Evening star., 1918-08-05
CRITICAL KAISER PASSES UPON
AMERICAN FAULTS AND VIRTUES

Nv FAULlO n
kaiser's plan better. in his own mind
at any rate. II our Presidents held Of
nee for twenty or thirty years at .
stretch. or. better still. for life. Then
he might have considered 1t worth
while to exert whatever influence he
commanded in this country. which he
believed was considerable. in favor
OF the candidate he thought would
best fall in with Germany's plans, It
was hardly worth much effort to Sc
cure the election Of ,pro-German
Few years at most.
American party politics were q,
constant source Of embarrassment to
the kaiser. He always seemed un-
decided as to just how he should re-
cefve an American Of prominence. If
ne happened to be Of the same po-
litical faith as the administration the
kaiser was afraid to do him too much
honor for fear of offending the op-
posing party. who might win the next
election; and II he were not OF the
same party as the administration. the
kaiser feared to honor him lest more
immediate resentment be stirred up
In America Thus he refused to re-
ceive Bryan on two different occa-
stons when q republican admtntstra-
tion was in power.
Against Political Speeches.
He criticised very strongly. too. our
election methods.
Instead of discussing principles,
personalities" he said. "My people
would be shocked at the sort of
speeches and accusations which fig-.
ure in all your. political campaigns.
Over here nothing of the kind Is ever
heard"
The kaiser was very much interest
ed in our negro problem. 1t seemed
to have a great fascination for him.
and he frequently referred to 1t. He
told me that he understood there
were 100000 negroes in this coun-
numbers through consumption and
other diseases, to which they onered
but poor resistance.
The negro will always be a great
problem In your country, however,
he added. .They don't mix socially
constant friction. My brother (Prince
Henry, when he returned from his
visit to America, told me a lot about
these negroes. Indeed. one of the
most impressive things he heard there
was a choir Of negro voices. He SAID
and their voices were as clear as
bells"
After the war started. the kaiser
referred to the negroes again. Now
is your chance to settle your negro
problem" he declared, half facetious-
ly. of course. IF America insists
upon coming into the war. why
doesn't she send her negroes across
and let US shoot them DOWN."
Evidently the kaiser was unaware
of the value we placed on our colored
troops. or of the excellent account
they gave of themselves in Cuba and
on the Mexican border. and. of course.
he was still to learn of the part they
were to play on the French front.
Shooting negroes down hasn't proved
nearly as simple an operation as the
kaiser imagined 1t might be.
Visit to American Fleet.
When a feet of our battleships Wis
tied Kiel some six years ago the
kaiser paid them a visit and was very
much interested. It was reported at
the time that he had even crawled
through the coal bunkers to study
of the vessels. which is quite consist
ent with his usual practice. He is too
vain, to imagine that any member Of
his naval stan could possibly acquire
more valuable information in an in
yestigation of that kind than he could
AAaaAAoCAAs AASAoChtdLys . lOUI OIL IN
spection Of this character gave him
an opportunity to disucuss matters
with his officers with some degree of
accuracy.
When he called to see me shortly
afterward he told mo Of his expert
erice.
II went over the ships from top to
bottom" he declared. They are az.
ceilent vessels. every one Of them, and
l was very much impressed with the
way they are manned and officered. I
have only one criticism-the lattice-
work coming towers, or flghtinR
masts. The only possible use I can
see IN them would to train vines on
them and install an elevator inside,
and serve tea in the afternoon to the
ladies on top-the most beautiful
place for serving afternoon tea I can
imagine.
But. seriously speaking" he went
on. I can't see that these masts have
any practical value. On the contrary.
! can see very serious DISADVANTAGES
in them. No matter what nation you
might be fighting. your enemy would
always be able to recognize you at q
distance. before you could identity
him. because the warships Of ali
other nations look very much alike at
Q distance.
Other Faults Found.
They say these coming towers are
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