The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-17
IMPERIAL ExTRAvAGANCE.
Enormous Expenses of the Household
of Germnny's Emperor.


There is complaint among the people of
Germany concerning the Emperor extrav-
agance. His grandfather, William the
Great, never received a salary for his serV-
ices as Emperor. He thought too much of
his imperial dignity to accept compensa-
ton. The official relations of the Kaiser are
quite complex. The German empire is
confederation made up of number of king
doms, principalitieS and duchies, and the
three Tree cities OF Hamburg Bremen ana
Lubeek-twenty- in all. l belleVe-and
under the constitution, which was written
by Bismarck, the King OF Prussia whose
subjects compose more than three-fifthS of
the entire population, enjoys the imperial
honor by virtue of his royal office. There
is no imperial crown, but the right to have
it's king bear the title of emperor is the es-
pecial privilege of Prussia. The language
of the constitution is The presidency OF
the union belongs to the King or Prussia,
who bears the title of German Emperor,
and thus whoever occupies the Prussian
throne exercises the functions of Emperor.
Until William ii assembled the Imperial
throne the expenses of the court were all
paid from the PruSSian treasury, and the
same appropriation for the royal household
was made annually for siEty-nine years.
One year after he was enthroned, however,
the present Emperor submitted memoran-
dunn to tho Reichstag setting forth that IT
was impossible for him to live in manner
BETTING his station upon that allowance,
and contributions were assessed upon the
subordinate states Since then there have
been several additions to the imperial chest
to maintain the palaces, the yachts
and other costly luxuries OF the young I'm
DerOr, and the contribution OIL the OlHeI
kingdoms and duchies now amounts 10
g. 900 900 marks or 81, 200 a year, which
brings his official income TO oot the he sum OF
IS 929 S66 marks, nearly $o0OO,OOO.
Every three months one-fourth of this
sum in gold in carts is carried from the
treasury in Berlin to the office OF the minis
ter of the imperial household, and on the
second day after that all of his dependents
receive their stated compensation, when
is fixed by a board Of control more or less
under the personal supervision or the EN-
The Kaiserin was a penniless bride and
contributed nothing to the wealth OF the
imperial family Her father was the late
Duke Frederick of Schleswig- Holstein-Son
derburg- Augustenburg one of the suboTui-
nate states man of excellent nneage Due
little property and therefore she mas no
income of her own, but has number or
poor relations who must be taken care OF.
The Kaiser allows her $20O,OVO year Ior
her wardrobe her charities, the allowances
to her family and other expenses VI lhlS
sum $62.5O0 is handed over each quarter to
her chamberlain. who pays ner pllls any any
accounts to the minister of the household
for the expenditure OF the money me
personal expenses of the Empress are COM
paratively small. She does not spend Tor
herself and her children as much as many
mothers in America, and, although tne
number of her dependents is large, tnelr
allowances are small. Her chamberlain
receives a salary of only 10000 MARKS OF
81 900 year; her secretary S,0JO marks, anu
the rest of the attaches of her household
are paid in proportion; but they are dl-
lowed to live in the palace with their fam
lilies. and all their living expenses are PAID
The Emperor himself is no doubt extraVa-
CANT and thoughtleSS in the expenditure OIL
money He has no fixed allowance, put
when he needs funds he sends an aln,ue-
camp to the minister OF the householu 10
get what he wants, and 1t mas TO De PIoo
Vided in some way or other he allows MS
mother 100000 a year to Keep up n Sdo t eS
Enlistment and his brother Henry $lOO OoO,
and each of his other brothers ana sisters
a corresponding amount.
There are 1900 people upon the emperor
list of employees, including So9 Femafe se ~
ants who are engaged in looking after the
twenty-five royal palaces and castles that
belong to the crown. Their wages are
small The women receive not more than
number over 800. from SIS to $25 month";
Most of the palaces and castles are IN "a q
seldom uses more than three or four or
them The crest are occupied by his rela-
tons and dependents who NUMBER nun
dred or more, and are nearly all supported
from the royal purse. His private fortune
is estimated at O00Oe, the greater part
of which is represented by landed estates
He has forty-eight farms fourteen forests,
eight vineyards and owns the royal porce-
lain factory near Berlin but his revenues
than 81 .00OOO a Year The income from
several of the estates goes directly 10 MS
brothers and sisters. Prince Leopold
second cousin, is much richer than the
Emperor. Ills wealth was inherited from
his grandfather, Prince Carl, brother OF
the old Emperor William, who was mlSer
and a keen business man, and amaSsed an
enormous fortune.
In addition to this income the Kaiser
draws full pay and allowances. for all the
titles he assumes. Doth civil and military.
He can add to his income at any time by
creating himself a duke or baron or by
appointing himself general of an army
corps or colonel of a regiment. He is al
ready the colonel of several German regi-
ments, and holds honorary commissions in
the armies of England Austria Russia
and Belgium. He is also an admiral Of the
German fleet, and has just been made an
admiral in the Russian navy, for which he
draws full pay and allowances.