The mirror., 1916-11-30
EMPEROR WILLIAM OF
GERMANY
Continued from front page)

have stood by him throughout his years of
man and a puzzling character, and yet
there is something about him that draws
the outsider, no matter what is said against
him. AT the present time he is father of
five sons and one daughter, all of whom he
loves in his own way. A stern parent,
truly, yet giving in to the wants of his
children and grandchildren.
May last William II had rounded ont
twenty eight years of eventful sovereignty
having brought his empire to the top of
national greatness. Under his powerful
leadership he has brought the peaceful arts OF
commerce and trade to the front ranks and
has made Germany the worlds first mill
tary power, and has become Britian's for
midable rival for mastery of the seas.
No reign, medieval or modern, records
more inspiring story of peoples vault to
af1uence and might than what has been
brought about by this wonderful Emperor.
Wonde1ous and eloquent are the statistical
revelations of Germany's bounding growth
in population, of imperial Berlin's rise to
metropolitan splendor, of the empire S
colossal foreign trade, of the amazing ex-
pansion of national wealth, of development
of her merchant marine, of the transfor-
nation of her navy from feet of frigates
into an armada of dreadnaughts, of countless
triumphs in the realms of science, art and
industry, which combines to make
the German name synonymous with pro-
gress and power.
Vigorous and .irile at fftyseven, and
yet little tired and worn from the worry
and mental strain of this great war, the
world still finds the Kaiser the model of
an aggressively able and ambitious mon
arch.
Frederick w. Vile, in one of his books
says the following: ''I'he world at large,
fascinated by this kaleidoscope picturesque
personality, is prone to accord the Kaiser
almost exclusive credit for the Fatherland's
magic leap into fame and power. AS Man
aging Director of Germany, Ltd,
Emperor William has been called upon to
play heavy role, and has played it with
eminent success
Now l want to say before 60 any far
ther, that l believe posterity alone can de-
eide whether he is the sinister figure por-
trayed by detractors, prince who breaches
peace and plots war, or whether his strength
and talents, as he is fond of assuring
Europe with mistyfng eloquerce, are sin
cerely and inviolably dedicated to the
cause of International peace and welfare.
Back of Emperor William, at any rate,
lies reign of unbroken peace, and what
ever laurels Mars may still have in store for
him, the Kaiser has ruled for little over
quarter of a century, rich only in the
achievements of an enlightened and in
dustrious civilization. And yet it is fact
that the Kaiser, never so astute as in this
super-crisis of his reign, contrived to
make his people enthusiastic for war, the
overwhelming majority of whom craved
for the uninterrupted continuance of their
peaceful prosperity
Won Falkenhayn, Won Mackenson, and
Won Deitfurth and their confreres are Sold
iers and sailors, war is their trade. They
have prepared for this day and, having
come into their own, they hate to stop.
But on the other hand, if there must be
war, or if there seems any chance of hav-
ing war with any nation, William of
Germany, with persistency and energy
which has never ceased to challenge the
admiration of the world, has hammered
the vital necessity of preparing for it into
the very soules of his people. To under
stand the position of the Hohenzollerns of
today, it is necessary to look at the past,
and before referring to their doings, just
cast glance at the negative merit of what
they refrained from doing, allowing for the
times they lived in. 1t will be found that,
man for man, from the days of the Great
Elector down to the present day, they have
been individually far superior to their COM
peers on the German Throne. But free
dom from rascality is only an indication of
a superiority the Hohenzollerns invariably
possessed and showed by their actions.
They have proved true to the motto of the
greatest of them all: ''The King is the
first servant of the State They have
ever set their ambition to work out the de-
velopment and welfare of the entire ma
ton, instead of that of class. To be
monarch of the poor is even today the
boast of the Hohenzollerns. Against the
pretentions of the aristocracy they have
always sided with the rising citizen class.
However strongly personal ties may have
bound them to the nobility, whenever the
vital interests of the people have been at
stake, the Prussian Monarchs have seen
that justice was done. Emperor William
has cut canals, laid roads, caused heather
land to be furroWed bv the plow has had