The New York herald., 1922-01-29


after a brief but thorough outline OF
the next days work with Gen. Won
Gonthard and his two counselors. The
only exception to this regime Is on
Sundays, when the former Kaiser de-
voutly kneels in the little chapel Of
Doom House, and surrounded by his
official household follows his court
chaplain in prayers for the German
Empire, the German people and the
much beloved Kaiserin, the touching
fidelity of whom in his hours of trial
is one of the factors which went a
long way toward gaining official Dutch
approval of Williams forced asylum
III Dutch territory.
Free to Go to Germany.
Although William remains within
the limits of Doom House he is really
a free agent. The Dutch Government
would not interfere with him were he
to decide some morning to walk about
the streets Of Doom, or even to jump
into an automobile and cross the Ger
man frontier. But the latter course
would result in closing the doors Of
Hollands hospitality TO him, and he
has no intention Of attempting such a
radical departure-yet! The Dutch
detectives who follow his every move
ment, as well as those Of casual Wis
itors to Doom village, would merely
follow few yards behind the impe-
rial exile and see that he was not dis
turbed by indiscreet questions or at
tackled by some radical socialist, a
type with which Holland is teeming
at present.
Visitors-William has few of them.
or course no steps are taken to pre-
vent members of his immediate fam
lily visiting Doom, but all others are
urged not to trouble the comparative
peace of Doom House by sowing fam
lily discord. The Governor Of the Prov
ince of Utrecht, under whose juris-
diction William comes as a resident
Of Doom, Is an occasional visitor, and
is known to have played chess with
the fallen ruler, and the Burgermeis-
ters Of Wieringen, the island where
the Crown Prince resides, and of
Doom (the now famous Baron Schim-
melpenninck van der Oye) frequently
are invited to spend an evening in
Doorn House. but are both careful not
to spoil their welcome by basking too
long in the favor of their host.
Taxes Are Reduced.
When the former Kaiser arrived at
Doom he was to be assessed on 25O.-
600 Dutch forms annual income, but
this has since been reduced to $4,000
Dutch fiorins, and until the German
mark has something like its normal
value it is said to be agreed that Will
lam is not to pay any property tax or
local taxes as do ordinary residents of
the province of Utrecht. Why the
Dutch Government should not tax
him to the limit is still being ques-
toned by other residents of Doom,
who are also wondering why Dutch
taxpayers should be compelled to
stand the annual burden of $4,000
forms for the detachment of political
police assigned to guard the former
Kaiser in addition to the efficient uni
formed local police service. Perhaps
Holland intends eventually to put in
her bill for protecting him to the Su-
preme Council, but it is far likelier that
she is we'll content to spend a few
thousand dollars yearly and thereby
be sure that German imperialism is
effectively shackled rather than have
the constant fear of a German inva-
sion which would sweep along the
Rhine and wipe out Dutch towns with
the same unprincipled precision that
destroyed the richest part of Belgium
in 1914. One thing is certain, William
Is quite satisfied to have his property
protected by Dutch agents at the ex-
pense of The Hague. and has even
discharged the private detective whom
he engaged early in 1919 to follow his
every footstep from dawn until night
fall lest some agent of the allied Gov
ernments should attempt a sensational
bomb attack or manstealing as a
climax of the postwar negotiations.
Whether William will ever take ad-
vantage Of the liberty which is ac-
corded him remains to be seen: in any
event, nothing will be attempted, ac-
cording to his Doorn followers, until
the German people are ready. and as
William considers the successes OF
failures OF the Ehrard Brigade as the
best symptoms of change in the
spirit of the German people, it is not
likely that any immediate attempt
will be made to reinstall Kaiserism
even in it's Prussian stronghold.