Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-07-25
KAISER WAR LORD
AND MAN OF PEACE
Conflict Between Temporal
ment and Duty in Career
of Emperor.

An interesting incident of the cele-
bration of the German emperor's
quarter of a century on the throne
was the disclosure made, with his
permission, by Professor Hintze, of
the University Of Berlin. One of the
first acts of his reign, it appears, was
to destroy the political testament of
his greatuncle, Frederick William ~,
which counseled the overthrow of the
constitution that the revolution of
1913 had extorted, and a return to abb
solutism.
The young kaiser decided that it
was too dangerous to be handed
down 1t might one day fall into the
hands of a ruler only too glad of a
sanction for such a stroke at liberty,
and he sent back the envelope to the
archives with the concise note, Con
tents destroyed" II was an auspi-
cious beginning for ruler who has
been accused of an autocratic temper
and helps to explain why he has for
twenty-five years been called the war
lord of Europe and has never fought.
That he believes in strong mon
archy Is a. matter of course. and his
belief in the necessity of war and of
preparation for 1t is no less sincere.
He fears Socialism, not because he
distrusts the German people, but be-
cause he believes that the people need
leadership, and that monarchy is a
divine institution to supply it. He
believes in war as a reSenerative
force, but holds an unnecessary war
to be a great crime. He has pre-
pared for war because he feels that
great perils await Germany; he has
striven for peace, because the nation
al strength must not be wasted till
the hour of peril comes.
If he could have consulted his own
preference we may be sure that he
would have chosen military career,
and it must be the great disappoint-
ment of his fife that it has not fallen
to his lot to emulate his great preda-
cessor, Frederick the Great. But duty
with him is paramount, and fortu-
nately the path of duty has been to-
ward peace Twenty-Five years of
peace, Mr.. Carnegie" he jovially
called out the other day, as the
American peace delegation passed,
'and I hope it will be twenty-five
years more"
Thus Germany in his reign has
been one of the two great powers
which have not waged' war, and the
strain must have been severe. This
conflict between duty and tempera-
ment must be in great part RESPONSE
BILE for the enigmatic figure he pre-
sents. No one could be rasher in
speech or more martial in effect, and
it has taken the world long time to
learn that these peculiarities are the
national expression of a fiery soul
controlled, when 1t comes to action,
by much poise and good sense. In
small matters especially those af-
fecting his personal dignity. he has
some times been petulant and hasty.
but in great affairs of state he has
acted wisely and with discretion.
He has frightened the world Pc
riodically with his phrases about
shining armor' and Germany's
place in the sum-" and his kilograms
have more than once been perilous,
yet the jingled sabre has not been
drawn, and for the past six months
Europe has owed its peace more to
Emperor William than to any other
one man. The world will heartily
second his greeting to Mr.. Carnegie,
and hope that the next quarter-cen-
fury may be as free from the devas-
tation of war-Springfield Republi-
can.