The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-01-03

W1Ilau8 L8to6ts
Emperor William made one Of his
striking speeches on New Years day.
1t was not loaded with 50 many threats
and sinister limitations as some Of his
previous addresses have been. but the
numerous references to the Almighty
and the Eohenzollern family. together
with the repeated use Of the personal
pronoun. indicated that II was the same
old william who was talking.
The New Years grafton of the em-
peror was an expression Of thankful
ness for past favors. panesyric on the
army and = word or two AZ to the great
ness Of his ancestors. Incidentally he
issued a dictum to the effect that the
new century began on January 1. 1850.
and not on January 1. 1901, and he fol-
lowed this settlement OF = vexed prob
lem by general shaking up Of histori-
cal facts. whereby the work Of some Of
the greater men OF Prussia was placed
to the credit Of williams grandfather
and great-grandfather This jugglery
may result Ia : temporary boom Of
Hohenzollern stock. but his majesty
ought to recollect that tasting prestige
ear never Be gained by distortins facts
or lying about good men, and that the
world today makes q ruler a hero. not
because he claimed to govern by divine
right, but because he had the ability to
accomplish something.
The present war lord states. for in
stance. that It was due to his great-
grandfather that form and life was
given to the new German army which
has done 20 much In recent years. Here
family pride leads him into positive de-
ceit. Frederick william III. was weak
and vacillating throughout hts whole
career. He isolated Prussia, encoun-
tered the wrath of Napoleon, then
toadied to him. suffered his kingdom to
be cut down one-haif and reduced his
country to about the lowest ebb 1t had
ever reached. 1t was men like stein and
Hardenberg who laid the foundations
for future German greatness by unfet-
tering labor and commerce. granting
some measure of free municipal govern
ment and basfng the military power
upon the people. 1t was upon men of
brains and force that the responsibility
Of looking after Prussian destlnies rest
ed. and fortunately for the country their
abilities were Of q higher order than
those possessed by the Hohenxollerns.
Had the fortunes Of the house been left
to the family alone. William II. might
now be strutting about as the head Of
q third rate kingdom and looking to
Vienna for orders as to his political
conduct.
SO, too, this monarch who 10 con-
sumed with a family pride would at
tribute to old Emperor william solely
the creation Of the modern German
army and the work accomplished
through II. Here ne is also molding
facts with the idea of clarifying the
departed by crediting them with deeds
never performed. There was something
of the sturdy old soldier in Wilhelm L.,
but he was man of ordinary caliber,
and had II not been for thinkers and
workers like Room and Moltke to per-
feet military machine and Bismarck
to prepare the way for its use the pres
ent emperor would probably have been
about as inconspicuous figure in
Europe as his father was before him.
william lis speeches are enjoyable
If only for their bombast, but they will
not be taken seriously by people who
read and think and know. His family
deserves credit for being thrifty and
frugal, even II they have not been OF a
superior intellectual mold. AS Kipling
would say. they are lucky beggars and
things have come their way. But their
good fortune has been due largely to the
fact that chance and little ready
money secured kingship over strong
people in the early days, and from those
strong people have descended men who
have made the monarchy what 1t is
in spite of Hohenzollern incapacity from
time to time.
-.s--.-.r..