Omaha daily bee., 1908-11-21
OTHER LANDS THAN ours.

statements ocllated In the famous interview
were made by the kaiser on different occa-
sions and were common public property.
The chief exception was the statement with
reference to a plan Of campaign against
the Beers drafted by the kaiser, approved
by the German military staff and for
warded to Queen Victoria. Popular indigna-
tion did not arise from this event alone,
as no state secrets were revealed, but the
incident was the elimination of a success
sion of national grievances against the
kaiser's premature and precipitate conduct
Of Germany's foreign relations. The ma
tional sense OF responsibility was outraged
by the Calculated ndiscretions' Of the
kaiser. None OF the nations advisers were
consulted and members Of the Bundsrath
and of the Relchstag were ignored. Thus
the ideals OF German unity and co-opera-
ton in affairs gravely affecting the state,
ideals not yet embodied In the written con-
stitution, but none the less strongly en-
trenched in popular estimation, were shaken
to their foundation. These ideals were
voiced in the debate in the R~elchstag and
Prince Won Buelow made the bearer OF a
message to the kaiser demanding a pledge
for ministerial instead Of individual re-
sponsibility. The pledge was given with
apparent ch~eerfulness, and the lowering
clouds of indignation have vanished. The
kaiser came off his high horse, so to speak,
leaving his lofty notions OF "dlvine right"
on the shelf for the present, and deferrlng,
with shrewdness, to the power
controlling the nations purse strings. In
measuring the value and the expediency of
the kalser's pledge 1t Is important TO bear
in mind the urgent necessity of greatly in
1910 A. H-.-a~H, -,,r,-,,, 90 y,nnN Nh,
crafts of a vastly Increased naval pro-
gram. The Reichstag determines the fate
Of revenue measures, hence the good will
of a majority of that body is essential to
insure the success of the navy program on
which the kaiser has set his heart. The
pledge serves this purpose beautifully. 1t
is a sedative for popular wrath, It satisfies
the Reichstag, the INCREASED revenue bills
will go through and the kaiser made happy.
And why not? He wins by relenting. The
life and binding force Of the pledge rests
on his own sweet will. Under the consti-
tuition as drafted by Bismarck, the kaiser
has complete personal control OF Germany's
foreign relations. And the constitution has
not been changed.
Prince Won Buelow, imperial chancellor Of
Germany, whose Interview with the kaiser
attracted worldwide interest, has long de-
sired to put down the cares Of state and
enjoy life In a rose-embowered villa he
owns in Italy, The desire is as commend
able as the prospect is attractive. But the
kaiser has placed the prince under obliga-
lions that cannot lightly be put aside. He
has advanced the prince through successive
offices to the highest post but one in the
empire, and made him a prince of the
- IT. 49,
to accept his resignation, coupled with the
pledge secured by him for the Reichstag,
shows a strong bond Of friendship between
kaiser and chancellor, and a unity of pur-
pose and plans for national progress. In a
pen portrait drawn by a London corre-
spondent the prince is pictured as a most
approachable official. Those who gained
the impression that he is naughty and diff
cult to reach wi. be agreeably surprised to
learn that there are few statesmen so ac-
cessible, few so courteous and candid in
their dealings with the press. And yet he
is one of the proudest of men. He comes
from the Mecklenburg aristocracy, of whom
the great Napoleon is quoted as saying to
his marshals: Il can make you into kings,
but not into Mecklenburg MOBILES" Prince
Won Buelow is a man of distinguished ap-
pearance and bears himself with .~statell-
ness, yet, withal, with a gracefulness that
men are attracted to him..
zee
The tendency Of pensions to overleap the
calculations Of government statisticiaus, a
nimble process familiar to people Of the
United States, is shown in a late report Of
the French minister of the interior. The
pension law Of 1906 grants to every neces-
sitous Frenchman who is incapable of
work, and who is either 65 years of age or
afflicted by an incurable disease, assistance
to the amount of from 5 francs to rs francs
a month. or more in exceptional cases.
When the bill was first reported, 1t was
estimated that the system would cost about
10000 francs a year. Before the senate
acted on the measure a conflict of esti-
mates caused that body to order an inves-
t~igation, with the result that the total an
nual cost Of the scheme was fixed at g.
100000 francs, and the number of probable
heneficiaries $50, 700. The law was passed
on this basis. Each year since the system
became operative the number and cost have
increased. For 1863 the estimated expense
totals 100000 francs, while the number
of beneficiaries has risen to 10000. Great
Britain is on the threshold of a like ex-
perience. The old age pension system
which goes into effect on the first of the
year was estimated to cost $40, OOO, 900 a year,
Applications now on file, if approved, will
exhaust the stimated cost, and benefic-
iaries yet to come will cause an overdraft
Of about 100000 a pension system for
age or any ether cause has the irresistible
charm of easy money, and is unrivaled as
a promoter Of the long reach.
Greed and politics are interviewer in
Turkish affairs, yet the assertion is
made by disinterested writer's that the new
railroad from Damascus to Medina was
constructed without a faint of the graft
alleged to have prevailed in official circles
prior to the advent OF the young Turks
party in power. The railroad job was done
honestly and expedltiously by the simple
process of designating it a sacred railroad,
and thereupon the contractors and section
hands fell to work with a will that did
rot wayer until a scrap-iron locomotive
belched SCOT at the tomb of Mahomet. Mo-
hammedans the world over subscribed
money for the enterprise, and every ono