Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-30
|LEOP OLD DETESTED
Loyalty a Sentiment Foreign
to the Belgians.
DISCREDITABLE LIFE
Won WALDERsEE's SUCCESS DUE
CLEVER AMERICAN WIFE.
America Enjoys Reputation of Having
Two of It's Women as Vice
Queens-Notes.
DISCREDITABLE LIFE
Special Correspondence of Tie Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
LONDON, March 10, 1904.
Reports of the growing unpopularity Of
King Leopold in Paris significant of
| much. He was always the enfant gate Of
| the gay city, and when Paris cuts him he
! should really begin to take counsel with
himself. But it will be even more interesting
! to see what are the developments in own
country. The Congo atrocities may leave
the Belgians unmoved, but they have not
| forgotten the king who drove his daughter
away from her motherss bier, and the law
suit now pending has confirmed the detesta-
| ton in which he is held by many of his sub
jects
The central fact in the situation is that
| loyalty is a sentiment that the Belgians
know nothing about, differing therein very
widely from their neighbors the Dutch
! and their royal family not only is not Bel
gian, but is of no very dignifed internal
tional status in pa: ocular.
The late queen, who was an Austrian
archduchess, always considered that she
had made mesall-anCe, and showed by her
| manner that she thoug.-- King Leopold
has onlys distinguished himself as what the
French call a brasseur d'affaires, and he
| Is now engaged in washing very dirty linen
in public.
He has before now been insulted in his
poi ifiiiieHl anu uOUteu III tfle streets OF MS
capital, and have even heard of vegetables
being thrown at him by the market people,
1t is quite on the cards, therefore, that he
may Ind his position so unpleasant that he
may be glad to abdicate, as, in fact. his
| father offered to do in the revolutionary
year of 1913.
When Maeterlinck was first called "the
Belgian Shakespeare wit commented
Yes, very Belgian Shakespeare" and
| Leopold may perhaps best be described as
a very Belgian king.
King Leopold's son, the Duke of Brabant,
died comparatively young. His nearest
male heir is. therefore. his bro, her, the Duke
of Flanders, who has a son, Prince Albert
OF landers. There was another son, Prince
Baldwin of Flanders, but he also died young
under somewhat suspicious circumstances.
His death took place in the Hotel de SAKE
and was officially attributed to pneumonia;
but that story was never believed by the
Belgians. What they always said was that
there was lady in the case, a married
woman and that there had been duel
or a murder by an outraged husband
The same was said, it may be remembered,
when the Prince of Orange, the half brother
of the present Queen of the Netherlands,
died suddenly (also according to the official
version from pneumonia) in Paris
Won Waldersee Bismarck's Rival.
Count Won Waldsrsee was best and re-
Gently known in England and perhaps in
america as the leader of the allied troops
in the march to the relief of Picking, but to
an older generation he was known as Bis
marck's keenest rival for controlling the
destnies of Germany. He had distinguished
himself in the Prussian war with Denmark
and Austria and as an bassador to Paris
on the conclusion of the war of 1870 He
became on very intimate terms with the
present KAISER and when certain journal
began to speak of him as the future chan
cellor, Bismarck set himself to work his
rivals destruction.
For a time there was keen war between
the two men, but in the end Bismarck
carried the day by obtaining the kaisers
signature to decree forbidding soldiers to
NEEDLE in politics.
Officially. Waldersee was in disgrace, al
though privately he stood as high as ever
In favor with his sovereign. But Just at the
time when Bismarck fell Slight GOODNESS
nad arisen between the emperor and his
faVorite for some then obscure reason,
which is now, however, believed to have
been Williams resen tment at the influence
held by the Countess Waldersee over the
kaSerin.
Waldersee did not become chancellor, bu:
was eXiled to Altoona, where he remained
| until summoned to go to China.
lie was really thrust into the position Of
commander-in-chief of the Chinese expedi-
tlonary force by his imperial master who
wished at stroke to establish German
pretige in the Chinese court AS matter
Of fact, Waldersee exercised authority oniv
over the British Italian and Austrian con-
our own were not as complacent as the
British to the ''pushfulness'' of the kaiser.
Inc German contingent under his com
mand mainly distinguished itself by carry
Ing on the ancient astronomical ins;ru-
ments from Picking, and by other yanaalis-
tic acts in pursuit of loot.
1t Is no secret that Waldersee owed his
success to the wonderful woman who was
his Wife, She was a Miss Lee of New
York, and her first husband, by a morgan
atic marriage, was prince of Schleswig-
Holstein. She is one of the cleverest and
most audaciously ambitious women in En-
rope, and in the early eighties she was also
one of the most beautiful
After marrying Count Waldersee she
made up her mind that he was to become
chancellor. She threw herself into num-
Der of schemes for thwarting Bismarck
and for bringing about his disgrace and
she chose his bitterest enemies for her best
friends.
Influence Over Royalty.
She gained most singular influence over
the empress and over the emperor, and she
was indeed the only woman with whom he
would discuss questions of state.
| DR.. Stocker, the famous court chaplain.
whom Bismarck dismissed from his office.
became her adviser and accomplice in her
! campaign against the iron chancellor and
although finally Bismarck fell from his
| high estate, she failed just at the critical
moment to secure her husbands succession.
Even now, although advanced in years the
| countess is still regarded one of the
most brilliant and charming women.
Another American woman is to occupy a
| high position in British political life. The
| Duke of Marlborough is slated to succeed
| Earl Dudley viceroy of Ireland so his
duchess will be the lady bOuntiful of Dub
lin castle. and America will have two vice
queens-Lady Curzon in India and the
Duchess of Marlborough in Ireland