The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1914-09-17
Doom of Aristocracy.

speculation as TO the eIIeCG OF
the war upon the European
monarchies is most fascinating,
especially to Americans who
have an ingrained suspicion of
every form of government save
their own. There are many
who maintain that it is a war
of dynasties, entered upon for
territorial greed or because of
animosities of the reigning
houses. The Hapsburss are
to extend their boun-
daries toward the Aegean, the
Hohenzollerns have dreams OF
world dominion and the great
er glory Of their name; the
Romonoffs are seeking to main
tain their hold upon the loyalty
of the Slavs outside Of their en-
pire and to bind them more
to St. Petersburg so that
the ultimate extension of the
Russian frontier to the Medi-
terranean may be facilitated.
There is no doubt that these
are among the potential rea-
sons for the conflict. But they
are not all the reasons: The
German army is merely the
kaiser's fighting machine: 1t
is Germany in arms. When
5, 5,OOO,O men respond to the call
to the colors, or stand to respond
to CARRY out the plan of the
kaiser's, it is pretty safe to
assume that the cause of the
kaiser is the cause of Germany,
and that national as well as
dynastic reasons lie behind the
great enterprise. The same rea,
will apply to Russia and
to Austria only to a lesser degree.
Germany and Austria are in
alliance because of their COM
mon interests. They both seek
an outlet to the east to the Ae-
gean and to the markets OF
east. The dynastic policies are
by the commercial in.
terests of the two empires, and
in a large sense the Hohenzoi-
lerns and the Hapsburgs are
the spokesmen for and leaders
of their people and leading III
the direction in which they
would 90.
There is no dynasty in France
to be gloriied, but the French
people have been arming for
forty-four years for this great
conflict. The Frenchman who
took their hoaldings from their
stockings to help their govern
ment pay the indemnity to
Germany in 1870 have heen
waiting fol the opportunity to
get it back again, and their
children have inherited the
same relentless purpose. They
have watched and waited near
ly half a century for this one
great, overwhelming allah.
sorbing opportunity of rev
anche!''
Despite the fact that the am
bitions of the people and the
dynasties are in accord, the
effects of the war upon mon
archical institutions will lie
momentous. The spirits of
democracy is abroad. It
has practically abolished the
British house of lords. 1t has
forced the est;. b b'ishment of a
parliament in Russia. 1t is
so active and alert in Germany
that the Social Democracy is
party is the largest and most
powerful political organi alton
in the empire. In France it
overturned the monarchy nearly
half a century ago, and is now
so firmly established that only
the widest dreamers ever i'm
agine that republican institution
can be replaced. It is regnant
in Portugal and nearly so in
Spain. \ nation in arms, as
Germany now is, will not long
be cohtent to remain a nation
without a ministry responsible
to its parliament. The demo-
cratization of German institu-
tions is inevitable after the war,
whatever the result. The peo-
pie, even in Russia are no longer
driven serfs. They think thev
reason and a demonstration of
the power of 100000 men on
the battlefield will not be lost on
the patriots who wish also to
demonstrate the power of the
same number of millions in de
cidlng at first hand the causes
for which they will take up
arms. Whether the kings and
the emperors remain On their
thrones matters little. Great
Britain, though retains the
fiction of a monarch, is as demo
cratic as the United States, and
its parliament responds with
greater precision to popular
sentiment than the American
congress. The war means the
end of autocracy whether the
kings remain or nOt.-Philadel