Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-12-10
Personal Side of Former Kaiser

cd Europe" Of the former Crown
Prince, Baron Beyens had this to
say:
For some years past the Crown
Prince has been talked about
great deal, q fact which has GER
tstinly not been displeasing to him.
He has been credited with declS-
i've influence on the course OF events
at the moment when the threaten
ings of the war became critical. II
was alleged that this young man OF
80, acting behind the scenes, was
the real deus eN maChina OF the
whole drama; that he, the idol OF
the army, had imposed his Will ana
that of the officers corps on MS
father. while the latter's mind was
not vet made up. The Crown Prince
deserves Nor such wild honor nor
such brand of shame
In physique. he is an officer OF
light infantry; slender of waist and
narrow of chest, he cuts smart
figure; especially on horseback. lie
does not in any way resemble the
usual Hohenzollern type, with It's
broad shoulders and regular tea-
lures. His face is extremely youth
full. with a certain vagueneSs in its
outlines; his forehead recedes; his
eyes show no sign of lively intelli-
cence and his body has q look of
suppleness rather than of strength
and fitness for war. Appearances
in this case are deceptive. The
Prince is a tough soldier and ardent
sportsman. Polo, tennis, football
hockey, golf, yachting-thore is no
sport that he does not practice. Be
fore the war he liked TO initiate the
English and posed as a German
s-rt had
forbid him TO ride on stoeplechasos,
because an heir apparent must on
no account run the risk OF danger
Gus fall. but was unable TO prevent
him from going In for aviation,
or all William us sons, the Crown
Prince seems 10 bo the most soldier
ly; but this docs not mean that he
will ever mako capable army
leader.
AT q first slanco he does not SOON
to bear any resemblance to the for
mer Emperor but after time one
finds out several parallel traits in
their characters, Less wcll-inform-
ed less cultured. less versatile. but
just as self-willod, the son has in
herited his fathers impetuous spirit
and incurable propensity for freely
utterirG his thoughts. a line OF
impulsivo leaders, very different
from their ancestors, Is what the
modern HohenZollerns have given
Germany.
The former Crown Prince has
the soul OF a fighter, or, at any rate,
he prides himself on that quality.
At an official dinner, where he sat
next to the wife Of an ambassador
from one OF the Entente Powers, he
could not think of anything more
clever or gallant TO say than that it
was his cherished dream to make
war and to lead charge at the
head of the regiment.
The relations between the former
Emperor and his son ceased TO be
very cordial from the day when the
young Prince, brimming over with
ambition and desire for popularity.
tried to get himself talked about by
dabbling in politics. His first open
interference in state affairs took
place in 1911, at that meeting of the
Reichstag where Herr Won Heyde-
brand, the spokesman of the Prus-
sian Junkers, delivered a trenchant
criticism of German policy in Mex
leo, of the Franco-German treaty
of Nov. 4, and of the way in which
the Chancellor had defended the
interests of the Empire. During this
philippe, the Crown Prince. sitting
by himself in the imperial box,
made repeated signs of approval.
After that he became the hope of
the reactionary party and of the
military caste. Encouraged by this
success, he has never omitted on
any important occasion to express
his ideas.
If only he had always remained
on the neutral ground that lies be-
tween politics and the army! a sec
ton of the German press, dsgusted
with the Crown Princes perpetual
meddling with affairs that did not
concern him, dryly reminded him
that ne had no special status under
the Prussian Imperial constitution,
and that he could only claim the
right enjoyed by every private citi-
zen OF stating his. opinion as a pri-
vate individual.
1T is not difficult to imagine what
would have become OF the Em-
pire under the former Crown
Princes rule. He. too, like his IA
ther. but with less intelligence,
would wish TO be at the helm, and,
by the sheer force of his will as
monarch by divine right. to stem
tho rising tide OF popular demands,
growing ever huDErior and tsormier
under the weeping blasts OF Social
ism. Science Monltor)