Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-12-04

7 .,,,,u,,,,or, WILLIAMS BAD BREAK
Emperor WILLIAM, of Germany, is an
exceedingly young man for an Emperor
a fact which may account for the tone
Of his instructions to army recruits
concerning the oath OF allegiance TO
him, in which he said:
.sYou have, my children, sworn ali ietsr
a,ce That means that you nave gwen
/ Yourselves 10 me body and SOUL you nave
/ univ one enemy. That is my enemy. IN
I the nresent socialistic agitation l may or
der Won. which God forbid, to shoot down
vour reIatives-vour brothers, even your
3arents-and YOU must obey without d
murmur" p-l.oo 20
When soldier swears allegiance TO
his country, of course, his oath COM
pells him to shoot, II occasion requires,
even his brother, or father, if they are
among his eountry's enemies against
whom be is fghting, but whether SOL
der or citizen, mans first duty is TO
GOD. not TO any man, be he ever so great
an autocrat, and when Emperor VIII
LIAM tells his recruits that their oatn
Of allegiance to him "means that you
have given yourselves to me body ana
SOUL" the young Kaiser is guilty oil the
worst blasphemy. He places himself
before. GOD.
In our own late civil war many a
brother fought against brother and son
against father. Painful as it may have
been, their patriotism and oaths OF al
legiance TO their opposing causes com
PEELED them to il, but, although better
or truer soldiers or more patriotic men
never fought in opposing armies, not a
man who wore the blue or the gray con-
sidered that his leaders "owned" him;
and, had any general dared to make
such . speech to them as Emperor VIII
LIAM has made to his recruits they would
have laid down their arms.
The young Kaiser forgets that SOL
der is also a man, and that he who is
most truly a man is the best soldier.
Emperor WILLIAM would eliminate
every spark of manhood from his SOL
diers, and reduce them TO senseless
| and soulless automatons to be maneu-
vered and launched upon the enemy by
him as he would any mechanism OF war.
He loses sight Of the most important
fact that the patriot is the best soldier,
and that the true patriot must &C
knowledge that his duty is to his COP
first, and his country next and firmly
believe that his soul is his own and
does not belong TO the Emperor, or any
one else.
Germany never won victory with
such soldiers as he would make OF his
recruits, and it never will. 1t is evident
that Emperor WILLIAM does not know
men as general and leader OF men
should. But he is very young and may
yet learn how to address men Of whom
he desires 10 make loyal soldiers.
THE attempt to compromise things
between SHERMAN and FORAKER by
ousting Senator BRIcE from the United
States Senate and electing both SHEER
MAN and FORAKER makes little head
way. So many Republican United
States Senators have publicly express
ed themselves against the plot that it has
now little if any practical interest. The
claim is made that Mr.. BRIcE is not an
inhabitant Of Ohio, as the constitution
requires, but as no term Of residence is
prescribed, OF course, Mr.. BRIcE could,
in any event, easily upset this claim.
Political theft, however, comes so nat
urally to Republican leaders that it is
kleptOmania in their case and they can't
help undertaking it even in the face of
certain failure.