Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-11-11

tude to those who gave their lives for
his personal ambition.
But, although the kaiser was not
conspicuous in the field and the
more prominent German personages
were the Crown Prince, Hindenburg
and Ludendorff, the kaiser always
was thought of as the inStigator of
unspeakable atrocities. In the pop
ular mind he was the incarnation of
an evil spirit, spirit as withered as
his arm and as difficult to conceal
from the world. A word from him
would have ended the blood lust of
his Won Bissings and their troops.
After a long series of reported
atrocities, the crimes of the German
soldiers in Belgium reached high
point with the execution of Miss
Cavell, who was accused of aiding
Allied soldiers to escape. Despite the
efforts of the American minister,
Brand Whitlock, in her behalf, she
was put to death.
Hun Niciousness Unprintablc
All the details of the terrible OUT
RACES in that country, whose neutral
ity the kaiser violated in the first
week of the war, never can be print
ed. The Bryce Commission summar-
lied some of them: The deliberate
and systematic massacres of the civil
population; the murder of innocent
men, women and children; the out
raging of women; degenerate
mutations of living and dead; the
looting of private property, arson,
befoulment, insensate vandalism and
the employment of women and chill
dren as shields for advancing Ger
man military forces. For these the
people held the kaiser responsible.
To Americans the sinking of the
Lusitania was the crowning, blood
chilling event of the war. This oc-
CURED, If anything may be said to
have occurred" that was so deliber-
ately intended, May Z, 1915. That
| day 1,19S persons, of whom 124
were Americans, were murdered by
the German sea monsters. The
events that followed that massacre,
the sinking of countless neutrals, the
killing of passengers and crews flee
ing in the lifeboats, eliminating
finally in the declaration of a state
of war with Germany, are known too
well to need repetition now. For
| these the kaiser was held responsible
for he was the only responsible
member of the German government.
The bombing of London, the sub
marine raids even on the Atlantic
coast, futile but actuated by the
same small malice that caused the
sinking of the Lusitania, were add
| ed counts in the indictment against
William the Murderer.
Propaganda Increased Contempt
There came revelations, too, of
| propaganda activities in the United
! States, the blowing up of munitions
| factories in many parts of the tcoun-
| try, the work of Boy-Ed and his CO.
conspirators and even of Won Bern
storff, ambassador. All these had
their effect in arousing resentment
] against the kaiser
With il all, however, the German
emperor kept up his outward show
of bravado. His speeches in the last
| few months were just as bonn bastic
as ever. In September he spoke to
| his dear friends" the workers at
! Krupp's and, with characteristic
| hypocrisy, maintained that every one
in the remotest corner of the Ger
! man empire knew that he had left
no stone unturned to shorten the war
as far as possible. The kaiser con-
! fessed, however, that he had found
murmurings of dissatisfaction here
and there. This was a remarkable
statement-for him.
But the old fire, the enthusiasm of
the coronation proclamation of 1888
! flashed through a statement for the
army and navy in October.
He Was Proud of Bclgium's Slackcrs
The eyes of those at home rest
| with pride and admiration" William
wrote, ION the deeds of the army and
| navy. l express to you the thanks of
myself and the fatherland.
| The hour is grave, but, trusting in
your strength and in Gods gracious
help, we feel ourselves to be strong
enough to defend our beloved faith
erland.'
The time for just estimate of the
kaiser will not come for many a
year, in the belief of historians to-
day. A great deal of sorrow and an
guish will have to be forgotten. But
the verdict of the future is not like
| ly to be much kinder than that of
the present. People to-day will look
! on the kaiser as a man who threw
away the lives of his subjects to sat-
isfy personal ambition.