The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-07-10
KAISER ACCEPTS
RESIGNATION OF
Won KUEALMANN
Passing of First Non
Prussian Minister Of
Foreign Affairs.
WAS A BAVARlAN
From Day of Assuming
Office Was Diametri-
cally Opposed to
Junkerdom.
A BAVARlAN

A4pItlPhis DhlF NIX tNTA~ 'A@hA''hA -
DR. Richard Won kuehlmann, the Ger
man foreign minister, was confirmed
I'm Berlin advices today. The kaiser,
according 10 an Exchange Telegraph
dispatch from Copenhagen. has ac-
cepted Won kuehlmann's resignation
with Won kuehlmann passes tho first
non-Prussian minister of foreign ar
fairs Germany has ever had. the re-
firing secretary being, like Chancellor
Won Hertiins. "a Bavnrian. There Is
every indication that the militarist
/ iunta at Berlin will bend might and
main TO see to 1t that kuehiinann Is
the last non Pru>sian in the highest
Office OF the imperial chanCclior's Civ
ing. From the moment he assumed
his duties last August, huchima mn =
views and policies were Numerically
opposed to the catechism of junker-
dom. Like his ilI-starred Austrian ex-
colleague. Count GZerDin, hc was Tor
Il peace by understanding. He hates
sword rafting at the green table, and
he gave vent 10 this hate more than
once when General Hoffman, RACED
at Brest -LitoN>k.
| Only few In London recall, but
few know the role that kuehimann
played here in the fateful days pre-
cctling the outbreak of the war He
was then counsellor of tho German
embassy here under Prince Lieh-
nowsky. The two worked hand in
glove for peace. Their efforts To staSe
! of, If not prevent, the holocaust, were
to those who knew tho will for war al
| Berlin and Vienna. almost pathetic.
Took Extraordinary step.
Ii was ON the evening of August A.
| n few hours before Great Britain :
declaration of war, that DIR, Won
kuehimann took an eStraordinary
| step. He voiced through the medium
OF the London press an ardent APP
peal to the people of Great Britain 10
| remain neutral. More than that he
caused TO be printed post haste a
similar appeal in leaflets and had Them
/ posted on the four walls of the cm-
hassy. 1t was an almost comical. a
| frantic act, but to understand IL one
must recall the terrible gravity of The
SITUATION. the desperately tense atmos-
| phere I'm those historic hours.
| Ltchnowsky made laudatory men
tion of kuehlmann in the now ia
NOUS memoirs. That didn't help the
\
who had been done" with him ever
since Brest- Litovsk. And they cried.
| Hang the traitor. when they saw
| the Lichnowsky memorandum.
| The wonder to all Europe has been
the fact that this soft-sponken diplo-
matist of the Liberal school. this cul-
| tured scholar who loves Byron and
Tennyson as much as he does Goethe
and Schiller. and who writes sonnets
and art criticisms in his leisure hours
that this man was al BILE to maintain
| himself as long as he did in the midst
of a military regime that became daily
more powerful until. not many weeks
ago, 1t crowded every vestige of diplo-
matte influence off the stage. It was
then that in the reichstag, kuehlmann
| pronounced the death verdict to his
career as pilot of GermanYs foreign
Iaffairs-~hy openly admitting that
| purely military decisions" could not
| be expected to bring an end to this
/ war. To be. sure, he was compelled
TO crawl" hut the damage was done,
| doomed. His resignation now comes
as doubly convincing proof that the
militarists are in absolute control.
BALM Is Mentioned.
| II Ia from that angle that all spec
uiation concerning kuehlmanns sue
cessor must he guided. The name of
Albert r, Rallin Is recurring in ad-
| vices via Amsterdam and Copenhagen.
| The head of what is left of the Ham
burg American line and direct or gen
eral of the German railroads. has
| powerful factors in his favor, first of
all, as a friend and trusted adviser
| Of the emperor. Then. he commands
through his dominating position In
the world of commerce. trade and
| tinance--an influence equalled by few
/ in the empire, coupled with high
prestige abroad.
But three things count against Bal
| lin and they are so strong that po-
litical observers here tonight wagered
neat sums against his appointment.
These are:
| /. He is a Jew: In itself a cardinal
ground for condemnation at the hands
of the thoroughly anti-semitic mill
tarists. tDernberg tried II once. He
got as far as colonial minister and
then fell with a crash.)
| 2, He Is not trained diplomat and
| il would be an unheard OF revolution
airy thing for the Germans to send a
mon expert to the foreign ministry
The aversion against such a policy is
| too deep rooted--moreoSer, 1t smack ks
of democracy.
3. He Is sure TO he rejected by the
militarists for the very nature OF his
ideas and ideals. all of which center
around trade, and, therefore, peace.
The name OF Count Johann vor
| Bernstorfr is sure to be mentioned
again in connection with the vacancy
But he, too, stands little chance, 1t IL
believed in well-informed circles. fol-
the two main reasons that he is re.
garded as leaning toward pacifism ant
that his record in the United State.
as uncovered by the American secre
service precludes in his case the pres
'tige which Berlin naturally considers
its foreign minister should have In the
eyes Of the world 1T largo