The times., 1897-04-18

| out the share in the spoil and In the labor
| which would be acceptable TO the German
| empire. The share of every other power
| even italy, could be described almost to a
| square mile, but there Is nothing which
| would suit the German empire either as
| colony or dependency or province, If the
Ottoman ceases to reign, there is nothing
for Berlin, and, therefore, says the master OF
Berlin, let the Ottoman go on feigning.
A monarch whois irnbucd with ideas like
these, SO inbued with them that he ceases
to argue and expresses himself in dithy-
rambs, and who also commands an army
supposed to he the strongest In Europe, is
OF necessity most uncomfortable factor
in European diplomacy. You can not dis
cuSs politics with "a man who is singing,
and the speech we have quoted is really q
song of batt1e-not without a Tyrtaean
note in it, too-againSt the revolution and
the royal family of Greece as fosterers of
the same. 1t would not have been difficult
if the Emperor had been man like his
grandfather, who subordinated himself to
his policy, to arrange the Cretan diff
Guilty by few reasonable concessions
to Greek pride. The Greeks would have
accepted the autonomy of Crete with
cordiality, if only the Prince had been
left to popular election and the suzerainty
modified by special flag, and the Turkish
troops Withdrawn at the same moment
as the Greek; but those were precisely the
concessions which William III could Pot
bring himself to make. The Sultan was
sovereign, and sovereignS are entitled
to garrison their dominions, SO do not
talk of withdrawing Turkish troops Greece
must go first, thatis flat, because Greece
has broken rules She shall have no con-
ccrn with Crete, whatever happens, even
as an autonomous province, for else she
would profit by nisdoing: while as to an
election of Prince, that is the favorfte
device of every revolutionist
What does it matter except to his sub
jects, how he reigns? Germany, il Tur-
key went TO pieces and were quietly dis
tributed, must seek her compensation"
on her own frontiers that is, either
in Denmark, which is Russian protccto-
rate, or in Austria, which resigns nothing
except under stress Of defat, or in Holland,
which would rather he anything in the
world than state of the German Empire.
The war, if IL came, would he great one,
vet at its end there would lie nothing to
he gained supposlng the war to he sue cessful;
wherefore let there he no war, even If IL
is necessary to sink the Greek fleet and
occupy the Praeus
That is sound policy from the German
poin of view. even il it is cyniCally selfish,
aud 10 is this self consciousness and ar
hitrary will, all displayed with a certain
force and felicity of expression, which
makes William III so much more inter
esting than the ma iority of soyereigns.
We dare say there are many men Ike him;
indeed, we think we could Indicate on or
two, especially in the literary class; hut
there is no other sitting on "a lofty throne
with millions below VINO at signal will
hurl themselves upon the enemy he points
out. A monarch who being a Christian
and European, can like the Sultan, be-
cause he a!SOis monarch, who will set the
world on fire rather than not humiliate
q relative because he has transgressed
etiquettcs, and who, being
himself the product OF national uprising,
can say ia the face OF Europe that his one
work is TO combat the revolution. is
well, is at all events figure strange
enough anti separate enough to draw the |
eyes OF mankind There is no one in |
Europe except the King OF russia in the |
least like the German Emperor. The |
Spectator.