THE KAISER.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16361, 5 November 1918, Page 8

THE KAISER.

ABDICATION REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN SIGNED. (By Cable.—Prees Assooiation.— Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, November 3. It is reported in Paris that "he Kaiser signed /his abdication on Wednesday, but that publication is withheld, fearing the effect on tho pubhc < moral, pending the receipt of armis- < tico conditions. , „ i NEW YORK, November 3. Tho "New York World's" correspondent telegraphs from Copenhagen:— There is talk of the abdication of the J Kaiser on every hand, and newspapers i are openly discussing the question. THE KAISER'S FUTURE. \ (Australian atid N.Z. Cable Association.) I COPENHAGEN, November 3. The "National Tidende's" Berlin correspondent states that the German ■ people will probably be asked to de- ; clare their wishes as to the Kaiser's future. « . "Germania" says that the Kaiser : is pledged to the most drastic domestic i reforms. The Kaiser's powers will be ( analogous to King George's. His ab- , dication would imperil Germany's unity. "SYMBOL OF GERMANY'S UNITY." (Australian and N.Z. Cablo Association.) (Received November 4th. 11.5 p.m.) COPENHAGEN, November 3. The "Lokal Anzeiger" says: The Reichstag parties do not support Herr Scheidemann's demand for abdication. The Centre Party has decided that the Kaiser and the Hohenzollern dynasty must remain as th© energetic symbol of Germany's unity; otherwise the Empire's downfall will immediately ensue. Forced abdication is equivalent to the establishment of a republic. Only a small section of the Liberal and People's Party favour abdication. South German Socialists, particularly those of Baden, oppose Scheidemann's demand. ACT OF ABDICATION SIGNED. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) (Received November 4th, 7.15 p.m.) PARIS, November 3. j Reports from diplomatic and military sources agree that the Kaiser signed the act of abdication before the Assembly of Confederated Princes in Berlin on Wednesday. The announcement is dolayed not only because of the effect on the public, but owing to possible divergent views relative to the succession, The Assembly did not admit that if tho Kaiser l( abdicated a Hohcnlioltorn should retain the crown. reichstagTarties NOW OPPOSE ABDICATION. (Reuter's Telegrams.) (Received November 4th, 8.5 p.m.) COPENHAGEN, November 3. In order to maintain the unity of the German Empire, most of the Reichstag parties ■ now oppose the Kaiser's abdication. Some ot tne Socialists also oppose ricneideinaun's .demand for abdication. J THE HEADSHIP OW GERMANY. A correspondent writes: Anciently the German Emperor was elected ' by certain German princes and higu ecclesiastics, hence we hear of tne Elector of Hanover, or the Elector Palatine of tne Rhine. The Emperor was naturally chosen very often from families that had already held the position, and though still actually elective, the Empire became at times almost hereditary, as in the case of "Barbara ssa" and his family. The Luxemburg family first held the position, in the person of tho Emperor Henry VII., (died 1317). The Wittelsbach faotily. Dukes of Bavaria and Electors Palatine of the Rhino, first held it in the person of tho Emperor Lewis (died 1317). The latter, through his mother, grandson of the Emperor Rhudolph, of the house of Hapsburg. The Emperor Lewis was further, througn his father's' mother, descended from the Emperors Henry 1., Conrad 11., Henry 111., and Henry IV., and from a "younger brother of the Emperor Frederic "Barbarossa." Tho House of Hapsburg, which held the Empire so long, first held it in the person of the Empieror Rhudolph, who died in 1291. The Hohenzollerns are, in the eyes of these three families, modern upstarts; holding the Empire for the first time in 1871; and the arrangement then made that it should be hereditary in the upstart Hohenzollern House, is, in their eyes, a disgraceful compact, to be annulled at the first opportunity in favour of one of the older Imperial stocks.