Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-09-24
THE KAISER AS | KNEW
HIM FOR FOURTEEN YEARS
BY ARTHUR N DAVIS D. ID. S.
Copyright. 1918, by Mcclure Newspaper Syndcate)

ming 1 walked up Unter der Linden
and saw thousands of young men
from eighteen to thirty marching
along with their hats off clamorlng
Tor war. Mounted police were on
hand, but made no efforts to dis
perse the gathering, although no
such demonstration is ever allowed
IN Germany unless it is in keeping
with the policy of the government
to permit it.
turned to gray-haired porter
standing in front of a building and
asked him what it all meant.
They want war;" he answered.
| There's 10000 of them and they're
on their way to the Russian en-
bassy. Poor fools! I've been
through two wars-against Austria
in SO and against France in 20
and l know what it means. These
young men will learn too, to their
sorrow, before it's over. There was
time when the hand of Germany
was extended to the world down.
ward as a sign of friendship, but
now it is stretched out upward to
grab all it can get!"
This old porter was wise enough
to realize the dangers which those
higher up ignored.
On every hand there was evidence
of elation among the people at the
early prospect of going to war, and
their enthusiasm continued long
after hostilities began.
The Germans had been told by
the newspapers that the war upon
which they We're embarking was
forced upon them and that the rest
of the world had jumped upon Ger
many's neck and was seeking to
dismember the empire because it
was jealous of German commercial
supremacy. They were likewise
promised that the outcome of the
war would secure the freedom of
the seas" and give Germany an op-
portunity to meet England in the
markets of the world on an equal
commercial basis.
To what extent the people be-
lieved the official explanation of the
purpose of the war, 1 am not in
position to say. Many undoubtedly
accepted it at its face value, and
gloried in the prospect of Germany's
triumph. The better informed,
knowing that every port in the
world was open to German boats
and that, in fact, eighty per cent. of
the German foreign trade was with
the Anglo-SaXon nations, must have
been at loss to understand what
was meant by the freedom of the
seas" which Germany was so anx-
ious to secure.
But whether they saw through
their governments pretenses or not,
practically every German in the
country went into the war with a
will, determined to uphold German
might and establish the national
principle of Deutschland uber
alles!"
1t was confidently expected by all
that the war would be over within
ninety days at the outside, and there
can be no doubt that if the German
program had been carried out to
successful conclusion the position
of the Hohenzollerns would have
been secure for many generations
to come. Victory would have so re-
inforced the foundations of the en-
pire that it would have been proof
against political agitators, 1 believe,
for hundreds of years. Democracy
would be crushed the world over
and all that has been accomplished
in the past two thousand years
would go for naught.
But the German plan did not sue
ceed. 1t went wrong right from the
start. Belgium proved an uneXpect-
ed obstacle, tht English came in,
Paris refused to fall, the French
held their own, the Russian hordes
proved a real menace, and after the
great, numbering German machine
had travelled a certain distance on
its original impetus 1t was brought
to an unforeseen halt. 1t was very
awkward for the government, be-
cause it was all so different from
what the people had been pomised,
and it wouldn't do to shake their
confidence.
To keep the facts from the public,
the press was put under rigorous
supervision, and none of the reverses
which the Germans encountered,
none of the political mistakes which
they were constantly making, none
of the unforeseen difficulties which
were developing, was ever published
until the people had been gradually
and skilfully prepared to receive the
bad news, while general information
concerning some of the misfortunes
was suppressed entirely.
Ito Be COntinued)