The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-11-07

III Nat0CT . GIdU " WITH 0OIIttIttOta
The history of modern Germany Is,
perhaps, in itself sufficient indication
Of the underlying plan Of the Teuton
war barons to control the whole OF
Europe and, eventually. the world. The
program has been slowly unfolding 1t.
self since the time Of Frederick the
Great and the present generation Ia
now witnessing what was intended to
be the climax.
There can be no doubt hat If Ger
many had succeeded in her efforts to
gain control Of the major part Of Eu.
rope she would have soon looked
toward the western hemisphere and
the east.
This program is fairly indicated by
the course Of events as history lays
them bare, but l have the actual word
Of the kaiser to ~substantiate 1t.
At one Of his visits to me shortly
after the beginning Of the war we were
discussing England's participation In
it..
"What hypocrites the English are |"
the kaiser exclaimed.
"They had always treated me sc
well when l visited them l never be.
lieved they would have come into this
war. They always acted as II they
liked me. My mother was English.
you know. 1 always thought the
world was big enough for three of us
and we could keep it for ourselves
hat Germany could control the cont.
nent of Europe, England. through her
vast possessions and fleet, could con-
troll the Mediterranean and the far
east. and America could dominate the
western hemisphere"
How long 1t would. have been before
Germany would have tried to wrest
dominion from England can readily be
imagined, and with the whole Of Eu.
rope and the far east under her thumb
America would undoubtedly have
proved too tempting a morsel for the
kaiser's or his descendants rapacious
nav to have resisted. He said that
he believed that the world was big
enough for three" he didn't say 1t
was too big for one.
What vas really in his mind, how
ever, is indicated by a passage In an
address he made some twenty-five
years ago, In which. as Rev. DR.. New
ell Dwight Hills has pointed out, he
used these words:
From my childhood l have been I'M
der the influence of five men-Alexan-
der, julius Caesar, Theodore ii, Ma
pOleOn and Frederick the Great. These
five men dreamed their dream Of a
world empire: they failed. 1 am
dreaming my dream Of a world empire,
but l shall succeed !"
The kaiser's plan to dominate Eu-
rope included the control Of Turkey,
and he made every effort to strengthen
that country so that she might be a
valuable ally In the wal to come.
When Italy took TripOli from Tur-
key before the Balkan war I men
toned to the kaiser bow oppOrtunely
Italy had acted, but the kaiser dis
missed my remark with an exclama-
ton OF displeasure. realizing, OF
course, that Tui keys loss was in a
sense his own since he had planned to
make Turkey his vassal.
To that end he had sent German Of
ficers TO train the Turkish army and
had supplied them with guns and mu-
nitions. With an eye to the future,
too, he had constructed the great Bag
dad railway.
When the Balkan war broke out In
1912 the kaiser had great confidence
that the German-trained Turkish arm,
would acquit itself creditably and
that In the outcome of that conflict his
European program would make cor i'd
cradle progress. He told me that he
had a map of the war area placed in
his motor and that with pegs he fol-
lowed the fortunes of the fighting
armies while he was travelling.
The Turkish defeats were naturally
a great disappointment to him.
These Montenegrins, Serbians and
Bulgarians are wonderful fighters" ne
confessed TO me, shortly after the wal
began. They're out-of-dOor people
and they have the strength and STAN
ina which fighters require. If they
keep on the way they're going they'll
be in Constantinople in a week! Con-
found those Turks! We furnished
them guns and ammunition and
trained their officers, but If they won't
fight we can't make them. We've done
our best!"
The defeat Of the Turks lessened
their value to the kaiser as an ally
and he Immediately put into effect a
measure for increasing the German
standing army from $4,000 to 100000
to restore the balance of power, they
said. For this purpose a "Wehrbei-
trag.' or increased armament tax, was
levied on capital and. incidentally, l
was informed that I would have to
pay my share. The idea Of paying a
tax to upbuild the German army,
which was already so powerful that
1t menaced the peace of the world.
did not appeal to me at all and !
smoke IN Ambassador Gerard ahOut n.