Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-12
TALKS WITH KAISER.
Mr.. Curtis Tells of an Inter-
view With a Correspondent.
DISLIKES FAMILIAR TERM
Contends There Is No Such Thing as
German-American.
ARMY AND NAVY EDUCATORS
Relates an Incident That Occurred at
Lafayette College Before the
War of the Rebellion.
ARMY AND NAVY EDUCATORS
By WILLIAM r. CURTIS.

l "ii''eh ioi INT star ana the SnlcdgO hecofO-
/ Herald
The German kaiser is one of the most
| approachable of sovereigns. No man of
| prominence in public life in Europe is
! more genial and democratic in his treat
ment of newspaper men as have reason
to know. But. until recently he has al
ways insisted upon the rule that Presi-
dent Roosevelt and other important per-
sonages have adopted. that whatever he
| saws must never be printed in quotation
marks. And he invariably requests his
| rev newspaper visitors not to let any one
know they have had an audience. This is
for self-protection, because If he receives
one correspondent or reporter he cannot
deny the same privilege to others with
out giving offense, and he is really consid
crate about such matters. l know of
| certain newspaper correspondent who
spent two hours with his imperial maj
esty by invitation some years ago. and
discussed all kinds of topics with him as
| freely as he would discuss them with
| President Roosevelt. The latter has no
secrets. and he always talks without
the slightest reserve. The kaiser is usual
~ more reticent. but on this occasion he
seems TO have released himself from re-
straint. as he did in talking with the
correspondents of the London Telegraph
and the Century Magazine.
COMMUNICATIONS and the Kaiser.
The most interesting subject he dis
cussed with the correspondent / refer to
was his attitude toward the naturalized
German citizens of the United States. lie
had recently refused to receive Repre-
| sentative Bart noldt of st. Louis. who
brought to Berlin an invitation from the
| German Americans of st. Louis to Will
llasn IL to attend the ST. Louis EXPOSE
ton as their guest. That invitation was
| never presented. DR.. Andrew D. White,
| VINO was American ambassador at the
| time. was always blamed for his failure
TO secure an audience for Mr.. Bartholdt,
ana that is a penalty men in such eX-
allied positions often have to pay; and
sometimes they are placed in an embar-
RAISING position without being able to ex-
plain The emperor had spoken to DR..
| White very frankly with regard TO NI..
Bartholdt's mission, and absolutely re-
fused to receive The invitation without
giving DR.. White the privilege of ex-
planning why. He gave the same reasons
TO the correspondent at the interview, but
prohibited him from publishing them at
| the time.
| The emperor said. he would not receive
an invitation from German American
under any circumstances. because such
thlng as German American" was not
possible and could not even exist If
man was a subject of Germany he was a
German, If he was citizen of the United
i States he was an American. but no man
could be both German and an Ameri-
can, Tor 1t was contradiction of terms.
If the German citizens of st. Louis-that
is, natives of Germany residing in that city
| who had not taken out naturalization
papers-should send him an invitation.
he would be very glad to receive ii, and
he would feel complimented to receive an
invitation from naturalized Americans OF
German birth. but he had no sympathy
with and could receive no communication
y1T0 lltnx1 No.,
| man-Americans.
Strongly Objects. to the Term.
He said that he could not blame a young
German for breaking away from his home
ties and the conservative conditions that
existed in the German villages and farm
ing communities and going over to the
United States, where there is more room
| for him to grow and where there are
| more opportunities for him to acquire
wealth and influence. He had the
deepest sympathy for such ambitious
| he had been born in their class, he
would have done the same thing him
self when he was young man: but when
| such people settled in America, took
Zens. they should consider themselves
Americans and cut off all relations with
the nation from which they came. II
| they are not willing to do that, If they are
/ not Wiling 10 become Americans In every
sense of that word. both in fact and in
name, they should not be naturalized, for
the day they become Americans they
cease to be Germans or Englishmen or
Italians. They could not be German
Americans or Anglo Americans or Italian
Americans. and people who call them
selves such either do not appreciate their
situation and their obligations, or they
do not realize the significance Of the term.
Pleased With Success of Emigrants.
| The kaiser expressed great satisfaction
at the success Of the German emigrants in
1 America. He declared that there was no
more important or valuable element in
| our population; that they were almost
without exception the cream of the Ameri-
can population, and every patriotic Ger
! man was proud of their success in life
and the po. ition they had attained. He
| spoke of the influence of the Germans in
| other countries, and said they carried
| with them wherever they went an atmoS-
| phere of business integrity and fair deal
| ing: of enterprise and energy that made
| them the most valuable OF all pioneers.
| 1t was perfectly natural, he said. for
new country to attract the young and
enthusiastic subjects of an old country,
but he hoped that the Germans who had
| gone to the United States would never
| lose any of their affection for and pride
| in the fatherland. At the same time, they
must not forget that they must be loyal
Germans any longer
| In speaking of the number of young
men who left Germany to avoid military
service, the kaiser explained at length
his views regarding the various sugges-
| tons that have been made from time to
| time about the disarmament OF Europe.
| He remarked that the advocates of eter-
| nal peace, who counted all the money ex-
| pended for maintaining armies and navies
as wasted, do not appreciate the situation
at all.
Army and Navy Are Educators.
! He explained that from his point of
view the most valuable and important
purpose of standing army and a large
navy is their educational influence upon
!, the people Both the army and the ships
are institutions of learning. to teach pa |
trotism as we'll as for physical training: |
for manners and particularly for building
up character. Every German barracks he |
explained. is great school in which thou
sands of young men from the farms are |
being educated in books. in geography |
arithmetic. grammar and literature as |
well as in obedience, punctuality. self-re-
straint, self-respect, to control their tenn |
pers to exercise authority, submit to dis |
cipline and to appreciate their RESPONSE |
biity as citizens.
| He described a young peasant who came |
from the farm to the barracks as green
as the grass he had trod upon. without |
any knowledge of the world without any |
sense of responsibility. awkward bash |
| full, loutish in manners, and altogether |
the crudeSt kind of raw material Three |
years of service in the army. with the |
diSciDline contact with his fello,y CO. |