The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1909-01-30
IS No LONGER
NATIONAL IDOL
KAISER BUBBLE HAS BURST
SAYS DIPLOMAT.-LESE Ma
MONARCH A RECLUSE.
Special to the World.

special to the World.
London, Jan. 30.-A diplomat
whose name cannot be used. for OBJ
vious reasons, writing from Berlin,
says:
"A weeks sojourn in Berlin has
convinced me that the kaiser bubble
has burst. William H., who for 20
years has appeared to the world as
great and heroic figure, has been
reduced in the public eye to his real
dimensions. Far from being the
strong, resolute ruler of indomitable
will. he is revealed to his own coun-
try ana to the world as an impulsive
busybody of excitable temperament
and eccentric habits of speech.
The discovery of the truth about
the kaiser has been the most impor-
tant feature of the political crisis
through which Germany has passed.
For two decades the German emper-
or has awed his own subjects into
passive submission to his autocratic
rule, and has figured in the eyes of
other nations as the most wonderful
monarch of modern times. All these
illusions about the kaiser have been
swept away by the succession of
amazing revelations about the con-
ditions prevalent at the court of Ber-
lin.
Peaceful German Revolution.
THE effect of the discovery of the
truth about the kaiser on the Ger
man nation has been remarkable in
the highest degree. Germany has
gone through a silent revolution dur
ing the last six weeks. Sixty millions
of German subjects, who have hith-
erto bowed down and worshiped their
imperial idol with an unquestioning
belief in his semi-divinity, have sud-
denly realized that their sovereign
is nothing more than weak and err
ing mortal The result of this awak-
ening has been one great national
outbnrst of lese majestic.
Hitherto all residents in Germany
have hesitated even to breathe the
name of the august occupant of the
throne for fear that the most harm
less remarks about his personal cha
racter might be misunderstood and
misconstrued as criticisms or at
tacks. Men have been arrested in the
street and indicted ons-a charge of
lese majestic for failing to doff their
hats when the kaiser'S motor car
dashed past at a reckless speed.
''In consequence of this protection
of the sovereign by system of le-
gal terrorism the kaiser was general
ly mentioned as a higher being. In
the reichstag the president of the
chamber promptly suppressed the
critical reference to his majesty ana
deprived any deputy who uttered
pant of the throne of the right of
speech. In all the provincial diets
of the individual states of the Ger
man empire the same rigid restric-
lions were enforced on the members
The newspapers never criticised the
kaiser, but always showered fulsome
f1attery on him.
Kaiser Scored OH all Sides.
All this has been changed. Hav-
ing discovered that William III. is a
rash and indiscreet man who has en-
dangered the vital interests of his
country by his reckless political &C.
centricities, the German people have
broken away from the tradition of
centuries, and are now indulging in
astonishing criticisms of their impe-
rial ruler. In the federal council OF
the empire, where the opinions of
the lesser German sovereigns are
voiced by their chosen delegates, the
kaiser's personal policy has been sub
jected to scathing attacks. The King
of Saxony and the King of Wurtem-
berg have both declared that he must
not be allowed to control German
foreign policy without any checks on
his dangerous eccentricities. In the
reichstag. the emperor's reputation
as statesman and diplomat has
been torn to shreds, and thousands
of German newspapers have told
their readers the plain, nnvarnished
truth about the monarch.
During the crisis there have been
no prosecutions for lese majestic. The
inflamed state of public opinion
would have made it dangerous to
take any measures of repression. The
silent revolution has been SO effect
i've that the established law of the
land can no longer protect the kaiser
from the criticism of his subjects