Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1918-11-15
CHAPTER <.

NO one ever SpSdhS w iAiiS h"h"~A 49,
til addressed. AS, that Eonarchs opla-
ions on most subjects are firmly nXea
and he will stand 10 opposition, any
erroneous idea ne may entertain Is
very ant to remain with him. His aG-
y;scrs were apt to leave him in err23
rathcr than arouse his ire by attempt
ing to set him right. But for the 1acI
frnt he was very fond of asking innE'
rnarable questions, his store Of i2Gor-
nation might have been extremes!
Scanty.
In the course OF my conversations
with him he frequently expressed Liz
views of men VINO were in the pu6hr
eve. Upon what basis they War'
founded he did not always enilgnsc'
me, but even when I knew them to 9
erroneous realized it was useless <
try to change them and did not of1ei,
take issue with him. When I did NJ
eyes would flash fire, but had cx
pected that and I continued just t.;
same.
lie kaiser always seemed to TAX
a particular ifterest n American al.
fairs, anG while he professed to dc
s,sise our form OF government h
watched very carefully the careers O
our puSlic men. 1t is not unlikely TIN;
he imagined, as I have pointed Oh
elsewhere in these pages, that he coGic
irfIuence our elections by swinging
The Csar!nan-American vote in favor o
the candidate he preferred, and q"
made a study of our public men Il
order that lie might know which CT
them would be more desirable in office
from the German viewpoint.
When Mr.. Wilson was nominated for
TIE presidency, the kaiser was quite
positive that ne wouldn't be elected.
Pertains IRE fact that Mr.. Roosevelt,
fer whom az that time the kaiser had
tie greatest admiration, was one or
LIZ. Wilson's rivals, Blinded him to the
strength wilich elected Wilson, but the
fact that the latter had had little ex-
pcrience in intern, iional politics I'M
fitted him, in the kaiser's estimation,
for the important onfce for which he
was running.
/ saw the kaiser shortly after Mr..
Wilson'S election.
a 81 am very much surprised at the
result OF your, election, he declared.
~ didn't think your people would be
50 foolish as TO elect college profes-
scr as president. What does profess
sor know about international politics
and diplomatic affairs"
I haven't the slightest doubt that
the kaiser pictured our president as
counterpart Of the typical German
professor-a Flooding, impractical, IN
ambitious bookworm with no hope or
desire Of ever earning more than $l,O0O
a year i..l 10 yearning for public ac-
claim. 4 reclnse, absent-minded and
self-centare,f who spent the midnight
Gil nnr;!r over muSty volumes and
Maid little or 10 attention to what was
going on around him! Such a man,
the kaiser undoubtedly believed, the
United States had elected as its chief
executive :.nI his surprise was more
or less natural in those circumstances.
When Wilson sent 5000 men to Vera
Cruz tie kaiser felt that he had ex-
cceGe,i his lights.
"Iyi!at right has Wilson to mix in
the iL.2rRGI affairs of MexicoT' ne
asked. Way doesn't he allow them to
fiant Il cut among themselves. 1t is
their affair not his" Germany had
many Gn ncial interests in Mexico and
looked with diSfavor upon any move
we r.a.ie in that direction.
When, however, the war in Europe
started the kaiser made every effort
to have America mix in international
affairs provided we fought on her side.
When l saw him just after the war
startct? he said we ought to seize the
opportunity TO annex Canada and
Eyxico.
''Can your president see the won
d"rcul opportunity now for combin.
ing with US and crushing EnglandF,
he asked "With our fleet on one side
aaa Americas or the other we could
destroy England's sea power. This Il
Americas great opportunity to domi-
nate the western hemisphere, and your
president must see his chance to take
Canada and Mexico"
AS the war progressed and reports
reached the kaiser of our increased
shipments of munitions to the allies,
the kaser's Impotence with Wilson be-
came more difficult to repress, and
there was hardly an interview 1 had
with him in which he did not give
vent to his feelings in that connec--
ton.
my officers are becoming so in
censed at Americas attitude" he told
me, sit will be impossible for me to
restrain them much longer"
And when, on another occasion, he
accused Mr.. Wilson of discriminating
against Germany, he made the re-
mark: WILSON'S in the hands of the
Wall street group!"
But, perhaps, the most bitter de-
nunciation | ever heard him make OF
Wilson was shortly after we entered
the war. I had been summoned to
the great army headquarters to see
him, and when he entered the room
he appeared to be in towering rage.
Indeed, his condition was so apparent
that the kaiSerin, who was also pres
ent, sought to excuse him with the
exclamation that he had been very
much upset and had been sleeping
,-o,.,, ,oorlv and she asked me to treat