GERMANY AND KRUGER

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1523, 28 February 1901, Page 61

GERMANY AND KRUGER

THE KAISER’S VIEWS. A German diplomatist of the highest rank defends the decision of the Kaiser to abstain from intervention in the quarrel between England and the Transvaal. The writer states, and of course he alone must be held responsible for his assertions, that on four different occasions since the. outbreak of the war the Emperor William endeavoured to ascertain whether any step on bis part corn'd put an end to it. Each time he obtained absolute proof that- one of the belligerents would not tolerate interference in any shape or form. Only a few weeks ago a diplomatist questioned Lord Salisbury on the subject, and when he inquired! what would be done if a foreign power insisted, was met- with a firm and dignified reply : “Her Majesty’s Government on its side would insist that it should not insist.” The plain truth, continues the writer, is this : “If one or several powers separately, or collectively, offered their good offices to England in a friendly manner, England would decline them in the same spirit. If the power, or powers, insisted, and raised their voices, England would mo bolts© lier fleet.” No one understood this better than the Kaiser, so when Count von Bulow was informed of Mr Kruger’s intention to proceed to Berlin, he had only a. very brief consultation with fib© Emperor William on the matter, as their views were identical. On that same evening a lady belonging to the court, and a warm pro-Boer, was chatting with some friends when the Emperor joined them. Mr Kruger’s name having been uttered, his Majesty announced his decision not to receive him, and added: “When a. horse has bolted, and is dashing down a street at headlong speed, there are three sets of people who adopt three different attitudes. Some rush to the horse’s head, and are inevitably trampled upon. Others content themselves with climbing on .something, and with waving their pocket-handkerchiefs, under the impression they will stop the horse. Lastly others, feeling that they are powerless, avert their gaze, and go on their way. Well, I do not see what right I have to hurl Germany at thehead of England, because it is not 1, but- the German Empire, that would be trampled underfoot. I should, on the other hand, deem- myself ridiculous if I were to climb on a- bench for the simple purpose of waving my pockethandkerchief, so- I proceed on my way.” A few days afterwards, seeing an extract from a foreign newspaper, in which it was said that if he only spoke the word England woukl stop the war and leave the Boers independent, the Kaiser exclaimed, with a shrug of liis shoulders and a. laugh : “It is not William 11. who would only have a word to utter. It, i.s God. . . If He would only send the whole of the British fleet to the bottom of the sea in one night.’’ Thus, at- least, does the writer explain the Kaiser’s views on the great question of the day.