New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-19
THE EMPEROR AND THE EMPIRE.

To the disinterested outsider. the German
Empire seems drifting revOlution-ward. Or, per
haps. it is more than drifting since It's ruler mas
given the command Full steam ahead. 80
oro,t nd so strong is that empire in Its relations
with the rest of the world that it is easy to over
look tho forces of digaifection and disruption
thai are at work in it's very heart. But they are
there They are at work From time to time
they are forced upon our notice, ana then we
see that in no other enlightened country or Eu-
rope are signs SO omnous Not even III ueo'-
burtlened Italy Is there SO much or menace 10 the
existing order. or so much reason Tor popular
dissatisfaction. Nor does the case anywhere else
seem SO hopeless Of cure. for In Germany alone
il IS the sovereign himself who is the chief cause
Of growing trouble. Nowhere is there ii civilized
monarch who Is doing less for his country's good
and more to irritate and ALLEVIATE his people.
His latest public utterance is an example to
the point He was addressing some new recruits
~ the army He reminded them that fhey had
sworn allegiance to Him, that they had the honor
Of wearing His coat, that IL was special honor
to serve Him and 10 be under His eyes, and that
they must ever be ready to obey His call, and
eyhorted them 10 show themselves true and dufi-
mi 70 Him 1t was Il" and My" and Me- all
the way through They are To be not German
soldiers. but William the Seconds soldiers They
are 10 fight not for the Fatherland. but for Will
lam the second. They are TO serve not the state,
not the People, not Germany, but William the
Second in the first person. singular Not for
generations has there been such a parade
Of egotIsm The grand old Kaiser who founded
the modern German Empire. never spoke In such
a strain: nor did his noble son. the hero Of two
Of the worlds epoch making battles and the
leader who. by sheer force of personal greatness,
swept the other German States into line with
Prussia in 1870. Even Bonaparte, selfish esotist
though he was AT least spoke OF France ana OF
her glory. and urged his soldiers to fight FOR her
sake Ii was reserved for this uniried youth 10
make such claim of personal Importance as had
not been heard since the days of the Grand
Monarch
Nor IS II to be said that this Is merely the
Empcror's style Of speech, and that it does not
really mean what 1t seems TO mean. On the
contrary, the spirit goes far beyond the letter.
Germany suffers from serious economic evils,
and appeals to the Government for relief BE
licve in Ne and We shall be saved Is the En-
peror's sole reply; and then he adds new taxes
10 the National burden. Men venture to criticise
the doings of the Government, or at least to ask
whether some other laws or policy would not be
better. They have insulted Me- cries the En-
pcror and claps them into prison. And so II goes
all along the line, until today there Is only one
man in all Germany; one man. and forty million
slaves. Is It any wonder that the slaves are be-
ginning to ask themselves IL this Is all the
German Empire means? That Is Just what they
are asking. secretly but none the less earnestly.
Prussans are wondering II they fought at Sadowa
and Sedan merely hat William the Second might
say 1T is a special honor for You to be My serv.
ants" Bavarans and Wurtemburgers want to
know II they practically merged their national
identity and Independence into that OF Prussia
merely that the King of the latter might say,
THE Empre-t Is T.
Germans are good humorcd and tolerant