The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-11-25
This restoration Of inaependent din.

lomatic relations between nom Prus-
sian states of Germany and the various
foreign powers, notably France and
Russia. may be regarded as the latest
of what may be described as Par
ticularism'' on the part of the Southern
Germans. Every one nf the readers
of The Tribune will recall the sensa-
tional episode at Moscow last spring
when, at q banquet given by the Ger
man colony to the German royalties
present at the corona ton festivities.
the chairman having proposed the
health Of Prince Henry of Prussia and
of the princes in his train" Prince
Louis, heir-presuEaptive to the throne
of Bavaria, arose from his seat in vio-
lent anger exclaiming that neither he
nor any one of the German princes
present formed part of Prince Hen
ry's train" that they were mot vas
sails of the Germsn emperor, but allies
of the King of Prussia" on IAN equal
footing" and every bit as independ-
ent in their sovereign prerogatives and
rights as the emperor"
These utteranCes, which were receiv-
ed with manifestations of enthusiastic
approval throughout all non-PrussiGn
Germany. and which have never yet
been officially recalled or disapproved.
We're preceded by the refusal of the old
Prince Regent of Bavaria, two years
previously, to respond To the invitation
to meet the emperor at Metz on the
ground that he had no intention what
Soever "of parading on the esp!anade'
OF that great fortress as If he We're "a
mere orderly officer of the King of
Prussia" on another occasion when
the emperor passed through Munich Il
deaf ear was turned to his intiination
that he would like to review the Ra-
varian troops. Nor can the Prince Re
gent he blamed in the matter. For a
few months ago, when the emperor, on
invitation of the King Of SaXony-that
fine old veteran of the Franco-GermGn
war, and one of its most successful
Eenerals-reviewed the Saxon army
near Leipzig, he so far forgot what was
due to his venerable ally and hospit-
able host as to publish in the Imperial
Gazette" at Berlin a general order ad-
dressed to the kings brother, Prince
George, who. as field marshal, COM
manded the parade, expressing his
qualification at the manner In which
the prince had trained and led my
troops. Strong remOnstrances were at
once addressed by the court of Dres-
den to the emperor concerning TINS un-
warranted piece of presumption and
discOurtesy, and few days later Will
liam was compelled to publish another
communication IN the Imperial Ga
zette' in the form of a letter address
cd to King George himself. in which
he warmly congratulated the king on
the magniilcence Of his-that is, the
king'S-trOopS.
DISCOURTESY AT CANAL OPEN
INC.
At the time of the grand opening of
the Baltic canal, Emperor William in
sisted on heading the procession of
ships through the new waterway alone
on his yacht. leaving the kings of Sax
ony and Wurtumberg, and the other
German sovereigns invited to the cele-
bration, to follow in another yacht in
his wake. Several of them, his majes-
ty Of Wurtumberg among the number,
were so much annoyed by this piece of
discourtesy that they departed without
waiting for the termination of th' fes-
tivities, or without taking leave of the
emperor. The relations between Stutt-
gart and Berlin have since been of the
most freezingly cold description, while
the state of the intercourse between
William and his uncle, the grand duke
of Baden. Is best shown by the fact
that the emperor alone among all his
family was not invited to take any
part In the recent celebrations at Carls-
ruhe in honor of the silver wedding Of
the grand duke and grand duchess, al
though he was in the neighborhood of
the capital of Baden at the time. The
grand duke of Mecklenburg- -SchweriD.
who Is married to IA Russian grand
duchess, has never made any attempt
to conceal his pronounced aversion for
Emperor William, and has invariably
refused to take part in any OF the grand
functions at the court Of Berlin, al
though the emperor, with that lack of
discretion and tact which Is one Of his
main characteristics, has on several oc-
casions invited himself to Ludwigslust.
In conclusion 1t may be mentioned
that the emperor Is in conflict with his
allies on many questions of domestic
policy. economic as well as admins
trative. one of the most acute points of
issue being his attempt to introduce
the obnoxious Prussian methods of
military judicature in southern Ger
many, and to render all military trih-
unals throughout the empire subject
to himself as a generalissimo of the
imperial army. AS every man in Ger
many between the ages Of 90 and so be-
longs to either one branch or another
of the army, and as such is amenable
even for offenses committed as
civilian to military tribunals. it will
readily be seen that this pretension on
the part Of William constitutes a grave
infringement of the sovereign rights
of the non-Prussian states.
The result of all this has been the
transfer of the center of the gravity of
the Old World from Berlin to st. Peters
burg. Strong neither at home nor
abroad. Germany Is now compelled to
take second seat in what is known as
the concert of Eurone. Bereft of its
foreign alliances. which will scarcely
survive the recent bismarck revela-
tons of the tric!iery of the Berlin for
eign office, with open disunion and
enmity between the states of tn" con-
federation. and with the Socialists rap
idly acquiring an alarming preponder-
ance in the imperial parliament the
condition Of Germany Is such as to give
ground for serious reflection to that
most restless of all monarchs. Emperor
William, who. on asking his sailor bro
ther Prince Henry, the other day. what
he could do ''to astonish the world" re-
ccived the following reply: Remain
quiet just for one week, and every one
will be dumfounded."