SYMPATHY IN HIGH PLACES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 88, 8 January 1919, Page 7

SYMPATHY IN HIGH PLACES

.KAISEB AND-LINCOLN COMPARED. One word'in.a'letter from the Kaiser to a certain Frau Meter after 6he. had lost' nine sons in the. war strikes ' the niajority of non-Gerniaiie' with aniazonient. It has been often asserted by our finpmies that, the world outside .'their borders' doe 3 not think as do the Germans, and the rebuke is. accepted as praise, but when the .Kaiser, writes -the bereaved mother that he is "gratified" by the' extent of hei sacrifice there is seen' to be a depth yet unplumbed in tho Emperor's psychology. Americans inslinctivolr, place alonsside this slrango message of sympathy the letter that Lincoln wrote to' Mrs.' Bixhv, and the two seem to stand out in "a clearer light; Tho Kaiser's Letter. "His ■ Jlajesly- -the Kaiser hears that you have sacrificed nine sons in. defence of the Fatherland in the present, war. ■ His Afnjcsty is. immensely gratified at ! the fact, and in'recbgiiition is pleased I to send, you Ms nhotogranh, with frame i and autograph' signature." ■ Lincoln's Letter.. ■■ "Dear Madam,—l have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are tho mother of fivb sons'who have died gloriously on the, field of battle. , 1 feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of niina which, should attempt .to beguile yon from the grief of'a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendoring to : you the consolation that may be found ■in the thanks of tho Republic thoy died ( to save. • ■ I pray that our- Heavenly I Father, may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and lenvu you only- the cherished me'morv of the loved.and lost, and' the solemn pride, that must be yuurs to have laid so. costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom." ■: "Only-a humane man, a man of the • loftiest, as well as the ■ tenderesfc feelings, could liave written that letter to Mrs. Bixby," saye the. Kansas City "Star." "Only a supreme egotist could have writ- ' ten the letter to Frau Meter. ■ Yet it would be a mistake- to assumo that Lincoln, becnjiso he felt his heart melt at the grief of an American mother, had not the sternness of purpose to persevere in his-task, of saving democracy on this continent. '' ' . "The other word for German efficiency is cruelty-. To be thorough, in the Gei'riian theory, is to be unfeeling.' The Kaiser, therefore,. was /gratified', that nine sons-jpf a German mother had died to preserve his 'autocracy'!' To him-.it was merely evidence that his system was still working, and ho congratulated himself. That is the meaning of his letter. It could' net convey any other, and be German." .•-.'.. . ■