Iditarod pioneer., 1914-10-31
PLANS AND AMBITIONS
 OF GERMAN WAR LORD

To be himself the embodiment of Ger many, to realize the splendid heritage of his grandfather and make Germany a first world power, fit to meet all present-day dangers that IS the splendid ambition and tte tremendous tasl, of Wilhelm H. em- peror of Germany and king of Prussia. That he has gone so far toward his goal in twenty five years marks the man as one of the greatest of the house of Hohenzol lern. The present war will without doub1 be the crucial test of his career,
 Understanding q litJIa of Wilhelm H., and the lroblcms of Germany, it is easier to grasp the German point of view ill the present world war.
 Like his famous grandfather, the first Wilhelm, who exclaimed upon his corona ton as king of Prussia T receive this crown from Gods hand, and from none other' Kaiser Wilhelm is a deEout believer in the divine rights of his kingship, Wilhelm is king "by grace of God" the first servant of his people bound by sacred obligation to serve &s he sees the right Though Ger many k possessed of democratic institutions, though there is system of checks and balances both democratic and bureaucratic, no careful cIronicler denies the absolute rule ci the kaiser. Since the dismissal of Bismarck. in 1890 there has never been question as to "vho is Germany"
 i i- not thc claim of any writer of dis cr,t.Cn that Wilhelm alone has made Ger many what it has become in twenty five years. l. would be equally foolish to be Eaye that Germany would have forged ahead without such a leader q the kaiser. Wilhelm IL and his time, so far ao the wei fare Of Germany are concerned are feIic't- auly matched Close students cf German affairs hnd sound worth to Germany in what other nations have criticized Ill the character of the kaiser.
 In trc middle ages began Germany's hope If enIpirc The Teutonic races in federa- tiun dreamed oi expansion and met disaster so CvprwhltminE that even a century ago the German state was dissolved into semi Independent provinces Germany, the ter rtory now banded as an empire, became the battle ground of Europe, the soldier slave market for every ambitious monarch.
 During the sixteenth. seventeenth and eighteenth centuries while her neghbors were opening the new worlds across the sea, Germany, without national entity, be came provincial. narrow, without initiative, the subject of universal harasament.
 When the family of Hohenzollern of Prussia, whose greatest trait is the acquisi- tion of land. began the rehabilitation of that kingdom and laid the foundations for the great empire, the new world had been divided between Germanys neighbors, It remained for the kaisers grandfather, the first Wilhelm, with the aid of Bismarck to establish the empire. To his grandson fell the even more difficult task of developing that empire to first world power, despite the fact that there was no room for its expansion geographically.
 Wilhelm was hampered with handicap even more onerous than this s-the necessity of reforming German character.
 Centuries of Reorganization, of defeat, of rayaging, of political trickery, had had their effect upon the German people. The return of scIfconfidence the feeling of na tonal entity began with Sedan. The present kaiser, aggressive, beligere1t, supreme, Is carrying on the work.
 When Wilhelm IL undertook his trust the empire suffered tremendous drain in emigration. That drain has been stopped. The Germans are kept in Germany. De prived of an opportunity for geographical expansion (thc African and Southern ocean colonization of Bismarck being but experi- mentsl the problem was solved by trade expansion. The empire became one of the worlds greatest manufacturing centers.
 Commercial expansion necessltated a navy. The kaiser Is responsible for Ger many's present tremendous sea power. The army an inheritance from his grandfather, who brought the earlier Prussan reservlst system to a state of perfection, has not suffered by this new interest, for 1t IS still a vital necessity in the continental rela- tions of the empire In twenty-five years of peace the kaiser has been able to de ve0p military resources great enough to make good his foreign policy, which may be paraphrased as 'Hands off; if you wish war, war you shall have, but not on Ger man soil"
 In the varied and dramatic activities of the kaiser can be traced a definite policy. Monuments and marks of recognition have been scattered broadcast throughout the empire recalling heroes and events dating back almost to mythology. He has strlven desperately to reawaken the pride of his people in their past history. He has en- tered into art and literature with the same supreme elfconfidence he undertook mili- tary expansion. The results have made him the subject of laughter and criticism, but the purpose, the building of national character, is plain, and from his point of view, worthy. The kaiser has been quick to recognize economic changes and socially Germany has undergone as great a revolu- tion as it has politically, due to the az gressveness of its ruler,
 The problem of expansion IS today Ger many's greatest task, Forced to seek un- occupied room, for during the period ot European colonization overseas Germany slept, the kaiser has conceived ambitious .-oiootn In 1903 % alma he 11ndertnnk