The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1914-12-31
FROM the Kansas city star.

%~ss................. ..............'.'
From the Kansas city Star.
Ths Prussian monarchy. the young
enc OF the European states. sprang
erem n humble beginning. About the
eeAtnning of the Fifteenth century the
Mnrquisate OF Brandenburg was De-
showed by the Emperor Sigismund on
eho noble family of Hohenzollern. In
ne Sixteenth century that family en-
prAced the Lutheran doctrines. early
u the Seventeenth century 1t obtained
erpm the king OF Poland the investi-
TIRE OF the duchy OF Prus~ia. $500.
Even after his accession to this ter
B1tory, the chiefs OF the house OF Ho-
henmollern hardly ranked with the cleo
eegH OF Saxony and Bavaria.
The soil of Brandenburg was, for the
pn0Mt part, sterile. Even around Ber-
IN. the capital of the province, and
mrwund Potsdam the favorite residence
q the nargraves. the country was
Anwert In some tracts the deep sand
could. with difficulty, be forced by as
naduouS tillage to yield thin crops of
rye and oats. In other place the
ancient forests. from which the con-
Qn0rors OF the Roman empire had des-
oonded on the Danube. remained I'M
tDuched by the hand OF man. Where
tho soil was rich 1t was generally
mArshy. and its insalubrity repealed
the cultivators whom its fertility at
txMcfed.
After the Title of King.
Frederick William. called the great
eAoctor, was the prince to whose policy
his successors have agreed to ascribe
their greatness. He acquired by the
peace of Westphalia several valuable
poeseEgicn, asd among them the rich
city and district Of Magdeburg; and
Ne left to his son. Frederick, prin-
dpaiity as considerable as any which
WINS not called kingdom
Frederick aspired to the style OF roy
atty. Ostentatious and profuse. neg
ngent Of his true interest and OF his
high duties, insatiably eager for friv-
oious distinctions. he added nothing to
1ho real weight of the state which he
governed, but he gained the great OBJ
1ect OF his life, the title of king
In the year 100 he assumed this new
dignity. He had on that occasion to
undergo all the notifications which
kAli to the lot OF ambitious upstairs.
Compared with the other crowned
hoads Of Europe, he made figure re-
Dembltng that which a nabob or COM
snigsary, who had bought title, would
snake In tho company of peers whose
&ncestors had been attained for treason
AGAINST the Plantagenets.
The envy OF the class which he
omitted, and the civil scorn OF the class
, into which he intruded himself, were
marked in very significant ways. The
elector of Saxony at first refused to
aoknowiedge the new majesty. Louis
XIV looked down on his brother king
with an air not unlike that with which
me count of Molieres play regards
Monsieur Jourdain, just fresh from the
mnmnS9ry OF being made a gentleman.
Austria exacted large sacrifice In re-
turn for its recognition and at last
rave IL ungraciously RI
a Parsimonious King.
WFGdRrtCTT aII0paadad hNyh bite
frederick William, a prince who must
be allowed to have possessed some tai
enfs for administration, but whose
character was dishgured by the most
0Gicus vices and whose eccentricities
were such as never had been seen out
81 nadhouse. He was exact and dill
gent In the transaction OF business
nnd he was the first who formed the
design Of obtaining for Prussia place
among the European powers altogether
cut OF proportion to its extent and
I population, by means OF a strong mill
tnxy establishment
strict economy enabled him to keep
wp peace establishment of $4,000
Uo0ps. These troops were disciplined In
wmuh a manner that placed beside them
ehe household regiments OF Versailles
anA 81 James would have appeared an
@Wkward squad. The master of such a
Pcrce could not but be regarded by all
M netghbors as a formidable enemy
and valuable ally.
But the mind OF Frederick William
was no III regulated that all his inclina-
Mems became passions, and all his pas
0ons pnrtook OF the character Of moral
ana intellectual disease. His parsimony
@egsnerated into sordid avarice. His
e41te Tor military pomp and order be-
came mania, like that OF Dutch
&urKcmaster Of tulips While the ENJOYS
O. me court of Berlin were in q state
- Rqualid poverty, as moved the laugh
Ter OF foreign capitals-while the food
cf The royal family was so bad that
even hunger loathed it-no price was
Thought too extravagant for tall re-
eRutts.
A Fortune For One Recruit.
The ambition OF the kings was to
Darn brigade OF giants, and every
country was ransacked by his agents
1pw men above ordinary stature. These
fesoarches were not confirmed to Eu-
sUpe. No head that lowered above the
crowd In the bazars of Aleppo, Of Cairo
O. gurat could escape the crimps of
yr0d0rick William. One Irishman, more
ehAn seven feet high, who was picked
up In London by the Prussian ambas-
Nador, received a bounty of nearly G l.
eee gterIing ($6,500)-very much more
than the ambassadors salary.
This extravaganza was the more
absurd because stout youth OF five
feet eight. who might have been pro-
ourp6 for q few dollars. would. in all
probability have been much more
variable soldier. But to Frederick Will
ham this huge Irishman was what a
brn1s Ohio or a vinegar bible Is to the
anlloCtor of a different kind
xk IN remarkable that though the
J main and OF Frederick Williams adj
xn1nigtration was to have a military
EprcA through his reign forms an i'm
pgrtant epoch in the history of mill
taxy discipline, and though his domi-
nAnf passion was military display, he
WINS yet one OF the most pacific OF
pRinces. We are afraid that his aversion
10 war was not the effect of humanity
bod was merely one Of his 1000 whims
Like Miser With Soldiers.
Els feeling about his troops seems
% have resembled a miser's feeling