The French Minister of Justice, M. Valle, has decided to
submit ex-Captain Dreyfus's demand for a fresh inquiry to the Commission of Revision, a body composed of three officials of the Ministry of Justice and three Judges of the Court of Cassation. This reopening of the affaire, as the Paris correspondent of the Times points out in a lucid summary of the case, had its origin in a debate in the Chamber last April, when M. Jaures protested against the accusations brought by the Nationalists against Dreyfusard Republicans, and General Andre declared that the Govern- ment TVWS ready to institute an administrative inquiry. The demand for a re-trial which M. Dreyfus then made was not acceded to ; but General Andre having since completed his investigations and communicated the results to M. Va115, the latter informed his colleagues on Friday week—the day after M. Dreyfus had renewed his appeal—that he had resolved on a step which, it is alleged, is within his own discretion, and for which he assumes the responsibility. It appears that the Commission of Revision has only a consultative faculty, and that its decisions do not bind the Minister of Justice. That General Andre has discovered some "new facts" seems certain, conjecture pointing to forged documents which are believed to have influenced the verdict at Rennes. But in view of the limited powers of the Court, and the obvious determination of the Government to respect the Resolution of the Chamber in April not to allow the case to pass beyond the domain of the law, the reopening of the affairs has so far provoked no explosion of popular or political feeling.
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