M. Zola publishes a long account in Tuesday's Aurore of
his examination of the dossier of his father at the War Office. The results of his efforts to vindicate the memory of his father, cruelly aspersed as a cashiered adventurer by the Petit Journal (against which he has brought a suit for defama- tion), throw a great deal of light on the haphazard methods of the War Office, and the opportunities which existed until the appointment of General de Galliffet for tampering with documents. His father's dossier, for example, which, after lying for sixty years at the War Office, was en- trusted to the notorious Colonel Henry in March,. 1898, had no cover indicating the number or nature of its con- tents until June in that year, and whereas the letter containing certain accusations against M. Zola's father has been (so he considers) obviously garbled, none of the docu- ments setting forth the case for the defence are to be found. One cannot help admiring the filial zeal and persistence of M. Zola, who challenges admiration in every public capacity save that of novelist.
Previous page
