The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-30
LESE MAJESIE
GERMANY IS LAUGHING AT RE-
 SUIT OF THE TRIAL.
Dr. Rudiger Accused of Publishing Attack on Monarchy, and Was about to be Condemned to Im- prisonment when He Named
 the Reaal Author.

JIG xtShd1 AuIuOTs Every once and while the American newspapers publish dispatches under a | German date line, announcing the arrest. | trial and imprisonment of some one of | the Kaiser's subjects for "lese majeste' for the crime of disrespect to royalty Americans do not readily understand how | spacious law is that which defines and punishes this offense, but in Germany it | is a very real and formidable engine. | frequently invoked by the Governmental | officers, and terror to the members of l the press especially But occasionally | ''lese majeste' proves boomerang. and | Germany just nov is laughing at an in- story is well worth telling, aside from | it's value as an illustration of German l habits of thought, for the light which 1t | throws on the character If the great | Frederick. second King of Prussia, and | ancestor of the present Kaiser. | 1t seems that recently newspaper, the | Purger-Zeitung, published an article to which the Government oficials took great arrested. charged with lese majeste or. more specifically. with praising republi- can institutions, to the detriment of the monarchy. and of unduly critcising the divine right of hereditary kingship. The case was tried before the Potsdam Chamber Court, and the States Attorney. | Dr. Baum, opened proceedings by de- | cldrng that the corpus delicti was at
  | witnesses unnecessary, as the crime was | firmly established by and in the news pal per before the Court.
 | If it may please the Court" contin- ued Dr. Braun. having previously ob- tained the consent of the Minister of the Interior, I will not read the criminal article, hoping that none of my hearers 1 will venture to heed its revolutionary | teachings, but, on the contrary, listen | in the spirit of true patriotism and with 1 that loyalty that sees in our glorious i Kaiser and King Gods anointed, sent here to administer the affairs of state l with justice and grace always, and with | irmness and severity, if 1t must be"
 The three judges held a consultation, and decided that the article might be pire. Here follows . literal translation of the remarkable document:
 Thoughts on State and xingship.
 There is no more inseparaole thought in mans mental makeup than the senu- cated and intelligent, as well as the un- schooled. the rudest of men, are alike | impregnated with the desire for liberty. As we are all born without letters, so | all want to lead an unrestrained life. | It was that sentiment of freedom that | brought forth the greatest men history knows of this imperishable sentiment is | the foundation stone Of republican insti- tutions; the republic lives because it re- | cognizes the equality of all men.
 | Every government that ever existed underwent number of changes before achieving the summit of success: ana the n1onarchical empires achieved sucs cess-if they achieved 1t at al-more slowly than the republics, and, moreover. the republics success was more lasting than the monarchies.'
 Why? Because the republican form Of government manages to make the largest number of people happy and to Keep rare and die, and because wise laws are impeIishable.
 ''Why does man permit himself to be is wortsisss without as ia%s and rsgus
 tons. and that there must be somebody to enforce laws and regulations The enforcement of laws and regulations ls
 the only real origin of and excuse for sov-
 Tn absolute monarohies the govern
 ment rests upon the kings pleasure;
 legislature, commerce. industry ana aii
 other government functions are subject
 to one mans whims and to the whims or
 this one mans successors. each Of whom
 is unlike the other. This latter circum- | stance involves a perpetual danger Tor
 the monarchical system; it has done more 1 to discredit monarchy than anything else.
 for history shows that almost every
 change in the person Of the monarch
 brought about changes in the govern | nent. in the interpretation Of laws ana in economic respects
 The republic, on the other hand, Is | governed according to certain imperish- able principles which the temporary head | of the state cannot discard, and which are wholly unaffected by changes in the
 personnel of the government. That is the reason why republics prevail and mon | archies fall.
 Tn a monarchieal state a lazy prince is succeeded by an ambitious one; next follows bigoted lord then warrior, a bookworm or a voluptuary.
 Still republics. as well as monarchies, are subject to occasional disturbances. because revolutions have their innermost origin in Natures laws.
 Without these revolutions the world would come to a standstill; there would be no balance of power. At the same time, there may be actual, direct causes, for kings and presidents are like other men; they can lay no claim to perfec- ton in this imperfect world of ours
 "As to kingship. it is a matter of the merest accident. Accident places men on the thrOne-men and their inherent tim idity or energy activity or indolence, vices or virtues.
 "One and the same family occupies the throne many hundred years, through countless generations in some cases. Let us assume that the founder of the fam fly, the first prince, was a man of great talents, of ethical merits-does 1t follow that all his successors are geniuses or remarkable for moral prowess? There is no such thing as virtue or greatness by inhcritance; hence the vast majority of unworthy princes.
 | Crowned .voluDtuaries and incomoe- tents misuse absolute power to indulge their worst passions without fear of pun !shment; they think themselves above thar fellow-men. their fellow citizens; :; their unwarranted pride and haughtincss equals that of bad actors; they think it their privilege to despise simplicity and to trample upon poverty and virtue. Worse still if such prince surrounds | himself with miserable sycophants who persuade him that his interests are op- posed to those of his people, that tbe | people have no interests which he must respect for his own and their good. "A bad king lending his ear to syco- | plants Is his subjects worst enemy, for | fattery extended to a vicious prince 1 makes him the more tntolerahle because l il fructihes all the worthless seed in his mental makeup.
 | Beware of sycophants-they are far 1 worse th1n spreaders of calumny. 1 conld l never blame people for rising in hatred l and contempt fer the sycophant's un- doing The people have the right to lise | against those SD opposed to the true in- terest of their ruler as to prevent him | from learning the truth.
 | ''ro my mind, the English constitution 1 is the best of all In existence nowadays, l and the wsest known to contemporary history, for in England Parliament is arbiter between nation and king, and the king has far-reaching powers to do good and no power to commit wrong against | the meanest of his subjects"
 | After finishing the reading of the in- tor Rudiger whether he accepted the re- | sponsibllty for publishing this essay. | liable 10 disrupt the state and spread the | seeds of dscontent and revolution among 1 Ills Majestys loyal subjects"
 l RUdiger answered in the affirmative.