made this important declaration: “Judge Bidault de L’Isle affirmed on
his honour, as a man and as a magistrate, that he had never received
any order of the kind. But it appears impossible to me that, if it is
in existence, we should not be informed about the existence of this
document. Does it exist, or does it not exist? If it has disappeared
let us be told so.” The declaration of Monsieur Jaurès was responsible
for more uproar in the House, in the middle of which Monsieur Delahaye
was heard to declare that the declaration of Monsieur Fabre had
existed, and that Monsieur Calmette, who had obtained possession of it,
always carried it about with him. Monsieur Delahaye declared further
that he had seen it, that Monsieur Briand, who was Minister of Justice
in the Monis Cabinet, had received it when he became Minister of
Justice, and that the document confirmed the accusation of Ministerial
intervention, which Monsieur Calmette had published in the _Figaro_.
Monsieur Doumergue followed Monsieur Delahaye in the rostrum. The Prime
Minister, who was evidently much affected, declared his horror of these
accusations against members of the Cabinet. “I have read the official
summary of the work of the Commission of Inquiry,” he said, “and it
states that Monsieur Bidault de L’Isle declared that he had been under
no pressure whatever, and that he had adjourned the Rochette trial of
his own free will. Monsieur Delahaye has declared,” said the Prime
Minister, “that the letter he saw was a copy of the original. What is
the value of this copy? The Government is perfectly prepared to favour
a fresh Inquiry, perfectly ready to bring a clear light to bear on
this question, but we want proof. Where is the proof?” And the Prime
Minister sat down amid a yell of applause from his political friends.
Then the bombshell fell. Monsieur Barthou stepped into the rostrum,
declared that the declaration of the Public Prosecutor Monsieur Fabre
was in his possession, and with one of those dramatic gestures of which
Frenchmen have the secret, produced a faded sheet of paper from his
pocket, unfolded it, slapped it on the desk in front of him, and cried
“And here it is!” (“Ce document, le voici!”) “This statement,” he said,
written by Monsieur Victor Fabre, “was handed to Monsieur Briand when
he was Minister of Justice. When I succeeded Monsieur Briand he handed
it over to me. I refused to allow it to become known, but I consider
that the time has come for its production in this house.” And in a
clear voice Monsieur Barthou read the following aloud:
Le mercredi 2 mars 1911, j’ai été mandé par M. Monis,
Président du Conseil.
Il voulait me parler de l’affaire Rochette.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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