Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-11-28
at hurts me worse than it does


to look after my command without in.
reference of any sort; otherwise /
throw up my commission"
Another indiscretion occurred after
William became emperor. One day he +
entered the schoolroOm at Potsdam
and began to scold his children till
both they and the governess We're in
tears. II will be obeyed! l am mas
ter" he was saying. Just then the !
empress happened in and settled the
matter by saying that he was master
in his kingdom, but she was mistress
here
:. At a later time he designed some
dresses for the empress, but was nom
plused when she asked how she was
to get into them. He had failed to
provide way.
No Vassalage For Them.
One of his greatest bulls, however,
was in seeking to be made emperor in
fact over all the German states. At
present the princes of these states in
way are independent, at least in
name. In pursuance of his plan for
increase of power William called all
these princes before him. He made a
speech. and as they seemed to fall in
with his suggestions he waxed holder
in outlining his desires. In an I'M
guarded moment, however, he made
| the break of referring to them as 'vas-
sails" Instantly one of them replied:
mo, sire, not your vassals-your al
| lies, If you like"
On another occasion he wrote in the
Golden Book of the city of Munich
! this inscriptions: There is no law 9th
er than the royal will" Below it the
Prince Regent Luitpo!d, not much of
a friend of the kaiser, wrote this: The
supreme law is the interest of the
state"
A further indiscretion was commit
ted by the kaiser in attempting to in
terfere in the succession in Bavaria.
\ judicial court was finally compelled
to decide the case adversely to his man.
He has also intcrfered in partisan
politics on several occasions, Il thing
no hereditary ruler is supposed to do,
and thus gained the i'll viii of several
groups, notably the Poles and the So
cialists.
Some of his military maneuvers
have been secretly laughed at by old
officers of the army, one of them hav-
ing been characterized by General
Stulpuagel as "a species of military
tomfoolery."
All the world is familiar with the
way the emperor has interfered in
matters Of music and the drama and
has tried to write poetry and to paint
Among his international breaks prior
to the present one was that in which
he wrote to Lord Tweedmouth con-
corning the British navy, raising a
storm throughout Great Britain and
that in which he suggested that the
American ambassador to Berlin should
be a millionaire.
Clamor Against Personal Government
Considering all these unfortunate
occurrences and many others not here
catalogued, the storm that has broker
about the kaiser'S head because of his
latest indiscretion need not occasion
surprise. What the end may be nc
one can tell. There is already loud
clamor throughout the German empire
that personal government shall cease
1t is somewhat surprising that the
German nation, which is in advance
Of the world in most lines of thought
. in art, music, science, philosophy
, and even certain phases of politics
, should be behind the leading countries
, in this important respect. No othel
: great nation except. Russia tolerates
personal government Intelligent Ger
. mans keenly feel this fact and have
+ long clamored for ministry respon
sible to parliament rather than to the
D. within of the sovereign. The presen
crisis may bring this sentiment to {
head and force the settlement of tn,
question in accordance with the popu
S lar demand. AS recently pointed ou
: by celebrated German statesman
e no change in the constitution or tn
: law Is necessary to establish the domi
nance of parliament. 1t can be- done
f as it was in England, by refusing +
: vote revenues. This power, which i
e lodged with the peoples representa-
: tives. is sufficient to bring any king fl
: Christendom to his knees The Gel
e man parliament is rapidly getting int
:. temper where it may use this an
Il cient weapon
: There is another side to the charac
o ter of William, however, which j
e much more pleasing. In his recen
l. speech in explanation of the emperor
{ i'll starred interview Chancellor yo
8 Bulow said the kaiser is an ideals
g and the truth of this is borne out b
Williams utterances and his acts. Fo
O one thing, he is sincerely DESTROYS Q
\ the worlds peace. This has bee
/ proved over and over again. He |
o ambitious for his country, but in
- commercial way
n In measuring the German empero
one other fact must ever be borne /
mind. Whatever may be his eccer
. tricities, he still remains, as he ha
r been for many years, the overshadov
Il ing royal figure in Europe. No othe
g king measures with him in energy, /
,r intellect or IN mastery of affairs. b
ID rules as he hunts. Spectacular he ma
r be. yet he manages to bag his shal