The sun., 1914-09-13
II, uu. BEn>uARD DEn>B,RG.

w surprised on Ted"Ihs III 'ne
papers hic headings such as
ora k,,s,rs war" THE kaisers
N.uv." The Kaiser Beaten &c.
,l.gsm at H,st that this was only
s,,t uf thhr,yiatiou and that the
"k,I,,.." name stood as a. symbol for
IN. whole of Germany b. this war forced
up,p ouI nation ! soon had To- see. how
,v,.. that something quite different was
meant and that & large portion or the
American people were OF the opinion that
N, Emperor Mas more or less responsible
Cor the breaking ont uf tho war, and
mat the German people, whom they an
knew TO b. good and pcaceable, had
been dragged into 1t in consequence OF
aufocrtur institutions peculiar 10 Ger
many, and as sequel 10 mill'ar'sn
r,rrf.r' ~ germany
consider u therefore Of interest To
,,rI.ln here the constitutional basis on
Uf..r our institutions rest The German
t.r,r.rs fs Union composed OF all the
states which formerly belonged to the
,srrtu Federation. with the exception
~ ,u.'rit-Iluugary. The Eleventh Artl-
.ts of "a. German Constitution says
Tho Union shall be presided ovcr by the
L,.... ~ Prussia whose title Is 10 nc
,D,i,s.her Kaiser There is great
.r.ar.ty with the Constitution OF III.
t'rt,I states. which Is also Union OF
a number ~ independent states, "no
have gwen part bl Nll'll
fsyor ~ the Union. While the Kaiser
,s,,,,-.nt. the Empire IN its foreign rela-
ON. N, may not declare war In the name
~ ,1, Empire without the consent OF tne
p,.t,,rit representing these single
s,s. fnrnlirg the Empire. eN-
,er' when German territory Is al,
,arL,d In this Bundesrat of % equal
,ot.. m. Fu.pcror in his capacity OF
KING of Prussia. has only II votes. IL
,roUs mat the Emperor could not. and
.. . matte. Of fact has not, declared war
IN his oNu account but that he had 10
hay,. ard iu fact had. the consent OF ms
allies reprcscnted by the Federal CounciI
Tus slu.cu; was unanimous Inns y !
,,trh greater check than the control piaccd
b., th. constitution of the United states
., tl, President. who ~ all great rulers
, tl, earth Concentrates In himself the
cr..',.t power The German KAISER can
,., more than the President of the United
~.,r.- mti, war at pleasure.
%,un,r .- the Emperor what - call'h
ter, The war Lord" He has not the
,.-auslI that l.. the absolute con'ihdhu
,y.r tH, forces. uf the entire German
.... Article SO of our Constitution SAYS
f..t OLD. G..mtu Princes. more rspecihily
TIE Kings of Bavaria, Wuerttemberg anu
~tN.,.y. Az. t1. chiefs OF the tinoiS "'
',ugu- o. 'u,.. territory ,slN army 'oIps
- iVeut,-fpurl they nominate the ON.
GERS tor t9,-. trouus. they have the rlgn'
Ia irspr,f these troops sc. Consequently
the ii trs1Iut, disposition OF IN" 'iernan
army passes on To the Kaiser only In tue
.r1u.nt when the consent OF ms d''cS'
viz IN. States who with PRUSSIA iol'l
30. Efupir,. has been obtained Tor thc
dr,l,,lou Of war. But there
further and much heavier check on tne
r,,r.,o.. doluE- All measures proNld-
lnr N,,. and means for conducting war
,nust %. passed bv the Rcichstag IN"
Eccnstag H. . body elected on the mos'
Nb,.a ballot laW that exists ahN"hei =,
NOR, liberal oven than the ballot law OF
Tho United States for tho election ol u
r-,sii,nt The German law. ever since
1EC. has been = one man one vote UNI
,.-..J secret and direct ballot law. The
ti.rmtn pcuplo ar" represented as ~
,..''. md democratically in the Govern
w,nt e., the American people are IN tnefs .
The H-ht TO vote does not depend either On
= ..usjis or on any educational test ANY
CeruAn beng % years and over may
vote The Reichstag consists OF 3oI mem,
.,.. The conservatives. the so-caIl'p
"Wlr Ptr'y,' from which most OF the
o'N.r'. are being recruited, ~ IN nope,
Jos. majority about 30. Therr are ~
Social Democrats and about 100 Liberals
.l that iu fact there l. a Liberal majority
IN fha German Reichstag Notwithstand-
t.e tn.- ,ompusitiun, this Reichstag mas
voted unanimously tho necessary laws ana
cv.l.'~ fp' conducting the present war
a.. although the Social Democrats re-
'0' Vtr ON principle in their programme
tho, na., hdprsed unanimously the policy
~ 'Aa Empire, as set out TO II oS 'he
HuuDror- chancellor.
SIT, this to prove that this war Is
no' 90 Etisors war" because ne cannon
r7'l war. but Il Is the German
peoples war" modern war accord
.rg 10 Prince Bismarclts great speech IN
'NNi, with its enormous armies cohprls-
,Lg whole peoples, cannot be undertaken
with safety nOy carried through win sue
cess except by the full consent and en-
tNusIa-tic assistance OF the whole nation
Americans returning from Germany VIII
toN 'oI hat this consent and enthusiasm
a'e there In the highest degree and tha'
tl,rF has never been such a unity OF the
German people between princes and peo'
- hotNrcI parties and creeds as there
- IN these trying times, where no less
'.sB seven nations have Joined hands u
Down our pcOpe
Nut ! hear the reply that the conse
pI'nCcs Of mi,tarism all prevailing anc
!pW.na'iu- in Germany have brouSh
t|oul m'iitarism in the other Europeai
't. IONS until matters reached such
'"0sIou that one day the string had Il
sap and hat il has snapped now MY
'lN 20 this Is that Germany has no
.'itcd nor uuduly fostored militarisu
Europe, that miitarisn in Germany
ms but very small part of our gen
Al activities. and that the maintenance
90 au army and navy were forced upon u!
circumstances, by tho history OF ou
'ly and hy our neighbors. We hav'
iI' strongest navy and never aspret
have H. Neither have we numerical!
.. s.Huu-rst army. ~ can he seen from
'"eurau papers, which speak of eight I
'. milton Russian soldiers, while German
N.ug credited with t-half that mum