Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-23
THE KAISER AS / KNEW
HIM FOR FOURTEEN YEARS
By ARTHUR N. DAVIS
opyrght by the Mcclure Syndicate

to te II me that it served them right.
AFT .r we helped to develop the Jap
anese army and navy. they have now
turned against u.s." they complained.
1T serves us right for being so fool
ish as to teach them the tricks of
the trade"
According to the talk of the Ger
man diplomats before the war, the
expectation was that Japan's power
| would be used against America at
the first opportunity. Whether the
object of this campaign was to stir
up trouble between Japan and Amer
lea or only to awaken this country to
a sense of the danger which the
Germans professed to believe threat
| ened her, I don't know. I do know.
however. that the prospect of a Jap
Ianese-AmeI ican war seemed to worry
| the Germans considerably more than
| l. worries uc.
From time to time, the Kaiser
spoke to me along these lines. In
1905, shortly after the treaty of
Portsmouth was consummated be-
| tween Russia and Japan Through
President Roosevelt putting an end
to the Russian-Japanese war, I saw
the Kaiser and he professed to be
very much pleased with the results
achieved.
you should be very proud of your
chief, Davis" he said, "for bringing
about peace between Russia and
Japan. That was really wonderful
q chiey ement and, for the time being
at any rate, effectually put an end
| to japanese aspirations"
The fact that the Japanese them
selves seemed very dissatisfied with
| the easy terms eXacted from Russia,
which was evidenced by rots of
| rather serious dimensions in the
streets of Toxic and other Japanese
cities. evidently signified to the
Kaiser that Japan had been diplo-
matically beaten by the treaty, al
though victorious in the field. The
revolution which followed in Russia
showed the precarious condition of
that country and brought about the
esta blishment of the Duma.
Later on, after our fleet had made
Its epcch-making trip around the
world in 1908. the Kaiser again al
luded tc the Japanese peril.
Davis" he said, II want to con-
graduate you and your country on
the magnificent performance of your
fleet in its trip around the world. 1t
reached Magdalena Bay on the west
coast after going around the Horn
to go back for repair. 1t was really a
marvellous performance and you may
we'll be proud"
The newspapers at home, your
Majesty" l replied, are belittling
our fleet and talking about the ar
morplate being too thin, especially
below the water line, so that when
ship rocked it exposed a weak spot
below the surface"
Rot" he exclaimed. Those ships
are all right and their performance
proved it. We all have ships ten
years old which are weak below the
waterline, but your latest models are
as good as any in the world. 1 am
sure.
IF those vessels had shown any
serious weakness, Davis" he went on.
1t would have been a serious matter
at this time when your country is
having dispute with Japan over the
California school question, but your
chief has warded off a war with
Japan. He STAYED off the yellow
Peril'-a peril which I have long
recognized. In fact. it was 1 who
originated the phrase Yellow Peril.
Yes, your Majesty" I answered,
II have already heard that your Ma
jesty originated the phrase"
Your President is a wise nan and
he knew the danger, too. Sending
the fleet around the world was a
brilliant stroke of craftsmanship. 1
know that Roosevelt thereby pre-
vented war with Japan"
The Kaiser was so positive on this
point that l thought at the time he
was probably in possession of infor-
nation which warranted that con-
clusion, and later I heard rumors
that Berlin bankers had been sound
ed on the possibility of floating a
japanese loan in Germany. and that
German diplomats had been also
consulted. I was led to believe by
others as we'll as the Kaiser that we
had been skating on very thin ice
BY throwing the Japanese children
out of your schools" they said. Cal
ifornia has done about as much as
she could to provoke a war with
Japan. 1t is quite proper for your
country to enforce her rights, but
YOU mustn't make the mistake of
voting against big army and navy"
The Kaiser expressed the utmost
distrust of the Japanese on a num-
Der of different occasions.
why, Davis" he exclaimed.
these Japanese hear, are naturally
and instinctively dishonest. Their
own people cannot trust them. My
men who come back from japan tell
me that Chinese clerks are employed
in Japanese banks and business
houses because they cannot trust
their own men!Y
Whatever may have been the
Kaiser's personal opinion about the
shortcomings of the Japanese char
acter. no one in Germany doubted
the depth of Japanese patriotism. In
fact. while the Germans pride them
selves on their deep-rooted love for
the Fatherland, they yield the palm
for patriotism to Japan. It is a com
mon saying among them that jap
anese patriotism must be placed
first. German second. English third.
American patriotism Is not mention
ed. Perhaps it is because the Ger
mans believe the japanese to possess
such intense love of country that
they fear so much the menace of
japanese hostility
This fear of Japan was held
throughout all ranks in Germany. 1t
was common talk in the streets II
was given frequent expression bv
German statesmen and the Kaiser
himself openly admitted it.
Every chancellor in Germany de-
clared that his great problem was
to prevent the Kaiser from making
remarks which afterwards came
back and required embarrassing de-
mails and explanations. I heard of
some American Congressmen who
were received in audience by the
Kaiser while travelling through Ber-
lin and to whom the Kaiser spoke
freely of the yellow Peril" When