The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-06-26

II he preserves his status as a soldier
the opinion of international law au-
thorities here is that the Neither
Ia nds government may be held ac-
countable by the associated powers
for his escape.
1t was explained that the rules of
war and neutrality require the govern
ment Of any nation that affords asylum
to a fugitive soldier to intern him for
the period Of the war and that in this
instance that period technically had
not elapsed. Officials said one effect
of the escape undoubtedly would be
to cause the authorities of Holland to
renew precautions to prevent the es-
cape Of the former emperor.
Because of the bitterness manifest
ed by the extreme socialist element
against the former royal family, Of
f1cials here were somewhat puzzled
by the action of the former Crown
Prince. The assumed, however, that
he either must have had some en-
couragement from his friends in Ger
many to believe that whatever gov
eminent survived the present crisis
would refuse to surrender him to the
associated powers for trial under the
terms of the peace treaty should his
name be on the prescribed list or that
a coup d etat was in contemplation
involving the conservative elements
and officers Of the army who have
strongly opposed signing of the peace
treaty.
Text of Abdlcation
Two days before the armistice was
signed, a decree issued by the Ger
man imperial chancellor, Prince Max
of Baden, announcing a decision Of
the former German emperor to abdi-
cate, stated:
THE imperial chancellor will re-
main in Office until the questions con-
/ nected with the abdication Of the
prince OF the throne of the German
! empire and OF Prussia, and the setting
up of the regency have been settled"
| This generally was accepted by the
public as an official announcement Of
! the crown princes intention to re-
nounce his rights to the succession.
Later, however, the crown prince
denied any such intention in an in
| terview given to The Associated Press
correspondent at Oosterland, Holland.
December 3, 1918. At that time the
crown prince said:
st have not renounced anything and
| 1 have not signed any documents
whatever.
However" he continued. Should
| the German government decide to
form republic similar to the United
States or France, I should be perfectly
. content to return to Germany as a
! simple citizen ready to do anything to
assist my country. / could even be
happy to work as a laborer in a
factory.
AT present everything appears cha
otto in Germany but l hope things will
right themselves"
Exact Text.
Notwithstanding this categorical
statement, the semiofficial Wolff Blu
reau of Berlin three days later issued
ofwhat was said to be the exact text
of the crown princes remuneration tc
his rights to the throne. This docu
ment read:
81 renounce formally and definitely
all rights to the crown of Prussis
and the imperial crown which would
have fallen to me by the remuneration
of the emperor-king, or for othel
reasons.
Since the former crown prince had
been on the island of Wieringen he Is
" nave l1FOQS 4uACI me- I'd n
ing his exercise in walks with his
dogs and sometimes doing manual Ia
Dor in the village shops where be
made friends OF some OF the workmen
Much Of his time has been given te
writing. Sometime ago he was re
ported to be at work on his memoirs
A venture into business was report
ed several weeks ago in official dis
,, patches from Holland received by the
state department at Washington Il
was announced company had beer
organized with Mr.. Frederick vii
liam Hohenzollern as the director
manager" to use the calcareous sands
of the island Of Wieringen in the
making of pottery. It was said the
former crown prince was a large in
lvestor in the enterprise.
One of the pieces Of pottery to b.
tput out by the new company, accord
ling to these dispatches, Is a tile por
, trait of the former crown prince, II
outing costume, shown against Z
/ background of church and cottages