The Southern Israelite. (Augusta, Ga.) 1925-1986, April 10, 1931, Image 14

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Page 14 The Southern Israelite L. S. GILBERT Pres. and General Mgr. CREDIT SERVICE EXCHANGE ■ ■ ■ 312-20 CONNALLY BLDG. WAInut 6758 ATLANTA. GA. THE UNION CENTRAL LIFE INSURANCE CO. THOS. H. DANIEL General Agent 409 First National Bank Bldg. Associates N. F. Wolfe J. B. Wolfe J. V. Boehm M. Gershon Jw Gershon SOUTHERN BELTING CO ESTABLISHED IN 1890 VV Manufacturers of Leather Belting Sales Room ami Factory 236-238 Forsyth Street, S.W. Telephones WAInut 7221-7222 ATLANTA What Is Behind the Dreyfus Revival? (Continued from Page 10) ican readers who probably have for gotten the details of the "affaire” com pletely. There is no doubt in my mind, after having perused an immense amount of documents on the subject, that the general staff of France, nearly all of whose members were pupils of the Jesuits, picked on Dreyfus as the scapegoat. Suspicion of treason rested on five officers. Dreyfus was the only Jew among them, the only Jew on the general staff, moreover. He held this position in spite of the violent oppo sition of the majority of his chiefs. On the certificate of his appointment the chief of staff had written: "Ac cepted, but account is taken of his gen eral principles and conceptions.” It is clear what this meant. A Jew could never be considered as a part of the army, lie always remained an alien cle ment. The monarchist-clerical-reaction ary clique that made up the superior military corps in France during the twelve years that the "affaire” lasted covered every one of its own satellites, even at the price of falsified documents and the basest imposture, always in voking the pretest that the honor of the army warranted the silencing of the worst charges against its members. This, of course, is the Jesuit doctrine of the end justifying the means, pure and unadulterated. They would have put the damper on the theft of valuable military papers right at the beginning, but they had a Jew on whom they could unload the scandal. A Jew’s condemnation would not dishonor the army. Dreyfus wasn’t considered one of the army, anyway. But in the eyes of outsiders, to the con trary, the army would tend to gain in honorability by delivering up one of its own. And then Dreyfus was a demo crat, a man in opposition to the ideol ogy of the clerico-military caste. Every other guilty officer would have embar rassed the entire army. This one was good riddance. After than followed an amazing dec ade of falsifying, stealing, substituting papers in the records bearing on the case. Having once accused Dreyfus the general staff had first to invent charges and then back them up with proofs. This sordid game went on for ten years, until finally the light broke through and the man was set free. What does Dreyfus personally say of the new rumors about his case? Al though a quiet, shriveled little man who lives on the fashionable Avenue Friend- land, extremely wealthy himself as a member of a well-known family of bankers, he is still the “cocardier” mili tarist whose personal attitude always exasperated Clemenceau. Dreyfus has said again on this occasion that he wants the thing hushed up—not prin cipally because it might revive hatred and racial prejudice, but because he, of all men, thinks that a revival of the "affaire” cannot but harm the honor and reputation of the French army. I have seen Dreyfus but twice. Once at the nocturnal funeral of Clemcn- ceau last year. He stood in the crowd that paid a last tribute to the man who championed his cause with relentless energy until truth triumphed. The other occasion came several years ago, when the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti seemed imminent. In the com pany of another newspaperman I raced out to Deauville one Sunday afternoon to the Dreyfus country home to ask the "captain” to give his signature to a petition for a new trial for the two Italian anarchists. Caillaux had signed. Clemenceau cabled to Massachusetts on his own hook; the Tiger needed no prompting. Herriot came in. At the mo ment the United States embassy in Paris was surrounded by protective cordons of troops. Every American newspaper office in Paris was under heavy police surveillance. The two Italians maintained they were in nocent. Millions both in America and Europe thought the same. A w'ord from Dreyfus, the man who had once been in the same terrible predicament, might, we thought, have some weight in mellowing the heart of Gov. Fuller. Dreyfus refused his signature point- blank. It was then recalled that he had also refused to say a word on be half of Beiliss in the infamous ritual murder trial of almost a quarter cen tury ago. "But, Monsieur Dreyfus, these men say they are innocent,” I pleaded. "The entire world is protesting against the callous sentence. All we want is a new and impartial trial to arrive at the truth. It is only through the pressure of world public opinion that this can come about. Won't you say one word —you, who have yourself gone through hell?” The C aptain shook his head and dis appeared into another room. "Go away!” said his son, Pierre. "My father cannot be bothered. This is not his business!” Ah, to be sure! But that was not the way Zola talked and Clemenceau acted when Dreyfus was a prisoner on Devil’s Island. Copyright 1931 by S. A. F. S. TRY KRE-MEL AMERICA’S Four Flavors Ready in Five Minutes NEW DESSERT 2 packages 15c Will serve eight AT ALL RETAIL GROCERY STORES KRE-MEL is made by the makers of MAZOLA Salad Oil and KARO Syrup. Emory University EMORY UNIVERSITY GA. “Quality First” THE Patent Button Co. Waterbury, Conn., U. S. A. FLFXO BUTTONS ... At this time of the year we take this means of expressing our s ncere good wishes. Harry E. Richardson District Manager 1011 Glenn Building THE PATENT BUTTON CO. Atlanta, Georgia BOATENREITER PLUMBING CO. Contractors Plumbing, Heating WAInut 3151-3152 148 Houston St., N. 1