The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-11-04
IN DAYS OF GLOOM FEW CAN APPROACH GERMAN EMPEROR ! ON ANY BUSINESS Surrounded by Pessimists He Spends His Days in
 Prayer and Bible
 Reading HUN OFFICER SAYS ARMY IS UNBEATEN BUT ALL SEEMS LOST Says Bavaria Openly Insults Prussia and Germans Are Unable
 to Understand This 1
 Attitude

French Headquarters in France, November 3.-(By the s.sociated q Press. )-Ger- many's armies are unbeaten, according to q German divl- sional staff officer recently taken prisoner on the French front, and Germany's request | for an arrnistice was the result yof the influence which pessim- ists had gained in the govern ment and over the Emperor. This officer, an intelligent rep resentative of his class, sand:
 "The Germans request for an arms ! tice is proof to me that the grand head- quarters has been submerged by the crisis in the interior Of Germany. Tho I influence of the general staff over the Emperor has been exaggerated
 "The Emperor is surrounded by people who feel and talk defeat of the species of scheidemann (the German socialist l leader). They are continually setting be- fore the Emperor the unfavorable sttua- tion of Germany from their point Of ! view and painting in sombre colors the frlghtful responsibility he has incurred, as well as the possible consequences 70 his person in case of defeat, which ap- 1 pears to them to be imminent.
 '1rhere are days when no officer or l the general staff can gain access to the Emperor. These are days of acute pes- simism. passed by the monarch almost entirely in prayer and Bible reading
 ''The German people want peace at once and at all costs, They have had enough of war
 | Another cause of anxiety is the sepa- ratist movement which has become very serious lately. The talk through all south Germany now is: Let us separate from Prussia.
 Bavaria is the worst. There every one. even the soldiers, may insult Prus- aia without provokingA word of de- fense in our behalf. Tho BaYar'an press employes the same tone and we arc be- l ginning to think that this s desired T by the Bavarian army, which will make Inc further effort. Their attitude is an enigma.
 q
 sity for the conclusion of peace now. in spite of the constant retirement Of our
 forces since the middle of July and this Is the opinion of the majority ot my comrades on the different staffs
 WOULD UTILIZE WINTER We thought generally that our retreat
 on Siegfried positions would continue til winter, in the meantime weakening the enemy by our stubborn resistance Nt
 would have utilized the winter to reor
 ganizng and regrouping our forces whil' our diplomats would have entered int negotiations that would surely have ter : minated in a favorable peace for us.
 soThe abandonment of the Alsace-Lor raine territory, the evacuation of Rus sian territory and the creation of q Fol : Iish Kingdom are equivalent to tho r,ir : of Germany, taking from us the raw ] materials of Lorraine, which arf
 indispensable to our industries, and thu
 markets that we aimed to create in thu
 east.
 ''In consequence there will be stop \ pa ge of a great part of our induStrie
 for several years an impoverlshment Q : the working class, interior troubles, sep
 arations and q complete .upheava
 "sCnan our enemies will have what the, have desired-@the complete anniiiilatiol
 of Germany. That would be a peace du to Scheidcmann.
 4 'sWe thought our present retreat woul' 8 end upon a position chosen by us; tha : the war would finally terminate by tn < success of our arms at some parts 0 : the front with the aid of our new tank and would bring about a conciliator : peace favorable to us"
 LOOKING TO FUTURE T AThe divisional staff officer reveale 7 that it was the opinion of the militar Q caste in Germany that but for unto ward events Germany, after a successft : termination of the present wal, woul ], have put her industries in shape 10 fai c snish war material to both sides in { hypothetical war between the /Cnite ' States and Japan. and then. aftel@bot $ sides had become occupied would hay g N
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