The sun., 1914-09-13

|
| father.
Some people believ that Williams
startling performances are theatric cf-
fects, coldly planned by him in order
TO strike the Imagination Of his sub
Jects. This IL not the case. OF course
| don't pr tend that he does not intcn-
| tonany abuse his power; in this H.
is Ike all other men: but, I assure you
ne Is much less of an actor than Is
| thought. He simply obcys the impulse
OF the moment because he Is incapable
OF Resisting ii. Some of his impulses
are generous; some are not. lie often
ends by bitterly repcnt.ng his acts
Like all Inconsistencies. the Emperor
shoWs-eren in his most unbalanced
deeds a sort uf topsytmNN ! uIc. II
gets peoples minds off one thing bv
doing another. Thus If they hlam, him
for an artistic decision he must.rs "A
review; If they cry out over something
else he paints Il picture; II they HIS
that he writes an opera or Disguise
himself as "A Mussulman and makes a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land or de.
mands that they discover a cur. for
tuberculosis within twcnty-four hours.
The fact is that the Emperor Is not
nearly so popular as he was W., don't
once did. He fatigucs and discuuragcs
! us. besides plaguiu" all the rest of the
. word like nightmare.
We Germans are a quiet. prosperous
people, and in order to continue So we
wish to be let alone. Nevertheless ",
live In constant fear of imbrcie com
plicatiOns which may be- stirred up at
any moment 10y this bluudorcr. who j.
far from being the master of his slaves.
The newer generation of Germans re-
pruaCh the Emperor with hcing a snowy,
false label badly stuck on the good old
German bottle. He does not truly rep
resent the spirit of the people. But in
spite of our real feelings we have to
pretend. more or less, to he as our
sovereign represents MS. Take the case
Of France for instance. We Germans
don't hate France at all; quite tho re-
verse. we like and trust her. Yet in
the papers that are animated 10y the
spirit of William We are forever repre-
sented as being ready to fly at her
throat.
do not for one moment charge Will
lam with being serious in this seeming
hostility toward France His friend
ship for her is stronger than he is If
in cruising he meets French yacht he
He would love nothing better than to
dine at the Elysee Palace. and for the
matter of that the French would love
it too. for they are still poisoned with
their old monarchic blood.
must do William the justice To say
that he understands, like every one
else. that industry and commerce are
the vital organs and the vascular system
of a country. But the Emperor. in his
feverish. incoherent activity, has made
the country giddy by driving it madly
on toward all sorts of economic con-
quests.
In order to make her first in every
thing he has forced her To produce
produce. produce. The products are
piled up in the shops, on the docks and
in the granarcs. Sales are slow and
an enormous stock Is left on hand.
| Here Is an example:
jealous of the worldwide success Of
the bordeaux, Burgundy and Cham
pagne wines Of France, William has
pushed our landed proprictnrs and peas
ants furiuusly to cultivate the vine.
He has protected the German wine in
dustry in all ways and in all countries.
and has even gone so far as tu make
himself wine agent, advertising agent
and rcstaurateur.
In the famous German restaurant of
the Paris Exposition, it was tho Em-
peror himself fguratively. who came
in uniform, with apron and napkin
added to offer the wine card to his
patrons. There is wine enough alung
the Moselle River to intoXicate not only
the whole of Germany, but all the world
besides. but it Is sold under cost. 1t
fills the encountered storchouseS driv-
ing the owners to distraction and the
peasants to lamcntation.
To improve the situation the En-
peror has adopted tyrannic measures,
HE has restricted the sale Of beer in
certain restaurants and has prohibited
| French wines i'm the officers mess. But
lii doesn't make any difference our
economic situation translates itself very
| simply in the one wOrd--uverproduc-
| tion.
In vain William crosses the seas in
his cuirass; in vain he tells cNtraordi-
lnary stories and makes theatrical demon
| Strations in order to drum up trade.
The overproduc;ion augments, and we
shall before long be reduced to the
doloruus alternative Of either greatly
Restricting production, which spells
ruin, or Of greatly continuing II, which
spells ruin also.
| You must further remember that our
banks are up to the neck i'm these affairs
and that we are not like the French, a
saving people. We like to enjoy life
and spend what We earn; consequently
we could not pay off with sacks Of saw
ings the heaVincss of a financial crisis
The one hope would be that France
generous France, might come to our
rescue as she has been doing in these
past years, and rcest ,hlish for time
the disturbed equilibrium If our
finances
Some people fancy that the Emperor
plans wars, but in spite of his uniforms
and his faufarcs this l. not So. He is
not a warrior, but military man. which
is very different. He Is not even brave.
| William II. 5 wild dlsCuurSos and men
aces are only commercial tricks intended
to frighten Europe and 10y 50 doing
strengthen our great manufacturers
who live by armament. The industry Is
colossal unclouded pcaC" would de-
stroy it,
Another thing which keeps him from
making war is the fear he has of the re-
suit. Every one admits that our army