Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-24
Gear and Kaiser,

Two royal yachts have come together In
the Baltic sea and instantly all the gossfps
of Europe are agog with the possibilities OF
the meeting. The car and the kaiser are
now putting their heads together in con-
fab which may have a most important bear
ing upon continental or even world politics.
Just who suggested the meeting or why 1t
was arranged. is left to speculation On the
one hand 1t is stated from st. Petersburg
with some show of assurance that the
kaiser sent word to his imperial cousin that
he would like to chat with him. On the
other hand today's dispatches from Berlin
indicate that 1t was the car no arranged
the meeting. the statement being that Mich
olas told William that if he would name
convenient point In the Baltic where they
&C uld meet while the German yacht was on
cruise he would be pleased to be in the
same waters. Thus each capital seems to
seek to accredit the first move to the other
monarch.
Much depends upon which side took the
initiative in this affair. Personally Mich
olas and William are on the best of terms.
They are related by blood. as indeed are
ncst of the sovereigns of Europe. They are
approximately contemporaries. The one is
an absolutist in theory and the other In de-
SAS- Iout pci-tiSdAs' liAty dic flot 81
friendly. Germany Is inimical to France.
which is Russia's ally. There is Ill feeling
betw cen the two nations on the score of
trade relations The interests of the two
governments In the field of continental and
Asiatic politics do not harmonize with that
neatness which might be expected of organ
izations headed by two such men as Mich
olas and William.
Is, then, this a meeting between Germany
and Russia, or merely between Nicholas
and William? Is the car seeking or the
kaiser offering advice bearing on the
present tribulations and dangers of Rus
STA? Or are there big moves afoot, pos
sbly affecting the character of the peace
terms. or maybe the treatment of certain
delicate continental problems? Germany is
intensely interested in the outcome of the
Portsmouth conference. The kaiser has
gained foothold on the continent of Asia,
and claims to DE a power in being In the
affair." of that Fart of the world. He was
a party to the shameful coercion of Japan
after the settlement of the war with China
which led by direct stages to this astound-
ing campaign against Russia.
A third possibility remains. The cars
troubles are not all related to the peace
settlement, nor are the kaiser's anxietieS
bounded by the range of his own foreign
policy. He can stand on the boundary of
his realm and hear and see that which
might well cause any monarch in Europe to
silver with apprehension. He can see all
Russia in a ferment, it's trade demoralized,
It's very government meEaced. These rue
lions in Russian Poland arousing the
people of German Poland to restlessness
Then. too. the recent performance in the
Black sea must show to the kaiser that
there is danger of Russian demonstra-
ton toward a breach of the Dardanelles
possibly even a new arrangement whereby
the sultan may become subject to the Mus
covite influence. William has his own
plans for the suzeralnty over the Sick
Mans domains when a change is made
There is work to be done in Russia, work
that affects not only Russia but Germany
its neighhor IF William has asked or &C
ce3ted this interview for the purpose of ad-
visiDg Nicholas to placate his people by
means of immediate and sincere reforms he
is acting a friend In need. That would
be cousinly service.