The Washington herald., 1913-09-26
Copyright. lsrJ. by A. D. IleoDsOn,)

When King Frederick William III of
Prussia. a hundred years ago issued his
proclamation, IAN Mein volk' CTo my
people'D, 1t was a de profundis" cry Of
one who finds himself at the end OF all
his resources after the landed nobility
for the most part either had abandoned
hope or had rather willingly become
reconciled to the new order Of things,
seeing no possibility OF a resurrection OF
poor downtrodden Prussia from the yoke
Of the pitiless Corsican conqueror. For
once Frederick William, a simple
minded. mediocre ruler. was open to
argument, and took advice offered him
by commoners. And, incidentally, that
was the greatest achievement OF his sor-
row-laden life. Issuing his historic
proclamation, he soon had the satisfac-
ton of seeing the people. the real main
stay Of any nation, gather around the
flag. Merchants forsoOk the stoves,
craftsmen their tools, laboring men their
daily tasks, and peasants their plows and
scythes which they offered up to be cast
into cannon balls and bayonets. Inspired
with an intense patriotism, they fought
for their country, for their homes. and
they won. 1t was a well-deserved lesson
that they taught the aristocracy which
despised them, and their King who had
slighted them. While the nobility fed or
boarded their wealth, the citizens gave
all they had left TO give after ten years
Of strife and marauding-their blood and
their iron implements. The results are
seen in a united and independent Ger
many, and in the centennial celebrations
now taking place all over the Father
land. Is il surprising that Frederick
William III, out OF the fullness OF his
grateful heart, founded the illustrious
| Order of the Iron Cross" for the actors
in the drama that saved his kingdom?
Neither gold nor gems would have won
for him the hearts Of his people as did
the plain cross of iron "a decoration, by
! the way, which was revived by King
later Emperor-William 1 for exceptional
vaIor in the next Franco-German war;
| that Of 1870.
A whole literature about 1913 has sud-
denly sprung into being in Germany, and
the book stores stack whole windows
with it, Historical novels have been
written especially for the occasion, one
with the significant title, Geld yah ich
fuer Eisen." Histories Of the years of
subJection 20 the French, of the rising
that brought deliverance, OF the first
! triumphant march of the allies upon
| Paris in 1874. are to be seen everywhere.
Military experts have written mono
graphs on the campaign of 1913. Political
1 philosophers have reasoned in many
books Of the rising OF 1919 as the Begin
ming of German unity. From the En-
peror downward no one can make 4
ceremonial speech and not devote him
self to 1873; and that the doctors may
not be out of the running. one of them
| has written an essay to prove that the
decline Of Napoleon's military ability in
| 1913 was due to an affection of his pitui-
tary gland, at the base of the brain,
which weakened his faculties Of concen-
| tration.
This years commemoration of the cen
| tenary is to eliminate in the celebration
of the four days battle of Leipzig, on
October l6, Il, IS, and 49, the longest and
the tiercest fought of modern times. In
which Napoleon was beaten. The impor-
| tant day IS October IS when victory
/ clearly rested with the Germans. and on
that day the Peoples Battle Monument
is to be dedicated by the Emperor AMI
with ceremonies in which the whole en-
pire will share. The centenary Of the
victory has so enthralled the imagination
that every city. town. and village in Ger
many is likely to observe it PTepara-
| tions for it are effacing recollections Of
| the celebration in June of the twenty
| fifth anniversary of the Emperor's ac-
cession to the German throne.
The Dattle monument STANDS ABOVE
Leipzig plains where French and Ger
mans and the allies of both fought.
Leipzig long since has reached out to
I the battlefield, suburbs stand on what
the maps indicate as the French and
German positions, and only here and
there are to be seen fields like those
that the combatants traversed. Tourists
have to hunt out now the stone that
marks the place where Napoleon watched
and ordered the contest, little block
/ of granite. weather-worn, with folded
cooked hat and sword carved on top
of IT, It is the memorial of the defeated
while nearby is the mammoth monument
that the victorious nation has erected.
The centennial exhibition, with which
Leipzig is signalling the anniversary
stretches almost up to both memorials.
The German people have paid for the
monument though not without some
urging during the years OF the collection
of the funds. therefore IT deserves its
name ~'Voelker-Schlacht- -Denkmsl' Crne-
mortal Of the battle Of the people,. The