THE KAISER.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13488, 9 January 1908, Page 3

THE KAISER.

V VERSATILE, INCANDESCENT AND .MAGNETIC MAN.

The Kaiser is every inch a King. l>ivesi' him of h>s ofiice and he would si ill b- one of the half dozen most considerable men ill his Empire. When the liril- ■ Ii editoia v:V>ited liennany last summer irite.-' a correspondent of the "Daily -Xews") they were brought into intimate contact with all the leadei-o of action and thought in that country, and 1 believe il is true to say that the Kaiser felt the sharpest and most vivid personal impression on the mind. Jt was the impression of enormous energy and mental alertness, of power, wavward anduncertain, but. fused with a •spark of genius, of a temperament of high i.ei vons force, quickly responsive lo cvciy emotional appeal. Hi.-> laugh is as careas a boy's, but you feel that it its laughter that may turn to lightning at a word.

The v. orl'l iii-tn:.-t« tli- artistic Kmp- l ament in man vln> thinks slom ly and .".cuivly and arts witli deliberation. Jt likoi a maJi

I,:.- : lii»ntul proce.----s ii, tau follow ;incl uiidcistaml. ;l man «>I tlie type of the lJi'ke of IK-voi rihiiv. volid. n: Ij.s 1 untia 1. ..nd not the least bit clover. There i-s tlie loot of the disquiet with vhii-h ilik Kaisri- has Ijivii rd;.-d lor Mv.-Mv v.iilo. Hi- is :i man of innoiis ;.i:d ini.in artist to his finger tips, wiisalile. and nn-n-iviii'4- H\- ktvps his audi- ntv in ;i s-Tai.e <•( ti.-ii.-»e <xpu<;ati'-n. Any ni'muni k fi-'lii. :■ ftpai 1: from this ir.caml. .sc-.-nl pers-jnaliiy may .h-jp into flu powder magazine. IK- mil r.f diamatie 1 fiii>l-v. of .sud-il.-M .ili.l .-hatt-ring '. lit ranee.-", of mysterious: exits. Hi- iiiovtn nmiilst alarums ami i.-x< «isioii. And whereever he goes, tho limeilglit- follows him. He will have no tivai n-.-iir tlw throne. Does the miglity (iiiutv of I'iMiiarek tuivu- to '.h>- lit-awns ;:j;d ,livid • the uowm? 'J'!-en H'-iuiarek in list .r„ l xl fk I<> the Melds- and woodlands-i a: l-"r?rdvieh.srhue. Ho will Wok no in-torf'-ioncc. tolerate ii" counselM,n talk of him in whispers in Oermanv or thev do not talk of him at all.. f.,r Vs- i-.iajtet- is thv cardinal sin. ami walls hav- and -slre-ls hav«- i;pi;"<. *1 he old KmiK.-1-or wa« lov:-d. 'I h-i at the l'.ilacc in Lierlin tlii-y .show you '.lie.

v.indow ut which I,® to sit in Jl»o morning to es* and be st*n bj tn~ crowd—an old - , familiar figure, human «:ul paternal, tlw lather of 1"= pci>P" • , ~ uramls-tm is al-,of ,m 01 vinpus and ssmls h:6 thunderbolts hurtling over the astonished pi-orfc. Bui though he does not ; ask foi a:faction, lie coiuuiundi) respect. Lite p,le'Xnire his character They are proud of his clean, vigorous life, of Jiss <lc\ oti > l to Jiin iainilv, of hi<> high ot duly to tlu- Fatherland. His life is a drama, thai, never grows humdrum. It keeps Urmii intellectually on ibe move- \> "atwill' lumpen "est with this amazing man • Xo one can b± more fascinating, -ttis smile is irresistuble. But if you are a bore, or if you are out of favoui, h«> lcok run-s you through like a sword. Hii (lueitio'.is are rapped out like musket chots. He do?s not listen to your answers. but plays with his doge. He is iwl aware of you. His actions arc swift and unexpected. The spur of the moment drives them. Hie telegram form is tlie symbol of his mental, prooeses. Impulse. imperious, dramatic, a militarist- from his cradle, a statisman trained in "the indirect, crooked ways of Bismarck, governed by one passion, the pass-ion to make his land great and powerful, how can wc- cast his horoscope! Is he a menace or a safeguard.' Let his past bs his witness. For twenty years he ha« had the l>eace of Europe in his keeping, and for twenty years not a German soldier has fallen in war. "We aw a military people," said a Minister to me in Berlin, "but wc are not a. warlike .people. It- is you who are warlike -without bsing militaty." And so we may r;ay of the Kaiser. ' He- is a militarist, but he is not ;t warrior.

He keeps his powder dry and his auuour bright. But he fitands for iwace — peace armed to the ttcth it is true; peace with 111'.- mailed fist ; but peace nevertheless.