Show Emperor Williams William's Birthday i I Bv By Frederic J. J Haskin J I I Y wa as tho the birthday of or YESTERDAY V William 11 n. king of ot Prussia and emperor em em- Y I of oC Germany Though for I nearly a a. quarter of ot a century lh the kaiser line haa stood at tho the head cf or the time great Gorman German nation he Is stilt still young as asmon asmon mon men mongo go Ho Is just 52 and If 11 f ho lives lIvos to the tho allot wd age of or three three- three score eare anti and ten ten ho hg Will have havo eighteen years more mor to reign Who ho can t tell ll what strange mutations muta may be In store for tor tho German German Ger Ger- man people and their In that space apace of ot time z Of ot nil all the worlds world rulers its Hs kings and eni m Its Ita poten po po- ten ten tes and linel deiJ there Is none on whom the tho eyes I of or the nations are BO 80 persistently fastened fas tas as all on tho German emperor He Is the great war warL warlord L lord loro whom Euro J lear fears Before the f sun goes goeR down h he h- could set In motion forces that would Upset the tho peace of ot civilization and brinK bring on tho the great cataclysm of ot arms of or which every overy nation In Europe lives In dread and the shadow of ot which I. I never novel entirely lifted from tho the enlightened peoples of ot either hemisphere To speak of ot tho the many sided em of or Germany Is II to speak of ot Germany Itself The German empire would be he great groat without without without with with- out William IL but It Is nevertheless truo true that no small measure of or the tho high standing stand stand- lug ing to which It has attained is duo dUG to the untiring and resistless energy of or tho the kaiser and his sleepless devotion to the people whom he rules Marvelous l In his versatility there Is almost no field of or activity with Uh which he ho Is 18 not familiar Ho knows knowlI the navy as well as he knows the arm army Ho He understands the tho practical problems of or statecraft and diplomacy He HeIs HeIs Heis Is a a. student an artl artist t and a preacher He lie knows deeply all an phases of ot German commerce and business affairs Germana German Gorman a agriculture and German science He can cantell cantell tell the German her duties as easily as ho can reprove a 0 blundering colonel Ho He can lecture a university student student student stu stu- dent on the evils of or drink direct an or orchestra orchestra or- or chestra command an army con km or paint a picture He can compose a song IanI If It need bo boo or stir up the apprehensions of ot Europe Europe Eu- Eu rope ropo b by dilating on the yellow peril He HeIs HeIs Heis Is as versatile as Roosevelt elt arid and more autocratic than Frederick the Great To understand the position of ot Germany German and the ruler of or the Germans Germane one must hark back Lack a few centuries and cast over the progress es of or this giant slant among amons the nations na na- na- na The house of or to which William b belongs longs goes back a thousand thousand thou thou- sand fland years ears through a Ion long line of or tho able and the tho weak tho the fliCk sickly I and the tho strong the mean n and the great But lit littie little lit lit- tie tle more than years ears ago the chiefs of or ortho tho the house of or were among the despised of ot the royalty of ot Europe The te of Brandenburg had been given tho the family by The king of or Poland gave It the tho duchy of or Prussia They were ero a rough lot Jot these old Hoh Huhn- Huhn n- n The Thc countr country about Berlin and Potsdam was like a desert and the deep sand could barely be forced to yield thin crop of ot rye and oats Where there was no sand there were ancient forests or Insalubrious marshes marshe Tho great elector Frederic fo William Villiam extended the tho family possessions and got the rich city and dIstrict dietrict district dis die of or Magdeburg His son Frederick as assumed umed the tho dignity of or king of ot Prussia In 1700 but even cven then he was despised among the time rest of or kings It Is a 3 far cry from the Prussia o of years ears ago with Its sterile wastes Its poverty po and It Its II meager me army to the G German German Ger Ger- r- r man empire o of t lda Frederick the tho Great took the arm army which his father rather had hacI welded Into Inlo a great greal fighting machine de despoiled polled Austria defeated France francc anc and Russia RUSsin held his own against the combined combined com corn forces of or Europe and tiled died with as one of the foremost of or the European powers Then camo came Na- Na roleon ICOn and the humiliating dt defeats ho lie heaped leaped on the German people It was the I German Franco war of ot the seventies that proved to the world beyond dispute the tremendous ml tary power of or the German German Ger Ger- man nation and at the same time brought about aboul the union of the tho German states raising It to the commanding place It de deserved deserved deserved de- de served among amons nations From a sparse to an empire ol or of tremendous wealth and power from a athin athin athin thin line of at regiments to a standing army of or mon and the st second cond navy of or orthe the world the of or the tho has haa risen In two centuries And ll It if the ambition accredited to Emperor Wilham William Wil Wil- ham liam Is fulfilled In the remaining years ears of ot othis his reign hl his empire may bo be still farther extended The diplomacy of or practically all Europe Is directed toward confining that domain to It Its present enl boundaries France would like to shear off the provinces pro inces of ot Alsace Isace and Lorraine which she lost in the tho war of or forty lorty ears curs ago On the other hand Germany German with Its huge and healthy health population with UK its large lance tam families Illes and Its Us Innumerable babies Is 15 pressing hard at al' the borders Some da day who knows when she may break over Then will como the time conflagration A e mingling of or the medieval au autocrat autocrat au- au and ann the tho lie most modern of or princes Is the whom Germany German greets with hoch hoell her dor r kaiser Many sided as ashe ashe he ho Is and multitudinous as are his activities ac ac- ac- ac ho Is above all a soldier The arm army and the nay navy are first In his affee- affee He lie Is at al homo home among those thOM who wear the time uniform In his heart like tho the aela age avem-age e German military man ho he cannot refrain from looking down clown on tho civilian ilian It Is extraordinary that thal a man n with such capacity for tor work as the kaiser should at the tho same time be bo frail trall with witha I In a n withered arm and a n fear of or tho malad malady that killed his father ather after a it pitiful rel reign n nor of or only ninety nine da days s. s But It is so Indefatigable ablo In activity the fear rear that the taint in tho the blood of at his forbears may strike him bini low at nt on any time hangs over oyer him Perhaps this Is onn one of oC the tho reasons for hi his remorseless ener energy Doubtless a 0 clean and bu bustling life lito hs has pre preserved In iii him the vigor which hn In has despite the thA weaknesses he hc Is heir to Certain It Is he can take tho the saddle with the most mot ac active tive tI of or his generals ls to study th the maneuvers maneu maneu- vers vcrs of or his troops or dash along at nt the head of ot his alt cavalry He lie Is also known a aa as asa a n successful srul and hunter who does doo not soon tire By fly tho the favor of or God and of or none else Was wa tho the wey William Ullam I I. I mild Mid h he ha ruled And nd his grandson the tho kaiser Is a trl strict t believer In this doctrine the doctrine the divine rl right hl of or kings It is one of or the Inheritances of ot othis his It would seem that thaL a man maii ns uS modem modern as William Is III in so 80 many re respects re- re SP specie would have havo long Jong ago discarded this Idea of or rule But Dut he has neither lost bet faith In It nor has ho discarded It It though thou h tho time hitter bitter criticism he hc has suf sur suffered suffered I on various occasions has ha served to tomake tomake make mak him careful how ho expounds ILIn It IL In not a few respects William II 11 Is like his great ance ancestor tor Frederick the time Great Should a 0 great war come como It H would probably L be Impossible to keep him from taking t tho the command of hi his troops and 8 seeking to demon demonstrate that he lia- lia not lost the military genius that attaches His disposition to the history of hits his family tion to ho he the time real nerd boss of ot things not th the nominal one never naver ha has ht been cn bettor better exhibited than In forcing out Bismarck li In 1800 1810 Ho lIe was then a young youns man mn of or 31 il and had been emperor only about two to years year's It was a almost a fl foregone conclusion that two men of or dispositions such ouch an as theirs would collide The Tho com Mon alon came ear early and tho outcome of ot I Iwas t of oC theiron tho the was tho the discontented retirement Iron chancellor In a reign n crowded with great events William WilHam II has haP followed closely th tim policy poll poll- cy CF of or Bismarck as to the triple alliance and arid has departed from rom It widely In getting gotting gotting got get ting Germany interested In the orient In cultivating relations with Turkey by activity In Asia Azia Minor by seizing a foothold foothold foot toot hold in China and by colonization In Africa and South America Ono One of or tn the foremost of or his hit achievements has been to 8 cur a n law for or compulsory Insurance insurance Insurance ance of ot German working men against t disability dis- dis ability arising from old age or Infirmity He has done much for education am and much ranch for lor the tho working classes At th the same name time he ne has bet been n the foo o of socialism social social- Ism He has been In the business o or Of promoting German activity In every field he ho thou thought ht promising Some of or his Lils nj schemes have been failures but In his tim German industry h has haa ul thrived an and quickened wonderfully Gorman German com CoIn merco has waxed great goods mule made 1 In iii O many acm o outsold rl rivals In everY even mart marL of or th the world worM th the tho German army annY ha ht I been drilled to the tho highest pl pitch ch of or per per- and the thc German Gennan nav navy hJ has do do- do to a point where her dread dread- cause nervous Britons to 11 lie awake nights William Is not popular Ho lie ke keeps p to too sharp an e eye eye- on everybody's business HI nut But he Is 11 admired by hi lila his pt people and h hIs him hlo Is respected It If hated by the courts o or of Europe A restless human d dynamo namo alert Intelligent despotic as aa far as ashe ashe ashe he dare daro be bO this ruler of r a mighty nation of people Is I a tremendous foreIn fore force In human n affairs He ma may well bo be celled called tho worlds world's war lord Jord |