Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-12-19
THE KEEL INCIDENT.
IMPERIAL OUTGrvINGs THE SOLE
TOPIC WITH ENGLIsHMEN.
WILLIAM The WlTLESS,' LAUGHED At
He fs Referred to ms "stark,
staring Mad" hut IL May he
That There Is Method In His
Madness.

| NEW YORK, December ls.-The Eve
ming Post copyrighted London cable to-
day says: The terrific goings-on at Kiel
over Prince Henry's departure for China
have been the all-ahsprbing topic with
Englishmen this week. pale fear" says
the German national organ In Vienna,
will penetrate to John Bulls marrow as
he reads of It," AS a matter OF fact,
John Bulls first impulse has been to
split his sides with laughter over a farci-
cal melodrama, such as no coming Christ
mas pantomime can attempt to rival.
When the Kaiser talks OF stalking my
only brother" and calls Heaven to wit
ness how the German Michael has firmly
| planted on Chinese soil the shield en-
| blazoned with the Imperial eagle, in or
| der TO afford protection once for all to
him who appears for it," the Englshman
| rudely laughs. He recalls that the Ger
man Michael is the mildest hammered OF
young men. the idol of his grandmamma,
who is taking what even a half-seasoned
sailor would regard as a pleasant cruise.
with one 1900 ton, twenty-three gun,
old battleship, and one cruiser, in order
to secure a coaling station which prac-
tically has already been coded, and over
which no one dreams of hearing a single
shot fired. Then, when the mild-mannered
young man eulogizes his own brother
with Most serene Lord our Master for
ever; Hoch. Hoch, Hoch; the gospel OF
your Majesty's hallowed presence" ETC..
blunt John Bull seriously asks himself
whether these young people have not al
together lost their wits.
Indeed. the Saturday Review to-day
builds up an argument that William.
the Witness" as it used to call him, has
now gone stark, staring mad, and It is
certainly to be remembered that, by the
unalteTable etiquette of the German
court, the Emperor must himself have
read Prince Henry's words beforehand.
METHOD IN THE MADNESS.
To closer students Of European affairs,
however, there seems much method in his
madness. The average Englishman, who
is laughing loudly to-day, probably will be
puzzling his brains next week as to whe-
Their the German craze for naval power is
not a thing to be reckoned with. 1t may
have been more than a mere joke when,
in talking to Count Zuchy, the Emperor
Sdlus GU SnOulu WISH tnlnd. by the
time you get there you will find Prince
Henry Emperor of China" Why should
Emperor William not found a second In
dia for Germany in China. as a means or
imperial aggrandizement, and of averting
the social revolution threatened at
home?'
The Spectator dilates on this view to-
day, and is quite prepared. perhaps even
to welcome the German Emperor as the
acknowledged master and opener to clvili-
zation and foreign trade of the richest,
best-populated. and quietest section Of
the Chinese empire. Kiao-Chau. with its
harbor, and the Hinterland which Ger
many is anxious TO obtain, is as large as
Wales and full of people. il is capable
of yielding a substantial revenue, and OF
becoming the stepping-off place for the
acquisition of the central division OF
China. These possibilities will come home
TO John Bull when he has done his
laughing.
Anticipating that time, and taking adj
vantage Of the state Of mind, bordering
on frenzy, to which German trade has
reduced no small section of the British
people. the Naval League. whose one de-
sire is for increased naval armament.
has sent to London editors document
marked private ana Conldehtldl, Deg
ging them to awaken the public to the
peril of the deadly enemy. silently,
steadily. and stealthily preparing to
strike England down"
In the end they will succeed, for so soon
as the German Emperor gets his nava,
vote through the Reichstag-and THAI
seems the most obvious purpose Of these
Kiel antics-so surely will the cry go
nm for q unconditional increase OF the Bril-
fish navy.