The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1918-10-04

lAdA IdSlE du1 SOEld1 HUT
ganatic marriages were naturally abb
horrent to him. Nevertheless, before
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the sue
cessor to the Austrian throne, was
murdered, the kaiser not only recog-
nized his morganatic wife, who was
only a countess, but went out Of his
way to show her Difference. He placed
her at his right at all state functions
which she attended. To bring Austria
and Germany closer together, he was
willing to waive one of his deep-rooted
prejudices.
The significance of the kaiser's
many visits to Italy, his presentation
OF a statue to Stockholm, his yachting
excursions In Scandinavian waters,
his firtations with Turkey from his
castle on the Island of Corfu, and SIM
liar acts Of ingratiation, becomes quite
apparent In the face of more recent
developments, but his efforts to curry
favor with America during all the
years of peace which preceded the war
were so much more elaborate that they
deserve more than passing mention.
No more subtle piece of propaganda
was ever conceived than the kaiser's
plan of exchanging professors between
the United States and Germany
through the establishment of the
Roosevelt and Harvard chairs at the
University of Berlin and corresponding
chairs at Harvard and other American
universities. Ostensibly the purpose OF
the project was to foster goodwill be-
tween the two nations. Actually, it
was intended to Germanize Americans
to such an extent that their co-opera-
ton might be relied upon in the event
of war for which Germany was Sed-
ulously preparing.
1t was believed that the exchange of
professors would accomplish the Ger
man purpose in two ways: not only
could the professors the kaiser sent to
America be depended upon TO SOW Ger
man seed in American soil, but the
American professors who were sent to
Berlin, it was hoped, could be so in
oculated with the German viewpoint
that when they returned to their ma
1--WE l1Cy WOhAo disseminate ~
among their associates and students.
Some time before the kaiser con
ceived the scheme of the Exchange
Professors, he sent his brother, Prince
Henry, to this country to draw the
two nations closer together and to in
still in the heart Of every child born
in America of German parents an
abiding love for the fatherland.
Just before the war broke out, he
was planning to send one OF his sons
here with the same object
He told me of his project and asked
me to which part of the United States
thought he ought to send the prince.
THAT depends, your majesty" re-
piled, "upon the object of the visit.
If the purpose is to meet American
society, I would recommend such
places as Newport in summer and
Palm Beach in winter. To come in
contact with our statesmen and diplo-
mats, Washington would naturally be
the most likely place to visit"
The kaiser thanked me for the In
formation but did not enter into fur
Their details as to the object he had
in mind or which son he had planned
to send across.
1t was to curry favor with America
that the kaiser had his yacht Meteor
built in our shipyards, and it is fact
that more American women were pre-
scented at the German court than those
of any other nation.
When he presented a statue of
Frederick the Great TO this country,
in McKinley's administration, it Gre
ated great stir in congress. What
could be less appropriate, 1t was ar
gued, than the statue of monarch in
the capital of republic7 The statue
was not set up in McKinley's admins
tration, but Roosevelt accepted 1t in
the interest of diplomacy and had 1t
erected In front OF the Army building.
Seeing that his gift had had just the
opposite effect to that intended, the
kaiser reprimanded his ambassador
for not having interpreted American
sentiment more accurately.
A few days after the death of King
Edward, Roosevelt arrived In Berlin.
Despite the fact that all Europe was
in mourning. the kaiser arranged the
most elaborate military dress review
ever given in honor of private citizen
to celebrate Roosevelt's visit. The re
view was held in the large military
reservation near Berlin. More than
100000 soldiers passed in review be
fore the kaiser and his staff and their
honored guest.
How far the kaiser would have gone
in his attentions to Roosevelt had he
not been in mourning 1t is impossible
to say, but / don't believe he would
have left anything undone to show his
admiration for the American expires
ident and to curry favor with this
country.
But Roosevelt was not the only
American to whom the kaiser made
overtures. He was constantly inviting
American millionaires to pay him
yachting visits at Kiel or wherever