The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-09-26

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their value to the kaiser 40 an ally
and he Immediately put into effect q
measure for increasing the German
standing army from $4,000 to 100000
Ito restore the balance o. power, they
said. For this purpose . "Wehrbei-
trag," or increased armament tax, was
levied on capital and, incidentally, I
was informed that / would have to
pay my share. The idea Of paying q
tax to upbuild the German army,
which was already 90 powerful that
It menaced the peace Of the world,
did not appeal to me at all and I
spoke to Ambassador Gerard about It.
He advised mi to pay It under protest,
agreeing with me that there was no
reason why ar American should be
required to contribute to the German
war budget. However, I had to pay It.
The German efforts at colonization,
which were more or less Of q failure
because the Germans refused to in
habit the German possessions, and the
measures adopted to conquer the COM
mercial markets Of the world were an
Important part Of the program Of world
domination which Germany planned
for herself, and it is not unlikely that
Il she had confined her efforts along
those lines she might have progressed
further along her chosen path than she
has advanced by bathing the world in
blood. 4
Il have nearly 100000 people,"
the kaiser said to me on one occasion,
land we shall have to find room for
them somewhere. When we became
an empire England had her hands on
nearly everything. Now we must
fight to get ours. That is why I am
developing our world markets, just as
your country secured Hawaii and the
Philippines as stepping stones to the
markets Of the far east, as I under
stand it That's why I developed the
wonderful city Of Kiao-Chau."
His plans in this connection were
changed somewhat apparently by the
developments Of the present war, for
he told me that when it was over the
Germans would not emigrate to the
United States any more
mo more American emigration for
us after the war;" he said. my
people will settle in the Balkans and
develop and control that wonderful
country. I have been down there and
I know It IL a marvellous land for our
purposes"
The kaiser's vision Of the part he
would take In the reconstruction OF
stricken Europe was indicated by a
remark he made to me in 1915 when
I was visiting him at the army head
quarters at Pless.
"Here I am nearly sixty years Of
age" he soliloquized, "and must re-
build the whole Of Europe"
Although the kaiser SO freely admit
ted his designs on the world at large
he was impatient Of any expansion
on the part Of other nations. He often
spoke Of England's grabbing" pro-
pensity and viewed with suspicion q
annexation Of Hawaii and the Philip
pines and our development Of Cuba
after the Spanish-American a he
professed to e In q new policy q
striving after world power which was
Inconsistent with the principles upon
which our government was founded
He objected to our interference IN
Mexican affairs, although, q was dis
closed by the Zimmerman note to, Won
Eckhardt, heswas making every effort
to have Mexico interfere with ours.
aWhat right has President Wilson.
10 attempt to dictate the internal poll
des Of Mexicof' he asked. "Why not
let them fight their battles out aloner'
Abiding to Americas threat to en-
ter the present war, he asked: 'What
right has America to insist upon the
Monroe doctrine Of America and then
mix In European afairs1 Let her rec
ogniSe also q Monroe doctrine Of Eu-
rope and keep her hands out Of this
confictIr
There s. no doubt that the kaiser
imagined that the army and navy
he had built up would enable him to
carry ont his ambitious program with
ont effective resistance.
The one power he most feared but
for which he protested the utmost on
tempt was England. He had an idea
that England would never dare to
measure swords with Germany and
that he could provoke q war when the
opportune moment came without much
fear of Nngland's Intervention.
n 1n11 uvhon fha international aitu-