The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-02
The Kai-er,- Idea of rropriety.

3
lem TO be solved by the Berlin police
| department. II is the decision of the
| question whether Emperor William
/ knows what constitutes propriety in
| art. The way in which the question
came up is this:
The Emperor was strolling past a
famous porcelain store recently. and
saw in the window a vase decorated
with figures in decollete costume. 1t
was by famous sculptor. and pleased
the Emperor very much. He could not
see it clearly from the street. and so
entered the shop to have a better view
of it; and he told the manager of his
admiration. few days later the EN-
press came in. and she also admired it..
Her praise was so warm that the graft
fed proprietor decided to put the vase
in the middle of the window 50 that
everybody could see it.
He did so. The result was unhappy
1t all came Of the enigmatical and la
borious processes by which the Ger
man mind-the unadulterated, unex-
patriated German mind-works. Those
processes are just like a German SEN
tence. Of which 1t was Mark Twain who
said that when a literary German dives
into the vast collection of words and
clauses which constitute IT, you do not
see him again until he energies on the
other side OF his Atlantic with his verb
in his mouth. II that had been an Amer
! lean. he would have put big piacard on
| that vase. explaining in polysyllabic
Z
| by. of any nationality, should fail to
! understand, that the Emperor had ad-
mired that vase, and the Empress had
praised it, and that II was on that ac-
count the most beautiful vase not only
in Berlin. but in the whole of Germany,
and not only in Germany, but In the
world. and not only in the world. but,
so far as heard from, in circumambient
space. And the placard would have
| hidden the decollete figures, and no.
body would have had his feelings hurt.
That would have been the natural and
easy way FOR the American emporium
king to have acted. He would have
been explicit: he would have been def
mite. He would have gone through kim
dergarten courses, if necessary, in or
der to leave no shadow of the ghost of
doubt In the mind Of anybody that
the reason he was featuring that vase
was not because he personally pre-
ferred decollete art, but because the
Emperor did. and for him To disagree
with the Emperor would be lese mai
este
But no; the German shopkeeper did
nothing Of the kind. He simply set that
vase in plain sight in the middle of
the window, and left his public to
evolve the reason out of its inner con-
seriousness There may have been
reason for this: we will not be hard
on him. 1t Is possible that had he put
the explanation on a placard there
would not have been room tor any
thing else in the window. not even the
vase He may have acted from neces-
sity and not from ignorance But il
was a dangerous thing to do. all the
same. The first thing that he knew
somebody saw the vase and was
shocked. The shocked person informed
the police department that there was
an improper vase in the window of the
crockery store. That evening two no.
licemen entered the store and arrested
the proprietor on the charge of Offend
ing public morals. They do everything
promptly in Sermany-everything ex-
cept reach the end Of a sentence before
train time. In vain the proprietor ex-
planned that the vase had been admired
by persons of the very highest rank; in
vain he protested that very high per-
sonage would not be pleased at this
afront to his taste. II was all of no
use. The policemen did not even care
to see the vase and judge of its merits
and dement's. That was not their bust