Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-11-05

must be sons of well-to-do fathers. and
In spite of the much-vaunted Worship OF
efficiency in the German empire It can
be easily seen that the officers OF the
army are not selected in the most eff
cient and democratic manner.
"KAIsER VAIN BUT KINDLY"
Kaiser wilhelm II and his troubles
with the Crown Princes are treated IN an
entertaining manner. The author depicts
the Kaiser as vain but kindly
The story is told that relative If the
Kaiser was considerably picked upon"
by a certain general under whom the
royal relative was serving. Some time
after the Kaiser met the commander.
and in the course of conversation in
quired: Were you not rather hard on
that relative Of mine the other dav?"
well, Your Majesty" replied the gen
eral. "you gave me command of the regi-
ment; II YOU dislike the way | have con-
Quoted, you have the remedy"
80, Of course, my dear friend" replied
the Kaiser soothngly, II meant nothing
Of the sort"
In spite Of the independents such as
this implies. which the author saws is
often shown by the older men, those
who are held in the highest esteem by
His Majesty have got further in their
rise to prominence through fawnin- and
flatterv rather than through ability.
I'm fact there is a distinctly Byzan-
tine atmosphere about the whole war
cabinet which auEurs little good for the
future of the world peace"
THE evil of favoritism," continues the
author, has not gotten far enough as
yet TO show very decided effects in the
fields, but it is possible that reverses
might fan the smouldering cmbers of
discomfort and dsarm the great ma
chine"
The crown prince, the author claims,
is the personfcation Of the army
while he Is the quintessence Of all
that hateful militarlst there is no
doubt that his abilities as soldier are
considcrab bly, in excess Of his august
parent He has inherited a double dose
Of his fathers mlitarsm, and a double
dose of his capacities.
"IIe is at the head of all Anglophoba
"a hatred of English, and mailed-tist-
ism. He denies to all nations tho right
of a soul. Small nations, especially
Belgium and Holland, have no right to
soul; and he even believes that great
Empires can progress without anything
.,tr.. .,,,t,,, t. .i~, i.i, D.,
ronlsm. dash and ardor yet to see him
49,, .So,,,, coo t,o e,,sb oe bis cbo.l
t,o Wood r,,ebirc In bis skin and dash
irc bis sword he coas heart and soul
for the game.
.,rbor, 70 NO do,,b+ that to-day he Is
tha Idol Of the army. ard its leader
Az one time II was thought that he was
merely their tool. hut those DAYS are
rassed re has shown that he has d
win Of his own.
"Tactless ne is, and indiscrcet but
those ndiscretions are entirely his own
and not inspired from other quarters.
He has always disliked the manufac-
turing and commercial classes. and has
taken no pains to conceal his dislike, or
oven to refrain from expressing II. His
august father. for reasons Of his own,
has always surrounded himself with the
financial magnates and merchant princes
Of the empire. but this young man will
have none Of them"
The Prince is essentially the military
man about town He likes the theatres,
the restaurants and the gay places where
princes really ought not to show them
selves
It was amusing to follow the little
games of the Crown Prince at n time
when the imperial wishes We're being is
sued to the army for the cultivation of
frugaIity. simplicity and the homespun
virtues
The author has noticed some changes
for the better in the German army since
he was FIRST connected with it. The
officers drink much less than they did
90 wears ago and live more frugally when