Smyrna times., 1888-03-14
The Emperor William.

The Emperor William.
One of the great figures of the Euro
pean stage passed away Friday, be-
loved by his people, honored by all
nations. The Emperor William found
Prussia feeble, misgoverned State,
Overshadowed by Austria. He lived
to take up the sword of Frederick the
Great and by striking down the rival
State to make Germany under Prussian
leadership the strongest Power on the
Continent. He found the Fatherland
a geographical expression" He
left her more powerful than she was in
the days of Charles the Fifth. In his
youth he served in the closing cam
paign against Napoleon. He lived "to
put Germany in the saddle" and to
overthrow a second Napoleonic EN-
pire that menaced the peace ofEurope.
five analyze the Emperor's career
we shall find along with many homely
virtues and sterling qualities of char
acter two elements which enable him
to render these browning services to
his country and to the world. The
first was his priotism. He honored the
Fatherland he loved his people. The
short cOmings of his domestic policy
haUa haan p,opvy oDI eor;o,,o - H.
have been faults of the head, not of
the heart. A thorough before he was
King or Emperor, his place was at the
head of his armies in their arduous
campaigns; but when his country was
once united and strong, he sought to
make the people industrious, prosper
Gus and happy. If Germany has been
kept in the saddle, fully armed and
ready for battle, it has been because he
believed that what had been won dur
ing his reign must be protected for
many generations, and not because he
wished to make the Empire trouble
some and meddlesome on the CONT
nent. Almost as useful to the Father
land as his patriotism was that rare
talent-sagacity in the choice of advi-
sors. No monarch since the First
Napoleon has displayed equal judy
ment in selecting Ministers and Gen
erals. Bismarck was called to his
councils soon after his reign opened,
and MOltke was placed at the COM
mand of the armies in the great cam
paigns. Without these two men Ger
many could not have been what it is
to-day. To the Emperor belongs the
credit of discovering them, of placing
implicit confidence in them, and of
keeping them in his service.
1t seems almost invidious to speak of
the shortcomings of the Emperor's
policy; but in a world where events
move rapidly, and where without a
pause new figures take the place of
the old, the lessons and warnings of
every great career must be pointed out
while the impressions Of the magni-
tude of the pnblic services and deeds
are strongest and freshest. The Ger
man States have been united, but the
people have not made any marked adj
vance in constitutional and Parliament
tary government. Universal suffrage
was granted as tradition of Frankfort
but it proved barren privilege. 1t
has not taken away from the Reichstag
the reprOach of being little more than
a debating society. 1t has not made
the Kings Ministers responsible to the
representatives of the people. It has
not secured to those who exercise the
common privilege of citizenship those
malienable rights which were eloquent
ly advocated by Stein and solemnly
affirmed in the Frankfort Constitution.
1t has not made Parliamentary gov
eminent reality nor converted de-
mOcracy into progressive force. In
all these respects Germany lags
behind Italy, Austro- Hungary, France,
Belgium and Holland. Military pres
tige has not satisfied the political in
stincts of the nation. Something has
been lacking. The smoke has lifted
from the battle-felds; the people are
Disseminated; emigration has gone on
apace; the Fatherland has not pros
pered. In the struggle for actual pow
er the Chancellor has steadily improved
his position, and the people themselves
have made little progress in political
government. There is a lack of what
Matthew Arnold terms 'civic courage. -
1t will require a wiser generation
than ours to adjust the balance between
the EmperOr's vast public services to
Germany and his shortcomings as a
constitutional ruler Certain it is that
he left undone and honOrs him for all
that he did to make her what she is
united at home, powerful abroad. Her
sons will unite on both sides of the
Atlantic in grief. The oldest of mod
ern kings last hours were embittered
only by the sorrOwful thought that his
noble son, a soldier through and
through like himself, was not destined
to survive him long.-N Y. Tribune.
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