at the War Office. el. Picquart's charge against Major Esterhazy was made eighteen months ago. The only result was that Colonel Picquart, an officer of unblemished reputation, was sent away in disgrace to Tunis while the shady Major was left undisturbed. When the present agitation rendered it impossible to keep the affair secret any longer the -police searched Col. Picquart's house in Paris before he arrived, but although they wore told where letters affecting Major Esterhazy were to be found, no steps were taken to obtain them until the Figaro threatened to print facsimiles. Under these ciroumstalices people are asking whether Major Esterhazy is not under the protection of some influential person whose name has not yet been mentioned. The secrecy with which General de Pellieux is conducting his enquiry is not calculated to reassure public opinion. There is some reason to believe that it may end in a very unsatisfactory way. M. Scheurer-Kestner was informed by General de Pellieux that he did not propose to enquire into the authorship of the memorandum and that it was impossible for him, he said, to go behind the finding of the court-martial, which had decided that Dreyfus wrote the memorandum. If this is the case, it is a pity the enquiry wac begun. Its sole raison détre was M. Mathieu Dreyfus' letter accusing Major Esterhazy of being the writer of the memorandum; but if. General de Pellieux had made up his mind that the finding of the court-martial could not be impugned, what was the use of taking evidence?' This morning's papers nae a letter from Major Esterhazy to eneral Saussier asking to be tried by court martial in order to have an opportunity o
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.