The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-10-31
The Kaiser as | Knew Him
for Fourteen Years
~
By ARTHUR N. DAVIS, D. D. S.
Copyright. 1918. BY the Mcclure Newspaper syndicats)

Citations from Washington OF the In
trigue OF Count Won Luxburg. the Ger
man minister to Argentina, and l knew
where the kaiser was getting the in
formation ne referred to. In nearly
every case, It appeared. the kaiser's In
formants we're misleading him.
Both before and after we entered
the war the kaiser was thoroughly con-
WINGED that we could play only a nom
inal part In 1t 80 far AS man power
was concerned and his assurance on
that point Undoubtedly accounted for
his decision to carry through his sub
marine program eve though 1t re-
suited In bringing us irto the war.
"Do o realize how many tons OF
shipping 1t takes to ship a single sol
dier?" he asked ne on one occasion.
| confessed my ignorance on that
point.
"Well, 1t takes six tons to the man /!
To send over an army OF 50O.ONC men,
therefore, your country would require
o,00O,OO0 tons Of shipping in addition
to the tonnage required for regular
traffic. Where Is 1t coming from, with
my submarines sinking the allied ves-
sells faster than they can ever be re-
placed? My U-boats are doing Won
derful work and we are prepared to
take care Of all the troops America
may try to land In France"
"HOw foolish for America To have
come into the war;" he went On. III
she could succeed In landing a real
army In France, what good would II
dO2 America can see how easy ii was
for me TO break through and to cap
ture 100000 Of the Italians, and they
u realize that | can break through
on the western front and do the same
thing there. If America had kept out
Of the war she would have zone on
making untold profits and when peace
an finally declared she would have
been In II o enviable position
among the nations of the world. As IL
Is, Wilson will never have a seat at
the peace table IL | can help 1t, and
now America shall have to pay ali the
costs of the war" Evidently he imag-
nee hat his triumph would be so
complete that there would be no peace
table, but that the warning nations
terms he offered them, in which event,
knowing the magnanimity Of the Ger
man makeup, l should say the world
at large would have to be content with
very little.
How the kaiser feels now that the
failure Of the U-boats to intercept
American troop ships must be pain
fully apparent to him. and America
has so overwhelmingly overcome the
shortage Of shipping, | don't know, but
1t is more than probable that for some
time to come the real situation will, at
any rate. be successfully concealed
from the German people. l know that
the failure Of the U-boat campaign was
unknown to the Germans up to the
time / left Berlin-in January, 1918.
While the kaiser and the Germans
generally felt confident that we would
never be able to send many men
across, they professed to feel little
concern ever II we did.
According to some Of the German of.
ficers with whom I spoke, even II we
landed 100000 men In France II
would not be enough to break the
deadlock, as the Germans were taking
a similar number Of trained troops
from the Russian front. The only
menace Of American participation In
the war lay in the possibility that we
might add considerably to the allied
air strength. Man power alone, they
contended. would never be sufficient to
help the allies much. but overwhelming
superiority In the air might occasion
the Germans some annoyance.
The kaiser himself had but q poor
opinion Of the fighting qualities Of the
American soldier so far as modern war
requirements are concerned.
1.-The American soldier would pos
sibly give a good account of himself
In open fighting" he declared. "but he
is not built for the kind Of warfare he
will encounter In France. He lacks
the stolidity to endure life In the
trenches. He Is too high-strung and
couldn't stand the inactive life which
is such an important part Of modern
warfare. Besides, he lacks discipline
and trained officers"
Ito be continred)