The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-11-14

kaiser went on, land l am sure he
means all right, but what q mistake
1t Is to allow q man so ignorant of
world affairs to do a ridiculous thing
like this!
l told the kaiser that 1t had been
suggested In some of the American
papers that II Ford really wanted to
end the war, all he had to do was to
pay Germany $10O.O00.OOO and buy
Belgium back.
Zone hundred million dollars!" the
kaiser repeated, and then after a mo-
ment's reflection, al though he had
been turning over some figures In his
mind, mo, Davis. It will cost much
more than that to get Belgium back !"
1t occurred to me hat If the kaiser
really meant what he said on that oc-
c%asion, all his talk about "peace with
out annexation" was obviously a myth
and that the only hope Of Belgium's
redemption lay In the military defeat
Of Prussia. Subsequent developments
amply confirmed that view.
In the winter Of 1915, we were talk.
ing OF the sentiment in America and
the conversation turned to Won Berns-
tori.
"Von Bernstorff has been doing very
good work in your country" the kaiser
commented.
"Well, your majesty" l replied, 1T Is
said in America hat If he had not been
such a clever diplomat he would long
ago have been compelled to leave"
From all 1 hear" the kaiser said.
"he hasn't had a very easy time of it.
The American press as a whole has
been c~onspicuously anti-G German, al
though I understand that one of your
newspaper publishers has been friend
ly to US. MI. Hearst, for instance. has
helped our cause very much in your
country. He has been telling the truth
about affairs, which is more than most
Of the other papers have been dOing!"
Just before the king Of Greece abdi-
Gated, the kaiser referred to the atti-
tude Of the American press again.
1.-THE way the American newspapers
and the press of the allied countries
generally are presenting the Grecian
situation to the world is absolutely
false and a disgrace! !" he declared, bit
terly. "They are entirely m%isrepre-
senting the facts. Mr.. Hearst is the
only one, as far as l can find, who has
revealed the real conditions and told
the truth about them. My, l wonder
what the people have to say now that
Mr.. Hearst has finally exposed the
whole thing!" 1t was only a short
time afterwards that the king abdicat-
ed and revealed Enthusiastically which
papers had correctly interpreted the
trend of Grecian politics.
The kaiser spoke to me many times
about the writings Of William Bayard
Hale.
"Have you been following Hale's ar
ticles?" he inquired. what he is
writing about the war Is excellent and
Is really the best material published.
He voices my sentiments exactly, and
1t would be well for every American to
follow this writer's work."
l had to confess that there was one
American at least who was not only
not following Hale's writings, but had
never heard Of the writer, and the
kaiser seemed to be somewhat dis
pleased.
He referred to Hale several times
subsequently and in the meanwhile I
had ascertained that the man In ques-
ton was the representative in Berlin
Of the Hearst newspapers and I sub
seQuently learned that he had pub
lished q book called american Rights
and British P%retensions at Sea-" which
explained at once to me why the kaiser
was so enthusiastic about him.
In the course Of one of our many
conversations on the subject Of Amer
lean munitions, the kaiser paid his re-
spects to Mr.. Schwab.
"What can one expect from Schwab,
who is using the Bethlehem steel plant
to work against us?" he asked. HE Is
of Austrian Jew extraction and would
work against anyone for the sake of
the money that's In itw
I'm following affairs In America
very closely" he told me on another
occasion. before we entered the war.
"Not all of your senators are against
us. Senator Stone, for instance, Is
taking a very strong neutral stand. 1
understand, and it is a pity there are
not more like him."
Just before I left for my trip to
America in 1915. the kaiser called on
me and l told him l was leaving.
"Well, Davis" he said, "be careful
not to run against any mines or be
torpedoed. You'll probably be pulled
into England on your way over We
understand all boats are taken there
for examination" Then, with fire in