The Washington herald., 1917-07-15
Bethmann- HolIweg Shelved.

Even. by his enemies sympathy in
deed will be extended to the retiring
German chancellor. who in his day
served his Emperor well and did his
duty as the iron Prussian code re-
ouired 1t. His fate recalls the words
Of wolsey:
Had I but served my God with
half the zeal 1 served my king.
He would not in mine age have
left me naked to mine enemies.
He is scrapped now like so much
worn-out material. his usefulness hav-
ing passed; his enemies having grown
too formidable for his imperial mas
ter to resist. His role has been diff
cult. He has been harried on all
sides. The Emperor's person was i'm
mune from the criticism which the
conduct of the war has brought. Some
scapegoat must be found; and the
chancellor, who tried a middle-of-the-
road policy and defied both parties
Of extremists, was the man on whom
the ak fell.
It was Bethmann-Hollweg who gave
the famous "scrap-of-paper" phrase
to the world. He uttered it when
Sir Edward Goschen, British Minis
ter to Berlin at the outbreak Of war,
called at the chancellory to inform
the German government that II the
neutrality Of Belgium were violated.
Britain would certainly join in the
war against the central empires. The
phrase was a flash Of revelation into
the true Prussian spirit which caused
the world to shudder. 1t showed that
no pledge, no solemn obligation,
weighed the slightest with the mill
tary caste when 1t stood in the way
Of their advantage. 1t was Hollweg
who first spoke of military neces-
sity" in justifying the ravishment of
Belgium. Before the storm Of world
revulsion broke over Germany's head
because of this first infamy of hers,
the chancellor made another naive
speech in the Reichstag. admitting
that the invasion of Belgium was not
strictly in line with international NOR
ality, but promising the Belgians-if
they submitted without protest to it
they would be amply repaid for what
ever damage was caused. after the
war. The Belgians spurned the prom
Use, with what results the world now
knows.
To Germans the contrast between
Bethmann-Hollweg and Bismarck.
the iron chancellor" the maker of
modern imperial Germany. showed it.
self clearly early in the war. HOll-
veg was, in a broad way. merely the
loyal servant of the Kaiser. He did
not function as a creative. construct,
i've statesman. He was the buffer
between the Kaiser and his people
between the Kaiser and the outside
world. He bore with patience the
most difficult, the most thankless work
in the empire. Hindenburg-and be-
fore him Won Moltke and Falkenhayn
could disregard and ignore any ad-
vice or position that he assumed. They
were the real dictators Of the ma
ton. The chancellor's position OF
seeming authority could have been
held for three years only by a strong
man; and yet history will not classify
him as a strong man, but as one of
the leaders in an evil adventure which
all but destroyed his country and
brought IN mankind the most dis
astrous war the world has ever seen.
Beside Bismarck he will seem a
pigmy. despite the fact that most OF
his troubles were not of his own max
ing nor of his own choosing.
Little is known of his successor,
DR.. George Michaelis. 1t looks as II
the Emperor had chosen merely a pup
pet, a man utterly subservient to the
royal word. MiChaelis may have Ger.
lain influence in the Reichstag and
in the Prussian Diet which may avert
the grave crisis which now confronts
the ruling party. A comparatively
few days will tell.