The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1918-11-28

ana their useful agent, the press, or
! whether he was cnce again making
use Of his histrionic ability
Although Germany is regarded as
the cradle of socialism, to the kaiser
it was a cancer which was slowly eat
ing away the foundations of his en-
pire and he viewed its progress with
the direst misgivfngs.
Before the war he steadfastly re-
fused to receive a deputation OF so
cialists and never once gave an audi
ence to the leaders of the socialist
party in the relehstag, although the
heads of committees of all the other
political parties were at times re-
| ceiyed in conference.
While the reichstag was little more
than children's debating society, the
growth and increasing power Of the
| sOcialistic party, which was constantly
ciamOring for the reform vote, could
not be ignored, and no doubt had a
great deal to do with the militarists'
anxiety not to postpone the war too
long.
After mobilization was ordered,
however, the kaiser decided to recede
from his position somewhat, and from
the balcony OF the palace in Berlin, I'm
front of which an enormous crowd
had gathered, he declared significant
ly: Il recognize no parties. We are
now all Germans"
If anyone fmagines, however, that
MS kowtowing to the socialists in this
instance was evidence of a permanent
change OF heart, he little appreciates
how deeply rooted is the kaiser's abb
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 it 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 it is the war brought no
change in the kaiser's personal habits.
Even to curry favor with the socialis-
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 q
white horse, that he might be most
conspicuous, and bore the royal mace
which his ancestors had carried centu-
ries before him. With the death
struggle between medieval monarchy
and democracy raging about him the
kaiser was determined to yield not a
title of his prerogatives. His auto
mobile still made its 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 abdicated and Russia,
whose autOcratic form of government
had long been the envy of the German
aristocracy, became a repubIicI
''The downfall of the Russian en-
pire was brought about by England
because she feared that the car was
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 on fighting u.s.
Although the kaiser bore no partfcu-
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, 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