The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-09-12

tically every officer In the Chilean
army is German, and the kaiser has
spared no pains to foster the friend
ship Of the South American republics,
commercially and automatically.
One of the South American minis
tiers told me of an eX-president Of
Peru who had visited Berlin. This
Peruvian had previously visited Lon
don and Paris and had received little
Or no official attention In either Of
those capitals. For reasons best
known to himself, the kaiser decided
to cater to this gentleman, and accord
ingly arranged an audience.
In the discussion which took place
when they met, the kaiser displayed
such a remarkable acquaintance with
Peruvian affairs and the family his
tory and political career Of his visitor
that the South American was stunned.
When he returned home he carried
with him a most exalted idea Of the
all-pervading wisdom of the German
emperor. To what extent the kaiser
had spent the midnight oil preparing
for this interview have no knowledge,
but knowing the Importance he placed
upon making a favorable impression
at all times have a mental picture of
his delvfng deeply into South Amerf-
can lore In preparation for his guest.
There Is nothing dearer to the kaiser
than caste and social distinction. Nor
Ganatic marriages were naturally alb
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 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 flirtatiOns 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, 1t
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.
tive land they would disseminate 1t
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
| 1 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 ID
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.
It 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-
sented at the German court than those
| of any other nation.
When he presented statue Of
| Frederick the Great to this country,
| in McKinley's administration, it Gre
| ated a great stir in congress. What
could be less appropriate, it was ar
| gued, than the statue of a monarch in
the capital of a republic? The statue
| was not set up in McKinley's admins.
| tration, but Roosevelt accepted il in
| the interest of diplomacy and had ii
| erected in front of the Army building.