The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-10-17
The Kaiser as | Knew Him
for Fourteen Years
~0
By ARTHUR N. DAVIS. D. D. S.


long.
After mobilization was ordered,
however, the kaiser decided to recede
from his position somewhat, and from
the balcony Of the palace In Berlin, In
front of which an enormous crowd
had gathered, he declared significant
ly: ~ recognize no parties. We are
now all Germans"
If anyone lmagines, however, that
his kowtOwing to the socialists In this
instance was evidence of q permanent
change OF heart, he little appreciates
how deeply rooted is the kaiser's alb
hOrrence OF socialism and democracy.
Indeed, one Of the principal things the
kaiser hoped to accomplish by prose-
cutting the war to a triumphant con-
clusIon was the blow 1t would deal to
socialistic progress. He felt that
victory would make his army the idol
Of the people and that their monarch
would shine In the reflected glory Of
their martial achievements. A sue
cessful war, he believed. would set So
cialism back a hundred years.
Certain 1t is the war brought no
change In the kaiser's personal habits.
Even to curry favor with the soclalis-
tic element he never unbent to the
slightest degree in his outward dis
play OF kingly attributes. In all his
career the German people had never
seen their kaiser other than In his
royal uniform, and at all military pa
rades or reviews he always rode a
white horse, that he might be most
conspicuous, and bore the royal mace
which his ancestors had carried centu-
rles before him. With the death
struggle between medieval monarchy
and democracy raging about him the
kaiser was determined to yield not d
little of his p%rerogatives. His auto.
mobile still made It's coming known by
its distinctive "tade-tada-ta-ta" and
the royal palaces were maintained In
all their accustomed pOmp.
But while the kaiser's armies were
triumphant In the field, the principle
which he was combating was every
where gaining ground. On March Is,
1917, the car abdlcated and Russia,
whose autocratic form OF government
had long been the envy OF the German
aristOcracy, became q republic!
The downfall Of the Russian EN-
pire was brought about by England
because she feared that the car vas
about to make a separate peace" the
kaiser commented to me. "As a mat
ter Of fact, however. neither the car
nor his government ever approached
us on that subject, and when England
overthrow the Russian monarchy she
defeated her very purpose. With the
car on the throne Russia would prob
ably have gone or fighting u.s."
Although the kaiser bore no particu-
lar love for the car, whom he was
fighting, he had no desire to convert
the empire into a democracy. and his
bitterness toward England for what
he thought was her part In the estab-
lishment of the Russian republic was
very pronounced.
When, a few months later, the abdi-
cation Of the car was followed by the
%abdication Of King Constantine Of
Greece. the kaiser sustained another
blow which hurt him more than the
defeat Of me Of his armies would
have done.
"They are trying to force their rot
ten form Of democratic government on
Greece" he declared fiercely. 1.-The
way they have treated my poor sister.
the queen Of Greece. ia a shame and a
disgrace. They talk about our inva-
sion Of Belgium. but their actions In
Greece are Infinitely worse. I have
studied the English people for twenty.
five years. and they always try to
cover their acts with religion and the
talk of benefits to civilization and hu-
manity. but, hypocrites that they are.
they continue to grab all they can get
their hands OF just the same"
The fact that Greece had a treaty
with Serbia which required her to take
up arms IL Serbia were attacked and
that she had failed to meet her obi
cations In that respect was naturally
Of no significance to the kaiser. to
whom treaties were but scraps Of pa
per.
The keynote Of the kaiser's military
program lay In the fact that he real
lied that It was necessary for him to
win in order t hold his throne. I feel
quite sure that II the allies we're will.
ling to concede to Germany all the ter
ritory she has eOnquered-Belgium,
Serbia. Poland. Roumania. Russia and
part of France, and restore all her col
onies. upon condition that the kaiser
step down from the throne, he would
reject the proposition without a mo.
ment's hesitation.
"Your country would like to make q
republic out Of Germany" he com.
mented, "a republic like France. per.
haps. going down and down all the
tlme-a country ruled by lawyersF'
And he mentioned half a dozen Of the
great French statesmen who were
members Of the legal profession. ats
q sad thing for q country when It gets
into the hands Of the lawyers. France
and Italy are already controlled BY
! them. And AmeYica and En0land arp