The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-01-18
GERMANS CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY OF
 EMPIRE TO-DAY.

This is empire day. for the Ger mans-the 44th anniversary of the proclamation of the modern German empire and the acceptance by Will helm l., Der Grosse,'s of the im- periaI crowd. The r1omentous cere- naony which marked the birth of the powerful new nation, the completion | of the task of uniication attempted by the Prussian King, Bismarck and I=Von MoItke, was performed in the palace of Versailles on Jan. IS, 1871, In the throne room Sof this palace the architectural masterpiece of Louis xIV-a gorgeous and magnificent chamber with walls lined with paint ings depicting the triumphs of France, the Prussian king accepted for hirn- self and his descendants the title of German Emperor. Of1ciaIly the Prussian Kaiser is not Emperor Of Germany. but German Emperor, a. distinction not without an implied difference.
 The victorious campaigns against Denmark, Austria and France were largely responsible for the realization of that dream of German national unity which had been entertained by Frederick the Great. It was a nation cemented by the blood of all the German states. shed on the fair fields of France. and it's birthplace was in a palace in a foreign Iand--a proud
 
 Moltke's great military machine. Within the palace on that memorable day were the leading officers of the victorious army, and on the compile ton of the ceremony marking the resurrection of 9 united Germany they broke Into wild cheers, which were soon taken up by the worn and weary but triumphant soldiers outside the palace.
 While Germany celebrated it's uni- hcation and the beginning of a new and glorious eras France was engaged, I in blood and tears, in pain and tra- vail in working out ts destinies as a republic. Out of the conhagTation lof war Issued a new empire and also a new republic. which. after forty four years of waiting. are again en- gagged in a death struggle.
 1 Just a month before King Will helm was made German Emperor the Reichstag had addressed him with these words: The North German IParliament in unison with the princes iof Germany approaches with the prayer that your majesty will deign to consecrate the work Of uniflcation by accepting the German Imperial crown The Teutonic crown on the head Of your majesty will inaugurate for the restabIishing empire of the iGerman nation an era of honor, of l peace, of we'll being, and of liberty se- cured under the protection of the laws
 Twenty-six states comprised the constitutions confederated state un- l der the president ship of Prussia. By
 the proclamation at Versailles the
 imperial office became hereditary il the House of Hohenzo11ern. nd the 1 Prussian kings were given the execu-
 tive power of the empire with the fright to declare defensive war and make peace, conclude alliances and I enter into treaties with foreign na- lions The kings of Saxony. Bavaria and Vurtemburg, and the many
 grand dukes, dukes and princes were I left by the inperial uni1cation witt l their titles and courts, but with sIitt1e
 more. Each state in the empire re l Itained a certain amount of home rule
 but the heads Of all the states excep lPrussia became mere figureheads Since Wilhelm ascended the throne il I1888 the reigning kings, princes ana I dukes sof the minor states have beer
 more and more overshadowed, un til now their very names are knowl s to few except those Of German blood