The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. MONDAY, JUNE 19, 1922. KINGS IN EXILE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 143, 19 June 1922, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

MONDAY, JUNE 19, 1922. KINGS IN EXILE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that neeile resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

. As a rule, kings in exile do not cut impressive figures. To begin with, usually they have lost their thrones through their own fault. Then they are deprived of the pomp and ceremony which have buttressed their dignity, and their attempts to maintain an adequate court in exile may be surrounded with difficulties. Lack of money, for example. Constantine of Greece and the late exEmperor of Austria were both in financial straits in Switzerland. It often happened in the past that Royal fugitives managed to take a good deal with them, or had contrived to feather a nest abroad against ill-fortune. The Empress Eugenic, who fled at short notice from the wrath of Paris in defeat, was always a very wealthy woman. The ruin that fell upon Continental throne* and rulers in 1918, however, stripped some princes of almost everything. Ferdinand of Bulgaria is reported to be keeping a market garden somewhere in Germany, and doing well at it—poesibiy for the reason that a number of people in the neighbourhood feel uplifted at the idea of buying cabbages from an exking. The Kaiser fled so precipitately from his beloved Fatherland that he had no time to pack the family money and plate, and ever since then he has been negotiating with Berlin about the disposal of Hohonzollern property and its. liability to taxation. Nobody knows exactly what he possesses in the way of money, but he maintains a Court, and not even the entourage of William the late All-Highest will work for nothing. So he has written a book and sold it for a very large sum, the foreign portion of which alono amounts to a fortune. Exiled monarchs rarely busy themselves writing hooks. The .lames of Scotland who wrote poetry in his English captivity, set an example that was not followed by the Stuarts when they went on their travels. Charles 11., for one, was more pleasantly occupied. Napoleon at St. Helena might have written a book of absorbing interest about his own marvellous career. The Empress Eugenic must have known many secrets, but she did not court publicity. One she divulged during the war for the benefit of her country, and most of the rest probably went to the grave with her. William 11., honevcr, has written a book, and because he is William 11., the world is expected to pay a great sum for it. It is possible the world will be disappointed. Not that the Kaiser has not a story to tell. If ho were ruthlessly honest and unhampered by any considerations of discretion, he could write one of the most important books ever contributed to history. Think of the candour of Mr. Samuel Pepys applied to the Kaiser's reign, from the day when the moment his father died he put a guard round the palace, to the day in 1018 when lie fled to Holland in the midst of the ruin of his country. What a book it would be! But William is not this sort of man. Already he has made one written contribution to history, but it is of very littlo value. It consists of selected facts in Germany's favour, put forward without any regard to other facts. It is almost certain that he has written this new hook in the same spirit. It will be a vehement and even passionate defence of his own policy, unjudicially compiled, and we may reasonably expect the blame for Germany's failure to be put on all shoulders but his own. It may be interesting, but \vc anticipate that the careful editing and sub-editing which it is reported to have undergone will have had the effect of making it dull. William has never shown any unusual literary talent, but hi.s .melodramatic and fiery personality is capable of giving a flavour to a book. His annotations on dispatches during the critical days of 1914 display quite a vigorous style. "Treacherous scoundrel.'" he remarks of Sir Edward Grey. "Lies!" "He lies!" "This fellow is mad or an idiot!" Written in something like this style the Kaiser's book would at least be entertaining, but there is a danger that by the time it reaches the public it will have lost whatever sparkle it ever had.

The spectacle of the ex-War Lord counting on restoring his fallen fortunes by telling the story of his fall is ironic enough to cause "laughter of gods in the background." If carefully invested, so we are told, the money from the extra-German rights alone will produce £2,800 a year, and surely something substantial may 'be expected from Germany. An income of _1,800 would satisfy most of us, but the Kaiser lives at the rate of £10,000. This is a small sum as Royal expenditure goes, but now that William is no longer a reigning monarch, and has only one establishment and not a hundred to maintain, half of ten thousand should suffice him. He will get little sympathy from the world, and perhaps what is happening is for the best. A Kaiser living in Holland, writing books to pay his way, and disputing with hie old Government over property and taxation, is not likely to leave a dangerous legend to Europe.