Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-03
Kaiser Is Ju,ker Who EhsLaUes Prussian PEOPLE

sage Of loyalty to the Kaiser who
promptly sent them the following
reply:
Heartfelt thanks for the assur-
ance of faithful allegiance sent me
bv the Bund der Landwirte. The
long preparations of peace and the
mighty protection of the empire
have enabled German agriculture to
perform deeds which will be CRATE
fully chronicled in the history of
these great times. Now the home-
front must be united for a last, de.
cisiye effort. | do not doubt
thate the country gentlemen repre-
scented in the Bund der Landwirte
will perform their part in strength.
ening the spirit Of sacrifice
and uplifting our hearts in the
service of our beloved. glorious
fatherland. If we all remain united
with Gods help a speedy, crushing
victory and a mighty, splendid fu-
ture will be ours.
Although the Kaiser's desire not to
compromise himself is evident from
the circumspect wording OF this reply
II is clear enough that at heart he
Thoroughly synpathizes with Herr Won
Oldenburs's ideas. Nothing is, as
have said, more natural. There is not
only a community of ideals. but also
of interests. between the KAISER ana
the Prussian Junkers. They stand
and fall together.
The Spertpr of Revolution
The monarch's ruling fear has al
ways been, and still Is, that the
characterization of Prussian institu
tions might deprive him OF some
mart of his absolute power. or
worse still, that a revolution fomented
by the Socialists might drive INN from
his throne. He knows he can rely
upon the Junkers to defend him to
the last with undaunted. aggressive
courage and incorruptible loyalty,
against this danger which threatens
to deprive them also Of their power
and wealth.
Bourgeois politicians, or even great,
cosmopolitan mobiles like Prince Lich'
nowski, may turn against the Kaiser,
but the Prussian, Junkers will stand
by him unshaken and will either tri.
umph or succumb with him. They
are the only people in Germany whom
he can unreservedly trust, and it
stands to reason that their word has
any other class or political party.
The war policy of the Junkers is
well known: it comedies with the the
ories of the Pan.Germans. In the
Prussian House of Lords, Count Yorck
Won Wartenberg. typical Junker, de-
clared quite recently:
"Frederick the Greats kingdom did
not grow strong through Remuneration
and reconciliation, but through might
and force of arm. To all faint.hearted
pacifists we say: A great country is
founded on might, and on might
alone And General Won Kleist added
1T is not our business to wonder how
our vanquished enemies will manage
to pay war indemnity. That is their
affair. We must be hard. We must
not ruin Germany with our idealism
All Junkers Pan-Germans
All Junkers are Pan.Germans
though by no means all Pan.Germans
belong to the Junker caste. many of
their most prominent leaders being
bourgeois politicians, university pro-
fessors, and great captains of industry
who have no agricultural interests,
nor titles of nobility, The Junkers are
caste, not a political party, and as
in the Reichstag not only in the ranks
of the Conservatives, but also of the
Liberal Conservatives, the Catholic
Center Party, and the National.Liber.
ais. Their stronghold is Prussia, and
from Prussia they seek to dominate
all Germany.
Grow Rich by War
Before the war the majority of the
Prussian landed mobiles were poor, II
not absolutely bankrupt. Their es
tates were heavily mortgaged as a re
suit of the mismanagement and eX
travagance of their owners. Today
the poorest Junker i'm Silesia or Pom
merania has become a wealthy man
The war has brought the Junkers un
dreamed-of prosperity. The enormous
increase in prices for cattle and agri
cultural products has more thar
trebled the value of their estates.
The Berliner Tageblatt reports that
small country estate, which was
worth 0,000 marks i'm the first wear
of the war, cannot be bought now for
less than 100000 marks. Agriculture al
land formerly worth from 700 to 90C
marks an acre is now being sold for
5000 and even 1000 marks an acre. And
the Junkers have not only grown rich
they have, above all, suffered leas,
from the privations the war has i'm
posed upon Germany.
Masters of their own livestock and
produce, they have laughed at the food
restrictions of the Government and
violated them with impunity owing to
their control of the Government offices
and officials intrusted with the task OF
carrying out these measures. The
Frankfurter Zeitung calculates that
last year the Prussian Junkers lille
gally kept back nearly 10000 900 tons
Of potatoes out Of $4,000 900 tons COM
mandesred BY the Government.
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