The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-03

Hohenzollern Kings OF Prussia, who
some twenty odd generations before
had been merely Margraves or Mar
Quises OF Brandenburg.
Suddenly. that imam Of blood and
iron." Bismarck. looms heavily into
view. stern. ruthless. indomitable: the
real unification Of Germany begins
for. says Mr.. Collier. '"The history OF
| German unity is tho biography OF Bis
marck," and we see the King OF f'rus-
| sia proclaimed German Emperor in the
| Han of the Mirrors in the Palace mt
| Versailles.
| Then the author opens the door, and
| we arc ushcred into the German En-
| pire. the Germany OF which he writes
| with such intimacy Df detail as may
| be crowded into some COO pages
| Immediately we become confused
/ We have been told that "Out of this
furnace came constitutional govern
mcnt In England. and republican gov
| eminent in America We owe the ORR
gins of our political life to the inlu-
ence OF these German tribes, with their
! love Of Individual freedom and their
! stern hatred of meddlesome rulers. or
meddlcsome state or legislature"
Now we learn that there Is no such
| thing in Germany as democratic or
| representative government" and. fur
| Their, that what can be done and what
Is done in Germany has no possible
bearing upon what can be done In
America or In England. All analogies
are false all Illustrations futile, all
examples valueless. for the one rea-
| son that the empire of Germany is
| governed by one man. who declaims
! his independence OF the people and
admits his responsibility to God alone"
rn1 ha 1T
OF william H., and a pleasing picture
II Is, rs Mr. Collier draws 1t.
He fully sets out the autocratic
| power of the Emperor: ITO write about
Germany without writing about the
Emperor is as Impossible as to jump
away from ones own shadow. When
the sun Is behind any phase or de-
partment of German life. the shadow
is that Of Germany's Emperor
lie so pervades German life that to
write OF the Germany of the last
twenty-five years without attempting
to describe William the Second. German
Emperor. would be to leave every quee-
ton, institution and problem OF the
| country without its master-key."
The Emperor has repeatedly an
nounced his belief in his divine right
! to reign. but that belief is not to be
| laughed at, says Mr. Collier. because
! 1t inspires In him an equally certain
belief that 1t Is his duty to the Di-
| vinity to reign. and to reign wisely
and we'll The author explains the
! apparent Inconsistency in the atti
| tudes OF the man who claims and eHer-
! cises autocratic power and at the same
| time declares himself to be the first
servant OF the people by the very
! plausible Interpretation of his mean
ing to be that he is the servant OF
! his obligations to the people
| And here It must be admitted that
some OF us who are in no sense mon
| archists or upholders of the divine
! right doctrine are undcmocratic
enough Or rather unDemocratic
| enough. ITO believe that the public
| servant who follows what his intelli-
gence teaches him is his obligation
! to the people rather than what popular
/ clamor declares to be the will of the
people is after all. possibly the SER
want who renders service as opposed
to scrvility
OF the Emperor's versatility, Mr.
/ Collier writes with enthusiasm. con-
Guiding partial list OF his accomplish
ments and of his specifications in
f. knowledge with the cNulting cncoml-
um, "IIc even knows what he believes
about woman's suffrage and about
God. a rare conciseness OF thinking in
these troublous times"
As to the war-lord side Of Villa n,
tho Second. Mr.. Collier explains his
personal sympathy with his "insistert
stiffening of Gcrmany's martial back
bone" by bit of philoso phizing that