The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-16

Independent Power, anu thoIeAoIo' 0'oTy
American Minister since. including my
self, has found Il convenient on pre-
asntlnR the Presidents autograph letter
10 the King or Emperor, TO recall this event,
and 10 build upon II such an oratoHcal
ediaoe a. circumstance may warrant
We do not know what Mr.. White means by
asserting that Frederick the Great was
samonR the first Of Continental rulers
20 recognize the American States as an in
dependent Power The truth u that
the fndspendence Of the Thirteen Colonies
was recognized by France as early as lI7s,
and that repeatedly and earnestly-but
vainly-during the next five years did our
ENJOYS implore Frederick the Great 70 pur-
sue a similar course. This he declined TO
do until iTss, after our Independence had
been acknowledged by Great Britain her-
self, when, naturally. Thank you for moth
ing" would be our comment. Some twenty
years have passed since the historical facts
relating TO this subject have been pointed
out In the editorial columns Of THE BCE,
In a chapter allotted TO the subject. we
learn that our authors first glimpse OF BIS
narck was obtained during a journey
through middle Germany about the time
Of the Franoo-Prussian War. Arriving al
the Kisslngen junction, Mr. White found
crowd gathered outside the barriers' and
all gazing at a railway carriage about TO
be attached to the train. CHANGING at TINS
carriage, our author recognized the face
and form Of the great North German states
man. He was in the prime Of life, sturdy
hearty and happy In the presence Of his wife
and children. The people at the station
evidently knew what was needed, for hardly
had he arrived when walters appeared
bearing salvers covered with huge mugs
OF foaminE beer. Thereupon Bismarck
took two Of the mugs In immediate suo-
oession, poured their contents down his
throat, evidently with great gusto; and a
burly peasant Just back Of ms, unable
longer to restrain his admiration, solilo-
quized In a deep slow, cultural, reverber-
atinR rumble: 'Absr eT sieM JeiT gut aus
SO it struck me also. The waters o. Of
Kissingen had evidently restored the great
man. and he looked like a Titan ready for
battle"
Mr.. Whites personal intercourse with
Bismarck began In 1879, whom, as Chancellor
Of the German empire. the latter received
him as Minister Of the United States. 'on
my entering his work room, he rose, and
II seemed TO me that l had never seen an
other man 80 towering, save Abraham
Lincoln. On either side Of him we're his
two big, black dogs, the Reiehshunds;
and, as he put out his hand with a pleasant
smile, they seemed to join kindly In the
Welcome" few days later came to our
Minister an invitation to dinner with the
Chancellor, and on the invitation TO the
dinner was the statement that evening
clothes were not to be worn On his arrival
our author found the guests all srrayed
in simple afternoon costume. The table
had a patria chal character. At the head
sat the prince; at his side in the next seat
but one his wife; while between them was
the seat assigned to me, so that enjoyed
to the full the conversation Of both.
The other seats near the head Of the
table we're occupied by various guests;
and then, scattered along down, were mem
bers Of the family and some persons In the
ohancery who stood close 10 the chief.
The conversation was led by him, and soon
took a turn especially interesting. He
asked me whether there had ever been
serious effort 70 make New York the per-
manent capital Of the nation. I answered
that there had not, that both New York
and Philadelphia were, for a short period
at the beginning Of our national history,
provisional capitals, but that there was a
deep seated idea that the permanent capital
should not he a commercial metropolis,
and that unquestionably the placing Of II
at Washington had been decided, not
merely by the central position Of that city,
but a so by the fact that II was an artificial
town, never likely 10 be a great business
centre" In support Of his assertion, our
author cited Thomas Jeierson's saying
Great cities are great sores Bismarck
answered that in this our founders showed
wisdom; that the French were making a
bad mistake In bringing their national
legislature back from Versailles 10 Paris;
that the construction Of the human body fur
nishes a good hint for arrangement in the
body politic that, as the human brain is
held in a strong enclosure and at a distance
from the parts Of the body which are most
active physically, so the brain Of q nation
should be protected with the greatest care
and should not DO placed in the midst Of a
great. turbulent metropolis Bismarck
went on 10 insist that the curse Of French
legislatures had been the tyranny Of city
mobs, and especially Of mobs occupying
the galleries OF the assembly chamber;
that the worst fault possible In any dehbera-
tivo body Is speaking 10 the galleries; that
a gallery mob IL sure 10 get between the
members Of q legislature and the country
and virtually 10 screen OF from the assem-
bly, the interests Of the nation, considered
as a whole.
It Is evident from what IL said In the chap
terno " under revie " that our author keenly
appreciated Bismarck, but II must not be
Inferred that, in his oonversation with the
German Chancellor, he invariably assumed
an aoduiescent attitude. Sometimes be
states his reasons for dissenting from the
great mans opinion. For example, Bis
narck said that Theirs In the treaty nego-
tiations at Versailles had impressed him
strongly as being q patriot and a. stand
ing forth like Roman among ByEantines
This statement astonished Mr.. White, 10
whom Il seemed that II there ever existed
a man at tho opposite pole from Bismarck
that man was Theirs. Il had studied him
AZ a historian, observed him As q states
man, and oonversed with him a. q social
being; and he bad always seemed. and still