The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-07-31

through the centuries 10 magma cnaEld-
90 the petition OF rights. to the bill of
rights. to the FIRST assertion OF habeas
corpus. These were in the ancestry OF
the men who signed their names to the
declaration OF independence for the
| United States. What was as flesh and
bone and blood at Philadelphia. in lie.
was, at best. a rather crude concep-
ton seventy-two years later. at
Frankfort. Nevertheless. when the
movement toward civil n political
liberty received it's impulse. there was
no resisting its early stages-Germany
ripened for the revolution Of lS4s. Prus-
sia's king gave pledges. Frightened
Austria dismissed Prince Metternich:
il is a coincidence that, as Bismarck's
birth came almost at the moment OF
Napoleon's eclipse. so the hour OF Met
ternich's flight from Vienna found Bis
marck. grown TO his thirty eighth year.
cautiously laying hold Of the delicate
threads to which he was then unused,
but which. as II destined for the task,
he was to weave into a fabric that
was to awaken the admiration of the
world.
The man who undertakes 10 estimate
Bismarck's work must heed the fact
that during the first half of his career
in public life. his schemes compelled
him to place himself squarely athwart
the plans, the Judgment, the
aspiration of Germany's intelli-
gent citizenship. Bismarck was
not attending parliamentary sessions
at Frankfort for the purpose of plan
ming larger liberties for his country
men: not he. Many among those with
whom he associated-the brightest
among them-craved government under
republican reforms; his ambition was
a new German empire with Its seat ut
Berlin. Their aim was to enter into a
higher order of representative govern
ment. through peaceful processes. II
possible. His fixed purpose was to
make citizenship merely an appurten-
ance to a dazzling empire to be evolved
out of the savage processes Of blood
and iron. II was an undertaking that
would have daunted most men; not a
step forward that did not bring Bis
marck into conflict with his own fellow
citizens whom. II n would win, he
must bend to his will; Bismarck laid
the foundations OF the German empire
in spite of the Germans.
The early life of Bismarck gave no
hint Of the career in store for him. He
was descended of a long line OF SOL
diers who lived in the camps OF the
Seven Years war, shared Frederick the
Greats fortunes, fought Napoleon /.
The great chancellor gloried in their
achievements. His own father. how
ever, Captain Won Bismarck. must have
had scant suspicion of what the future
was to bring forth. Birmarck was born
April 1. 1915; the Vossische zeitung
printed. under the signature of Ferdi-
nand Won Bismarck, this unique notice
of the event: II have the honor to an
nounce TO my friends that yesterday
my wife was safely delivered of a son,
and ! excuse them from offering ON
gratulstions. Bismarck was a univer-
sity man-Goettingen remembers him
not for his scholarship. but because of
the wild life he led. His reckless round
of student days ended. he spent years
on his modest estate. He was fond of
dogs, he was a skilled horseman, he
enjoyed hunting or the genial com
partnership of men with tastes adapted
TO a boisterous lark. He was an un-
tanned bachelor until 1s47. The mex
xraar fOfand him In aandorna
at the Frankfort diet: he did
not relish the experience. He
detested the cry raised there for re-
forms. In the circle of his friends he
scoffed at the delegates. he laughed at
their speeches, he Knocked their
Diplomatic service was the avenue that
was TO lead him TO fame and fit him
for his premiership. He entered IT.
serving as the representative OF Prussia
at St. Petersburg first and later at
Paris. In 1861, Prussia's childless and
demented king died and his brother.
William, then ~sixty-four years old. yet
hardly well started even at that ad-
vanced age on the career that Was to
bring him conspicuously before the
civilized world as the first Kaiser. be-
came king.
II was in the plan OF William I at
the outset to summon Bismarck, with
whom for years he a been pleasantly
acquainted. The plan was not agree
able to Bismarck. and the appointment
was delayed for months But the king
became engaged in a confusing quarrel
with the Prussian chamber. William I
wanted more soldiers; his theory was
that without them Prussia might not
hope to be a figure In Europe's affairs
of state. The chamber set itself against
the kings demands. The cabinet could
accomplish nothing. II was dismissed:
and when the king turned to Bismarck