Let me tell you how the Dreyfus case was brought to my knowledge in 1894. There were three of us in the cabinet who were informed of the examination at the beginning. After a cabinet meeting held in the office of the minister of war, General Mercier, the minister of war, asked me to go to the office of the president of the cabinet. The three being assembled in M. Dupuy’s office, General Mercier told us that very important documents concerning the national defence had been communicated by a staff officer to a foreign power, and he gave the name of the suspected officer, Captain Dreyfus. The belief of the minister of war was based, in the first place, on the nature of the documents concerned, of which only Captain Dreyfus could have had knowledge. They were locked up in the fourth bureau, said our colleague, with which Captain Dreyfus was connected, and he alone could have communicated them.
“On this first point, gentlemen, let us try to connect all the complex incidents of this trial with each of the points that I argue. You remember the reply made by Colonel Picquart, and also by General Gonse and General de Pellieux, to the questions that I put to them. Now let us continue.
Furthermore, the general told me that he had had experts examine the letter which accompanied these documents, and that they had given an opinion that it was in the writing of Captain Dreyfus. Finally, our colleague told us about the dictation from the famous bordereau. When General Mercier had told this story, which, you can imagine, made a great impression upon us, he turned to me, and said: “I desired, my dear colleague, to relate these facts in your presence, in order to ask your advice. I do not wish to rest my opinion solely on the proofs that have been gathered. I want you to name a counter-expert, so that complete light may be shed on the authenticity of this important document.” I made haste to send for M. Baudoin, president of the civil court of the Seine, who suggested M. Bertillon.
“You see, gentlemen, whether I was right in saying, after M. Bertillon’s testimony: ‘The accusation, there you have it!’ For, indeed, it is M. Bertillon who determines the prosecution, because it is to him that they apply for a final expert opinion.
The minister of war told us that it was through one of his agents that this document, found in a waste-basket, had been communicated to him. The cabinet was not informed of the phases of the matter, until after the arrest of the guilty man.
“Were you aware, Monsieur le Ministre, of another document incriminating Dreyfus, outside of the bordereau?”
No, never were any secret documents mentioned to us. I can say to you that none of my colleagues were informed of the communication of secret documents to the council of war without the knowledge of the accused and his counsel. Some time ago I endeavored to recall exactly, in the presence of my friend and former colleague, Poincaré, everything that then took place. I asked him if his recollections agreed with mine, and I found myself entirely corroborated. A single thing strikes me. Why has there been no frank denial of the secret communication of documents, which, indeed, would have constituted closed doors within closed doors?
“And what does M. Dupuy, the president of the cabinet, say to ‘Le Gaulois’? This:
Never did I know of any document incriminating the condemned man, except the bordereau, and I believe that my colleagues in the cabinet are in the same position as myself. If any secret documents were communicated to the council of war, I say frankly that I can only regret it as absolutely contrary to the law and to the rights of defence.
“What I wish you now to notice, gentlemen, is that, at the time when the arrest of Dreyfus was about to be determined upon, there was no secret document, no charge except the bordereau and the dictation scene; and that even of these not the entire cabinet, but only M. Dupuy and M. Guérin, had been informed by the minister of war, proving, as I have just said, that General Mercier took everything upon himself.