n of thirty-three was appointed under the chairmanship of
Henri Brisson. The Royalists and Radicals were having their innings
against the Government, and their newspapers continued to publish rumors
and "revelations." The commission called for the autopsy of Reinach. The
Loubet Cabinet, refusing to grant it, was voted down and resigned. The
Ribot Ministry was then constituted, but at intervals lost successively
two of its most prominent members, Rouvier and Freycinet, accused of
complicity in the scandals. Even the leaders of the Radicals, Clemenceau
and Floquet, in time found themselves involved. The former was charged
with tricky dealings with Cornelius Herz, the latter was shown to have
demanded money from the company, when Minister, in order to use it for
political subsidies.

In December the Cabinet decided to arrest Charles de Lesseps, Marius
Fontane, Henri Cottu, and a former Deputy, Sans-Leroy, accused of having
accepted a bribe of two hundred thousand francs. At the same time, on
the basis of the seizure of twenty-six cheque stubs at the bank used by
the baron de Reinach, the Minister of Justice proceeded against ten
prominent Deputies and Senators, among whom was Albert Grevy, former
Governor-General of Algeria, and brother of Jules Grevy. The Government
seemed panic-stricken in its readiness to sacrifice, on mere suspicion,
prominent members of its party. All the parliamentaries accused were, in
due time, exonerated.

The directors of the company came up for trial twice. The first time,
with M. Eiffel, in January-February, 1893, and the second time, with
other defendants, in March, before different jurisdictions on varying
charges, they were condemned to fine and imprisonment. On appeal, in
April, these condemnations were revised or annulled. One person became
the scapegoat, a former Minister of Public Works named Baihaut,
condemned to civil degradation, five years' imprisonment, and a heavy
fine.

Scandal was, however, not satisfied with these names. There was also
talk of a mysterious list of one hundred and four Deputies charged with
accepting bribes from Arton. Moreover, it was felt that quashing the
indictments against prominent men like Rouvier and Albert Grevy was poor
policy. If they were innocent they could prove their innocence. Under
the circumstances suspicion would still be rife. The state of general
anarchy was also revealed by the evidence of the wife of Henri Cottu,
who testified that agent