The trial of M. Urbain Gohier for libelling the French
Army ended on Tuesday in an unexpected verdict. M. Gohier had vehemently arraigned the whole system, declaring that the barracks were hotbeds of vice and disease, that the tyranny of the officers was excessive, that the men were trained in moral cowardice, and that their chiefs were corrupt. The Public Prosecutor called these accusations most unpatriotic as well as defamatory, and summoned the jury to punish them in the name of the country. It was supposed, therefore, that M. Urbain Gohier—a man of high character, though a little fanatic on his subject—would receive a severe sentence, but M. Camille Pelletan, for nineteen years Reporter of the Budget Committee, testified that as regarded corruption he believed the accusations were true. He had himself seen reason to suspect great frauds in the accounts, but the War Office invariably refused the Committee any information. Several officers testified to the accuracy of M. Gohier's descriptions, and even Generals wrote to him letters of approvaL He was therefore acquitted, and left the Court amid roars of approval from the audience, who are apparently beginning to recover from the temper which has infected all France. The verdict and its reception will increase the courage of the Court of Caseation.
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