The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-03-25
.LESE MAJESTE IS
 EASY IN GERMANY Doesn't Take Much to Get Sub-
 ject Into Trouble TRIALS ARE FREQUENT Even Intent to Offend Furnishes Ground for Prosecution, But the
 cartoOnists Are Most Pro-
 lific-German Law.
TRIALS ARE FREQUENT

|
 politics and politicians when the oppor- tunity offers, an American looks with pity on the unfortunate position of the Ger man. who must keep a close watch on his tongue when he discusses state affairs The crime of insulting majesty whether it be in the person of the Emperor, a sovereign of one of the numerous states or a sovereign of the state where the individual may be sojourning, is called in German by the ponderous compound word "Majestats- -beledlgung, and makes the offender liable to confinement in a fortress for a time ranging from two months to five years.
 The courts interpret it so broadly that the very intent to offend, says the Phil adelphia Record, either in public or pri- vate, furnishes ground for prosecution. l Curiously, failure to rise in response to a toast to the Emperor comes under this l provision, and the law may deprive the guilty person of any public office he may be holding. The truth of the allegation, as in any ordinary libel suit, does not alter the situation; it would only serve to increase the enormlty of the offence. Scarcely a week passes without the mo- tice in the press of four or five trials l or this character, and yet no other sec ton of the criminal code Is so frequently broken. Even with loyal Germans a good i joke on the Emperor seems to be more l entoyable because forbidden. The fol- 1 lowing seems hardly fearful insult to majesty. since nothing more personal 1 than the Kaiser's propensity for travel is treated, and yet 1t is always told be- ] hind closed doors.
 1 Two men in a wandering show, much l like a minstrel affair, after a dialogue In which the favorite notices of the past Emperors were rehearsed, came to the living, and then one asked for the favor
 te maxim of William II. "Gusta,' came 1 the reply, pack up your trunk.
 Cost Him Three Months.
 It cost the man who made the reply three months In a fortress. In that time he studied out a means of squaring him self with those who enforced the law, and 1 when the performances were resumed i to large audiences drawn by his escapade the first question was repeated while 1 the police grimly waited for the climax. l However, with the mention of the pres ent Kaiser's name, the man only smiled ] idiotically, scratched his head and finally l said that he thought he had known the | fore, but somehow in the meantime he l had misplaced 1t. The audience, appar- ently we'll versed in what had been mis- placed appreciated the dlscomforture of the police who were powerless to make a case.
 Far more serious than the offences of those who merely repeat disrespectful stories about the Kaiser are the constant evasions and violations of the law in the ] ario 1u of Uh are embittered enough to use every op- portunity for a fling at him. Cartoons and remarks must be clever enough to evade the watchful eye of the states at i torney. On the other hand, success along these lines brings an enormous circula- ton. and certain periodicals owe their popularity to the confident and seldom disappointed belief of their readers that every issue can be depended upon to come as near as possible to insulting the Kaiser without directly doing so.
 Probably the most brilliant achievement l in this field is credited to the Berlin Post, l whose commentary on the Kaisers con 1 tribution to the famous Bible controversy. when it's authenticity was being discussed by German scholars, was the few lines l from Shakespeare's Henry VI;
 l Hear him but reason In divinity
 1 And, all admiring, with an inward wish - prelate.
 The quotation left the public prescott tor in dilemma. It might be construed as delicate compliment to the monarch's s l ability as a Biblical critic. despite the Posts political and religious views. or 1 1t might be a covert wish that William II. should devote himself to other than 1 political pursuits. The latter interpreta- ton. unfortunately for the guardian of the kings majesty. might leave him open 1 to a charge of wilful insult to the Kaiser. 1 Sc that nothing was done, although Ger | many shook with laughter.
 cartoonists Not Deferred. | The cartoon!st is not deterred by the l limitations imposed by law. No other country, with the exception of America, is so fond of caricature and has so many skillful artists Every thrust at royalty 1 is hailed with delight, and the following l afforded much amusement: Two gentle men are standing before a portrait of a stocky parsonage in rich Dutch costume | of the sixteenth century. This" re- marks one of the men, Ifs picture of l William the Silent" "I didn't know Will liam was ever silent" replies the other. l Another cartoon that won popular ap- I pIause dealt with the Kaisers statement l that no one could be a good soldier who | was not a good Christian In the fore ground of the picture could be seen his satanic majesty quzzically regarding a knot tied in his own tall. "Ah, now re- 1 member why I tied the knot" he is say l ing. Tt was to remind me to go after | old Fritz. since The who Is not good l Christian is not a good Prussian soldier. " 1 The words of the Kaiser quoted verbatim l by the devil are full of meaning when one 1 remembers that old Fritz is Frederick the | Great. who was the friend of the atheist 1 Voltaire. The issue of the paper was 1 confscated and the editor imprisoned for l three months.
 The German press law requires every periodical to publish in each Issue the name of some person as its responsible editor At first sight. this would seem to serve as a check on outspoken com ment on majesty, but the comic period l icals that make a business of attacking the Emperor regularly utilize this very | provision of the press law as a means of escaping punishment. For a liberal sum the name of some utterly irresponsible party is secured. and when the paper is 1 deprived of his services by an infractior of the law of lese majeste. a substitute is
 secured. and the paper goes on.
 
 THAT SEAGOiNG RABBIT. l Af1rr;aI cI.ka Till He Enund Ont fl