The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-18
PRESS ON FREDERICK WILLIAM

1O1uer prince u1hQe HIS Journey lel- surely by automobile and escaped the throngs of correspondents by failure to keep any regular route or schedule. In that he showed wisdom not al- ways characteristic of his acts as a royal parsonage. Just what effect, if any, the return will have upon Ger many is not apparent. It is reported that France, in reprisal, has seized the port of Hamburg as punitive meas ure against the German government, but 1t might have been equally as ap- propriate to seize Amsterdam,s the Dutch and not the German govern ment having assumed responsibility for the internment.
 On the assumption that the return presages an attempt to regain au- thority, the New Orleans Times-Pica- yune remarks: Friedrich Williams s path to the throne of his fathers bris- ties with difficulties. His return from Elba' may terminate as disastrously as did that of Napoleon. His ambitious project may indeed be abandoned if the German people hold aloof through apathy, indifference or dislike of the ex-prince who fled the realm to escape the consequences of the criminal mis- takes of his house. But whatever else happens, the monarchist intrigues in Germany, arousing the suspicious If Germany's neighbors, west, east and south, will fin all likelihood block the efforts within and without the Father land to adjust reparations, German finances and industry-and so doom the unfortunate German people to an- other season of suffering, despon- dency and disorder"
 In the view of the Springfield Re- publican, "the return of the crown prince may or may not prove a se- rious matter. It seems to be made Q good deal less serious by the fiasco of the attempted coup d'etat in sBa- varia and the demonstration of loy- alty of the reichswehr to the republic. Yet 1t will be long before the presence of. the Hohenzollern heir can be any thing but a disturbing force in Ger many. and the natural suspicious of the allies involve some risk of fresh incidents and controversies to com plicate situation already quite bad enough" That there is nothing un- usual about the affair is the opinion of the Kansas City Times: "Frederick William has yielded to the lure that tempts all political exiles and returned to Germany. It is an adventure that he was fairly sure to have embraced sooner or later. No exile with a stake like his ever is content to let it go without one last throw for it, and to ex-monarchs and their heirs that throw is a return from exile and dramatic reappearance upon the scene of their former roles. .. His return to Prussia, without the consent of the allies, and in the political circun- stances that now exist in Germany, can mean nothing else than that the Hohenzollern interests are ready or in preparation for bid for the restora- tion of that house."
 Some initial success is foreseen by the Nashville Banners: "Around him will rally the monarchists and as the republic shows signs of weakness, he will become the man of the hour for those who do not confide in it and want restoration of the monarchy. That he is weakling will not obliter- ate the fact that he is the natural heir to the throne, or keep monarchists from plotting to give him power" This, of course, is to say nothing of the desire of the monarchists them selves for power. The Washington Post accurately predicts that the "flight into Germany will probably De the signal for vigorous action by the allied governments. The French gov ernment, in particular, will take pains to thwart his efforts to precipitate a reactionary revolution. His activity may lead to decisive changes in the relations of the allied powers to the present German government"
 The ludicrous side of the flight may be salutary, in the opinion of the St. Louis obe-Democrat: "Hohenzol- lernism reduced to absurdity may be as. innocuous in Germany, but the leaders of the republic>may remember that Hohenzollernism has small sense of humor and is not to be laughed out of the thing on which it has fixed its hope. If Frederick William had be- come a center of intrigue in his re- mote Dutch residence, how much more will be be a center on German soil ' As to Hollands responsibility the New York Times declares: "There was no law, domestic or international, under which Frederick William could have been detained if he chose to go. Of course, he would not be allowed to come back to Holland. His privilege of politics there has been exhausted" There is room for difference of opia- ion here, for the Dutch government,
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