The sun., 1918-11-03

| the enemies of Prussia and OF the
HoAfnzollerns
It Is charged that the various re-
| verses OF the German army on the
| western front have been due to the
| unreliability of tho Bavarian troops
| and to the mutiny of entire BavariaH
divisions In Belgium and In northern
France, when they refused to take up
the positions assigned to them by the
German Generalissimos Hindenburg
and Ludendorff. Owing to this the
Prussian forces suffered very heavy
losses and were obliged to give way.
Upheld Bavarisn Mutineers.
When 1t was proposed to punish the
mutinous Bayarian troops their Grown
Prince Rupert vetoed all disciplinary
measuSes against them, declared that
the Bavarian divisions were perfectly
justified in refusing to take UP posi-
tons that could not be held and in
declining to permit themselves to he
sacrificed to the idiocy of Prussian
leadership and for the sake of Prussia n
troops, who always left them In the
lurch and for whom they entertained
no sympathy whatsoever, but merely
well merited aversion.
Crown Prince Rupert likewise gave
voice to his indignation at the en-
deavor to saddle him in the eyes of
the German people with the RESPONSE
bility for the mistakes OF the Kaisers
eldest son and heir and at the insin.
uation that the Bavarians had not
done their share Of the fighting. In
deed, he declared that he would no
longer be associated with the Prus-
sian Generalissimos or with the Ger
man Army General staff which is ex-
clusively Prussian. and Withdrew to
Munich, where his actions and utter
ances were Endorsed by his father,
King Louis.
The Berlin papers insist that If
Count Hertling had been forced by the
Kaiser 20 resign the office of Chan
cellor or the Empire II was because he
had been caught in the act OF organ
izing a coalition OF his own sovereign.
King Louis, with the rulers of Wurt-
temberg and Of SaXony. Emperor
Charles OF Austria and King Ferdi-
nand of Bulgaria against the Kaiser
and against Prussia. This assertioni
in a measure borne out by the re.
markable Interchange OF visits be
tween these various rulers during tho
few weeks which preceded the ab5ica.
ton of King Ferdinand. who since hi.
departure from Bulgaria has been a,
vienna. at Munich and at Stuttgart
but has pointedly avoided going to
Berlin or visiting the Kaiser.
The Berlin Taoebldtt and the Prus-
sian press contend that Count IIert.
ling, instead of having been merely
required by Emperor William TO re.
sign the CHARACTERISTIC, should navl
been arrested at Berlin and tried Their.
on charge Of high treason agains;
the imperial crown. There is every
reason to believe that these accusa.
tons made by the organs OF the Prus.
sian press against Count Won Hert.
ling. against the rulers of Bavaria
SaXony. Wurttemberg, Austria an,
Bulgaria, and against the Bavarisr
armies on the western front we"t
voiced by the Kaiser in defendin,
himself against the charges and re
proaches put forward by the rulers o
the various German sovereign States
on the occasion of their meeting hi
recently at Berlin In response to hi
urgent summons.
State Organs for Abdicatiou.
The open hostility of the non-Prus-
sian German States against Prussia
and the insistent demands Of the news
papers of Dresden, Stuttgart, Leipslc
and Munich. even those newspapers
which are recognized as the oficia
organs OF their respective Govern
ments, for the abdication of the En-
peror. and for the elimination of his
sons from the presidency of the con-
federation and from the imperial dig
nifty have had the effect Of causing
the Prussian nobility, especially the
petty territorial aristocraCy known as
the Junkers, to rally to the house of
Hohen>ollern. But Prussia is not en-
tirely composed OF Junkers.
There are the masses, who owing 20
the restricted franchise arc virtually
excluded from any voice in the af-
fairs of the nation. They are almost
TO man Socialists, and socialism in
Prussia, as elsewhere in Germany. is
anti-monarchical and anti-dynastir.
Emperor William has been endeavor-
ing during the past fortnight to win
them over by promises of universal
franchises and by suggesting himself
as hereditary president OF a Prussian
or German republic. But rulers Of
Prussia have repeatedly promised in
moments of danger to their crown
electoral reforms in liberal sense.
and then when the danger was past
they have always deliberately broken
their promises with a cynical disregard
Tor the laws of honor which IS n ira
dition OF their house. The Socialists
of Prussia cannot but remember this
and accord 70 the pledges of the kaiser
just the limited amount of confidence
that they are worth.
II cannot be sufficiently emphasized
that Bavaria and the other south Ger
man States were not allied to Prussia
or their own free will, but by force ana
by the military terrorism OF the
Hohenzollerns. Their alliance has been
a species of servitudc, and Prussia.
with the brutality and arrogance
which is her chief characteristic. in
stead of endeavoring to conciliatc
them has never neglected any oppor-
tunlty of making them feel the gallne
nature of tho yoke by intolerab.e
usurpations OF their sovereignty ana
by her endeaNors to crush their par
ticulaTism. They have had to main
tain constant fight for the preserva
ton of their independence and Of their
individual nationality from the en-
croachments Of Prussia and the lat
HnVpfnl1