wonderland” —“sentence first, trial afterwards.” Because Dreyfus was a Jew, and because most of the General Staff officers were antiSemite, they decided that he must be guilty. No one troubled about the value of the evidence.

They entered into a huge conspiracy to convict the innocent man, Dreyfus, and to screen the guilty, Esterhazy. Documents were forged on such a scale that the contents of the official “Dossier" expanded from 1 to 374; and most of the 374 were It Is an extraordinary tale that is set forth by M. Kayser—of “veiled women," microphones fixed In German officers’ rooms in Paris, with wires carried up the chimneys, by which French agents could listen to the conversation, and a very network of espionage ancs counter-espionage. Most amazing of all Is the fact that the two courts-martial which, condemned Dreyfus so unjustly wore

composed of honourable officers. Forty-four Nights In Irons. A heartrending account Is given of the abominable fashion in which he was treated. He was placed every night in double Irons at Cayenne. “Two Irons in the form of a U joined to a metal stem which was fastened to the bed. The feet were placed In the loop, which was fastened so that the smallest movement was Impossible. It was an Image of crucifixion. For the space of 44 nights—and they were tropical nights—he suffered this agony.’’ Not till 11 years after his first conviction was Dreyfus publicly cleared of the false charges brought against him, and reinstated in the French Army. Even to-day, after all that has been written about it, the Dreyfus drama teems with mysteries. As M. Kayser says in his book, there are a number of obscure points which still require elucidation. And why the French Staff should have screened Esterhazy as they did is one of these. They were not all traitors. Dreyfus himself declared: “My affair Is very complicated; fifty years will have to elapse before people can understand It."