The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-01-28

these visits have been nothing else than moves
in that great scheme by which he hopes to real
ize his dreams of German empire.
So also, aver these critics, is to be interpreted
his activities in building up an army and navy.
The German army is perhaps the best equipped
fighting machine on the planet William would
have it that this war power serves for nothing
else than to guarantee the industrial develop
ment Of his country But his critics hold that
this is simply weapon which he is fashioning
wherewith to conquer and subdue sister nations.
In this way they interpret Germanys navy.
What does this mean," they ask, If not that
William aspires to conquer England and control
Europe?" But William himself explains this
navy a pledge of peace. Every German
warship launched" he says, els one guarantee
more for peace EARTH" and elsewhere states
that he believes that every civilized nation must
arm itself against the inevitable day when the
great barbarian Oriental peoples begin to over
flow Europe.
Perhaps the thing which most sets the Ger
man Emperor apart and gives him a place of
chief conspicuousness among all rulers of this
day is his gigantic dream of Pan-Germanism.
Alongside this scheme, the ambitions of Alexan-
der the Great, the policies of julius Caesar, and
the aspirations of Napoleon, are meager in the
extreme. Pan-Germanism means nothing less
than that Germany shall monopolze the industry
of Europe shall control the policies of Africa and
Asia, and shall ultimately dominate the world
At the basis of this vast program lies the En-
peror's conviction that German culture, German
industry, German civilization, is that type of civ
ilizaton divinely selected to be the enduring and
permanent form of social life in the earth And
4l,1I LII. L:
appointed sovereign, ruling through divine right
to naugurate the rule and reign of Germanism
in the world. "Germanism,'' he said, ''must ev-
erywhere expand and impose ITSELF" According
to the Interpretation of some Students the events
and developments in Germany and most of the
recent European and Asiatic wars are to be in
terpreted in the light of this great scheme. They
would have us believe that n-Germanism is
the focal center of world politics.
William is perhaps the best equipped man for
undertaking such scheme this that now lives
He has an indomitable courage and unbreakable
will, tlreless perseverance and an ambition like
consuming fire. This is characteristically
shown in the way in which he has become an
athletic army leader, sportsman and horseman
though has been helpless since child
hood
Perhaps the key to Emperor Williams char.
acter and to his career lies in his extraordinary
religious consciousness. To him religion is the
one great abiding reality and the rulership of
God on earth is to him more definite and more
real than any other rulership. Add to this re.
ligious passion and religious consciousness his
own conviction that he is kind of divine vicar
ordained to mediate Gods great purposes on
EARTH and we understand something of the
man. For all these reasons, the birthday of such
a ruler is of significance and interest to all peo-
pie. And because of his policies and his ambi-
tions, he will probably stand in the center of
the stage of political interest during all his flu
ture birthdays.