The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-03-15
The Emperor of Europe

The suppression of the revolution in
which is of the highest Importance to
the world at large, and that is the
maintenance of peace. This generation
may never learn how close it was to
the absolutely greatest war in the his
tory of the human race, but it is fairly
clear, on the surface of things. that at
:a..y n4unIt:nt during the complete
abasement of Russia the word of war
might have gone forth that would have
sent half Europe into the throeS of an
awful death grapple. The Russian
disasters in Mauchuria, followed as
they were by the paralyZlng reVolu-
tionary upheaval in Russia itself, ut
terly destroyed the balance of power in
Europe, and left William II. potential
1y Emperor of Europe. The German
Empire was never so strong as II is
today; never SO confident: never so
ambitious: never so profoundly dis
satisfied with the share it has obtain
ed in the huge undeveloped territories
outside Europe. At its head is an
eccentric Prince whose eccentricity Is
the mark of genius AT this late date
in European history he has living,
active belief in his own divine right.
No Emperor of 1.-The Holy Roman En-
pire, German by Nation ever took
the center of the worlds stage with
more self confidence, more absolute
assurance of his right to be there;
more conviction Of his national and
racial mission in the world, or more
actual power behind him. The En-
perors in the Middle Ages were elected,
and Christendom could not fully rec
ognize them till the Pope had anointed
them But the modern German EN-
peror is hampered by neither the ne
ceSsity of election or the need for the
Papal benediction. He rules by hered-
itary rights and as the master or the
strongest military nation in Europe
The Western Empire of Napoleon was
a stroke of genius, and when the
genius had his foolish phase his en-
pire fell like house of cards. But
the Empire of the Hohenzollerns has
been the work of an evolutionary
process developing itself during more
than a thousand years. The members
of the family have displayed all the
constituents necessary for permanent
success, courage, diplomacy, audacity,
energy and canniness, and have also
enjoyed most of the kinds of luck that
have been current. The supreme
genius of the house is also the best
exponent of most of it's characters
tics; and his position at the outset or
his career is to great extent
parallel to that of William II. today.
When Frederick came to the throne ne
found Prussia in possession or a
splendid army and in the very year or
his accession Charles vi. died. and was
succeeded by Maria Theresa. The
logic of conditions and events was
clear Frederick took Silesia, and held
it in spite of the terrific strain of the
Seven Years War. Today the Ger
man Empire needs many things moro
than Prussia needed Silesia- Some
Germans think that it needs the lo,-
600 600 Germans of the Austria-Hun-
garian Empire, which is another way
of saying that il needs the whoIe
heritage of Austria. Others think II
needs the whole Rhine, and the out
look does not end there, but would take
in Switzerland, Holland. Belgium ana
Denmark. If all these ambitions were
realized the German Empire would
stretch from the Atlantic to the Medi-
terranean. France, Italy, Spain, Tur-
key, Norway, and Sweden would all be
helpless, and Russia would have TO
play second fiddle. The German En-
peror would be actually Emperor OF
Europe.
So runs the dream. Yet it is curious