The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-22
Emperor wilIiam's Gift.


 There was a big crowd. but no great crush. at the interesting occasion of the unveillng of the statue of Fred erick the Great. the gift of the Ger man emperor to our now imperial Re- public There was much gllttering pomp furnished by the distinguished foreign and American army and naval officers. and the occasion was all that the most exacting devotees of gleaming pagentry could desire.
 As the United States cavalry, artii- lery and infantry passed along Pennsyl- vania avenue on their way to the scene of the ceremonies, the significance of the occasion seemed to be brought home to the hundreds along the great thor oughfare, and to some of them quite sadly too. They thought Of the incl dent as one marking the march of this republic toward imperialism Not few have bitterly criticised this government for accepting the statue of so absolute monarch as was Frederick the Great.
 But the Presidents defenders say that it would have been churlish in him to have refused the gift, which was intended only for adornment of the War College grounds, and had none but military significance since the statue was that of one of the worlds greatest soldiers and tacticians.
 Now and then could be heard such expressions as indicated resentment that homage should be paid by Ameris cans to the memory of the monarch who sent Russia to help the British de- prive Americans of their liberties.
 But the occasion of the gift of the statue and the ceremony of the unveil- ing have stimulated research into the history of the Hessian contribution to the enemies of the revolutionary rs- public, with the result that 1t Is de- cided that Frederick was not so bad toward Americans as has been the common impression.
 In the times of Frederick the Great Germany was divided into numerous sovereignties the rulers of which free queatly, es a business, hired soldiers or let their own out to other sover- eigns to put down insurrections, and the like. Enlightened despots," like Frederick the Great, we are told, con- demned this practice and he taxed all the military hlrelings who passed through Prussian territory. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War England tried in vain to hire 10000 Russian soldiers, and then turned to the German princes. Two of them of- fered their soldiers for hire immedi- ateiy after the battle of Bunker Hm without waiting to be asked. The German auxiliaries for the British army were finally obtained from six German states, about half being from two Hessian principalities.
 All were indiscriminately termed 'Hessians,' as all German immigrants were formerly termed ''Palatines. '" The, records show that from first to last the number of Germans aiding the British was 29,S67. of whom 17,31S re- turned to Germany. of the remaining 12,554 there were 54S killed in battle: some of the total 1,652 wounded died. some disappeared but great number are known to have adopted thiss coun- try for their own. There is no doubt that many thousands of German re- cruits in the Union armies during the civil war came from the same coun- tries whose princes in the eighteenth century made a business of letting out professional soldiers to fight merce- nary battles. Many of these surviv- ing Germans now draw pensions which are certified to them by United States consuls in German towns.
 Let Courts Decide Negro Question.
 Representative Sydney E. Mudd, Re- publican. representing one of the Mary land Districts adjoining Washington. and who could not be elected without the large negro vote that Is in his Dis triet, said today regarding the negro suffrage problem:
 T do not think that the Congress of the United States has any right to attempt to decide the questions grow ing out of the disfranchisement of the negro in Southern States"
 The Crumpacker bill to reduce Southern representation was under dis cussion, and Mir. Mudd added
 According to my way of thinking. the question at issue is a constitu- tional one, and must be passed upon by the Supreme Court of the United States. I believe there are certainly