Omaha daily bee., 1908-11-08
THE KAISER'S PLAIN TALK.

OHe might INFER from Jne tone OF
the recent interview of Emperor Will
liam that a campaign was on between
England and Germany for the election
of a ruler of Germany. Kaiser Will
liam has been protesting for some
years that he desires universal peace
and is really friendly to the English
people for several reasons, one of
which is that his esteemed uncle now
happens to be England's king, but he
admits that he gets frightfully tired of
the persistent efforts of certain Sec
tons of the British press and people
to stir up feeling against Germany and
the German people. In the interview
in question, Emperor William said:
You English are as mad, mad, mad as
March hares. What has come over you
that you are completely given over to
suspicious that are quite unworthy of a
great nation? What more can. I do than
1 have done? 1 declared with all the en-
phasis at my in my speech at
the Guildhall that my heart was set upon
peace and that 1t was one of my dearest
wishes to live on the best terms with Eng
land. Have 1 ever been false to my word?
Falsehood and prevarication are alien to
my nature. My actions ought to speak
for themselves, but you Will not listen to
them, but to those who misinterpret and
distort them.
This is a personal insult which 1 resent;
to be forever misjudged, to have my re-
peated offers of friendship weighed and
scrutinized with jealous, mistTustful eyes
taxes my patience severely. l have said
time after time that 1 am a friend Of
England, and your press, or at least a con-
siderable section of it, bids the people of
England to refuse my proffered hand and
insinuates that the other hand holds a
dagger. How can 1 convince a nation
against its will?
Then, very much after the example
recently set in American politics, the
emperor wen on to quote his record
in support of his assertions. He
showed that he had been E~ngland's
friend in the Boer war; had refused
to enter attractive European alliances
against England, and had, in all the
political complications of European
politics, stood by Great Britain, even
when German interests might have
been promoted by another course.
In American political ~parlance, the
emperor seems to have caught his
British opponents with the goods and
his criticisms may be pardoned as
coming from a monarch worn to the
raw by his failure to placate British
opinion and win British friendship.
While the tone of his remarks is cal
culated to infiame rather than soothe,
he apparently has much justification in
feeling indignant and expressing him
self with frankness.
The result of the emperor's inter-
view might be serious if there were
not a comedy side to it. Naturally,
when such a document from such an
authority becomes public, an explana-
tion must be made and a scapegoat
found. In this case Chancellor Won
Buelow appears to be the goat. The
emperor admits that he felt the docu-
ment was pretty strong and so sent ii
to his chancellor to be revised before
being printed. Won Buelow either felt
that the emperor had not done more
than he should or else failed to read
it, for he allowed the interview to &c
to the public without the changing OF
a word or letter. Europe, Asia and a
few scattering precincts in Africa are
in an upToar over the interview and
as Emperor william can do no wrong
ven Buelow is booked for a very busy
time of it when the Reichstag meets.