Evening star., 1922-10-11

during the past
six weeks. ranging from high officials
to newspaper editors and from uni
versity professors to business men. l
can recall none whose views of past
and present events contain less of
Illusion. He discusses the war OBJ
1ecttvely and with great shrewdness
and accepts his present position un-
complainingly. 1t Is uncomfortable,
but so is every other Germans posi-
ton
Germany he said. faces stupen-
dous tasks and almost intolerable
burdens. and it is naturally hard for
any German to have to stand by
without taking a hand. I sincerely
wish l could be more actively en-
ployed. but certainly have no desire
by raising factional questions. 1t
would be absurd. of course. to say
dynastic considerations do not in
terest me. but they assuredly take
second place in my thoughts. In
such DAYS as these am. first of all,
such, my duty is precisely that of
every other good German-to sub
ordinate personal fortunes and even
personal opinions to the common
good What We need today above all
is national unity. thoroughly
united Germany would be unbreak-
able
Would Use Ballot.
Il asked the prince if he would
vote. supposing himself at home
Certainly he answered. my wife
always votes. Why shouldn't 10
"Watchful Mai. Mueldner evidently
feared ] would ask him how he would
vote. but the prince himself saved
the situation.
"1 refuse to answer he said with
q smile. The ballot is secret by law
and I always try to obey the laws
The prince takes a philosophical
view of the extravasant tales about
him circulated in America during the
war. For example. the stories of
wholesale burglaries in France. He
collects such fables with humorous
interest and was apparently delighted
with several l contributed from the
archives of the Creel press bureau.
-" Such nonsensical libels.' he said.
do not annoy me half as much as their
authors probably think. Abuse of that
sort goes with the trade 1 was born to-
y Germany had won sweeping victory
I'd have got as crown prince far more
than my fair share of the glory and ap-
plause. In defeat 1 receive, perhaps.
rather more than a fair share Of the
blame and execration, both at home
and abroad, but such are fortunes of
that any sane American seriously be-
heves today was guilty Of the fantastic
crimes laid to me during the war. That
madness must necessarily pass. Mean
while 1t gives me no concern
Sees Need OF America.
Like most other Germans, the prince
believes the European situation will
never be genuinely remedied until the
United States takes hand In it.
It rather surprises me- he said, that
the United States as nation shows
OBJ
future here. Things go steadily from
bad to worse-I don't mean in Germany
alone. but everywhere on the continent,
Here in rich. peaceful Holland. among
people famous for industry and business
capacity. the effects OF the German sit
uation are everywhere visible, Hol-
landers must sell their goods, but their
best customer. Germany can no longer
buy nor will she ever buy again until
there is radical dealing with the evils
which beset her.
hear that trade is almost as bad
ly paralyzed in the two Americas and
for the same reason. Europe simply
cannot buy the surplus of the natural
Thus one-haIf of the civilized world
sees its crops rotting in field and
warehouse and the other half faces
starvation. The underlying cause of
all this disorganization and distress
is the Versailles treaty. 1t was made
most elementary economic laws and
common sense. Today the fact that
it is utterly unworkable is obvious to
every one.
All Europe Hurt.
IS 1t is doing almost as much damage
in France. in fact. as to Germany. and
scarcely less to the other allies and
the neutrals. The speech of Reginald
McKenna in New York last week
ought to be accepted by the whole
world as plain warning. McKenna
knows the situation thoroughly and
he told the simple truth.
The entrance of the United States
into the war threw the balance to-
ward the allies and was largely re-
sponsible for their victory. But the
United states opposed the treaty be-
fore IL was signed and has never rat
ified it since. l am in hopes that the
view of it thus indicated will grad
uslly win over those~who still believe
it can be executed. Failing In that
hope. can see no way out save
through a catastrophe. That catas-
trophe. remc.nber. is not remote; 1t
lies directly around the corner
THE prince told me he was very
eager to see the United States. but
that he must wait for better times.
This Is no day for Germans to be
travelling. There Is too much work to