The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-17
EMPEROR WILLIAM
 Is .EXTRAVAGANT Bold Newspaper Makes Daring
 Charges LIVES BEYOND HIS MEANS Grown Prince Gives Up Plan of Build ing New Palace and Will Live in the Old Marble Shack
 at Potsdam.
LIVES BEYOND HIS MEANS
By MALCOLM CLARKE.

By MALCOLM CLARKE.
 Berlin. January 16.-"For more than i twenty years Emperor William has peen living beyond his means" says the Noss- isrhe Zeitung paper 4shich is by no nossible means sensational or soclallstlc' hut on the contrary is one so eoaserVa- five and staid that 1t has long had the nickname: "Auntie Viss,' because or lts at times rather exaggerated caretuihess'
 What no radical paper would have dared a few years ago, practically ae cusng the head of the German naeloh oi being reckless squanderer, who cannot make both ends meet on an income or S5OOO00O a year, the most consefVatlNe ol the country prints without as much as blush. Times have indeed changed In i Germany and the lion has had its claws , shofn No charge oe any kind Will De made against the editor who has sta1ea A fact that is so much more grave as not only did Williams predecessors get along on the same income, but hls Srahu- father William l., even managed to save up the snug little sum of $l5,0000OO, con siderable part of which has also vanished through the present Emperor's fingers. ! One may imagine what the Kaiser feels when the radical papers remind him that President Roosevelt, the head of an at least equally great nation, receives no more than S5OO0O, and has no secret na- tional funds to fall back upon, no castles to sell.
 Since the present Kaiser ascended the throne. the expenditures has been grow ing all the eime and 1t Is stated that there has of late been considerable an- nual deficit The Kaser's journeys form one of the principal reasons of excessive expenditure, as they involve very heavy costs The Vossische Zetung writes;
 "It can only cause satisfaction If un- necessary expenses of the Imperial Court are avoided and if unnecessary luxury be limited in the future. It appears that November r, 1908 (the day on which Prince Bulow told the Emperor the whole truth about the outburst of national dis content against his personal regime), was the beginning of a new era In this as Tn other respects It remains to be seen { whether the change for the better will be permanent or only temporary" A significant sign of the times may be seen in the decision of the Crown Prince not to build the new magnificent palace at Babelsberg, the construction of which had already been begun. This palace was to be the most luxurious building in Germany, and enormous sums were to be spent on the home of the future Elm peror. Orders have now been given to abandon the work of building, and the , Grown Prince and Princess will continue to reside at the Marble Palace at Pots dam although this building has ire quently been described as to small for their requirements
 It is noteworthy that protests are being made in some quarters against the sale of the Kaiser's five castles on the ground that they are valuable architec- tura works which ought not to be al l lowed to pass into the hands of private 1 possessors. The Rhenish Westphalian | Gazette describes the sale as a violation | of the Act of 1907, which prohibits the destruction of historical monuments. The Castle of Stolzenfels, which Is now of- fered for sale, was given to King Fred erick William ". of Prussia by num- Der of enthusiastic patriots, who sub scribed the necessary amount to buy it. and the Rhenish Westphalian Gazette declares that it is improper to offer a present for sale.
 At any rate adds the newspaper, or dnary mortals consider it indecent to sell presents which haove been given to them. The Rhenish Westphalian Gazette pro- ceds to point out that the King of Italy, although a comparatively poor monarch, maintains all the historical castles in his possession, although large sums of money are necessary to preserve them King Victor Emmanuel" it says would never wound the historical sentiment of his people by selling these magnificent monu- ments of bygone times"
 An amusing dispute which has arisen at the Royal Theatre in regard to the clothes to be worn by the players in the forthcoming production of Mr. -Maugham's comedy, Mrs. Dot" draws attention to the confusion prevailing in German so- ciety on the burning question of mems dress.
 The theatre authorities insist that the English atmosphere of the play can only be properly reproduced if the actors wear evening dress, whether the scene is laid in a drawing room at tea time or on the river. Members of the cast are trying in vain to convince the management of its error.
 This same violent conflict of ideas is causing great inconvenience to fashion able hostesses and to hotel managers, who are striving to induce German gentlemen not to don evening dress until the evening Dress suits, however continue to dot the landscape at all hours. No daylight func- tion is complete without them. They appear at the launching of battleships and the unyeiling of statues. at garden parties. afternoon receptions and at funerals.
 The thousands of young Germans who cross the channel to learn business and English manners return to advocate the English rules of dress for men, but their example seems only to add to the per plexity. The result is that the new luxu- rious hotels. restaurants and palm courts present a wild riot of incongru- ous attire. Some guests come to luncheon and tea in evening coats or dinner jackets, while others arrive to dinner and late supper in morning suits.
 The Kaiser has long been trying to eff feet reform in the matter of clothes. Some time ago His Majesty decreed that neither men nor women should be ad- n1itted to certain opera performances un- less attired in evening dress.
 Quiet though everything appears to be on the surface. there are many indica- tions which tend to show that Austria at least is counting on war in the Bal tans a very strong probability.
 With the utmost secrecy that power has concentrated in Herzegovina an army big enough to overwhelm with one blow any of the hostile powers in the disturbed peninsula.
 Everything has been done to keep all movements of troops secret. The troops have been marched through the larger towns at night, and newspapers which have had the temerity to refer to them have been conhscated wholesale.
 The situation at present is as follows
 Sarajevo the capital of Bosnia, is the headquarters of the 18th army corps, whose normal peace strength. formed of two divisions. each of four regiments of l-.f- -f-