The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1918. EXTRADITION OF THE KAISER.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVII, Issue 16704, 4 December 1918, Page 6

The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1918. EXTRADITION OF THE KAISER.

The unanimous decision of the War Cabinet to press Holland ; f or. extradition of the ex-Kaiser is assured of unanimous approval throughout the British Empire, and it will not- be less welcome to our Allies. President Wilson, who threw down the giige of "■'uo truce with the Hohenzollerns," is not likely to . object to it. The decision does not come as a sumrise after recent statements of the cables. It was reported a lew days ago that the Government's legal heads had ad< vised that the Allied Governments were entitled either jointly or individually to demand the exKaiser's surrender, with that of any and all persons who ordered or committed crimes covered by ore-war extradition treaties. It was made certain by !Mr Lloyd George's speech at "Except someone is made responsible for tlie war." said the British Premier, " which has taken millions of the best young' men of Europe, it will mean that there is one justice for the wretched criminal and another for kin.o-s and e inner or s. Whoever plotted the war outraged in tc}'notional law and humanity, and ouflit to be held responsible. We must see by action taken now, justly, fearlessly, and relentlessly, that this crime shall not be repeated in the history of the world." Mr Lloyd George's argumentthat arch-criminals of the war must not be suffered to escape while smaller assassins and plotters are brought before a just tribunal was incontrovertible, and fearlessness, it may be said, hardly enters into the question. Xo one. whose attitude is entitled to consideration, can. object to the Kaiser's extradition except Holland, where Count Bentinck lias been treating him as a guest- of honour, and tlie reasons for Holland's tolerance are not difficult to imagine. The Dutch Government has been said to take tlie '■iow that- tlie extradition laws do not apply to the case of the exTvaiscr, as Wiilielm is not a Dutch or Entente subject, but the Dutch Government has not ■officially expressed any view, so far as has been revealed, and till a request, which lias not. yet been: received, is formally made to it for the ex-Kaiser's surrender, its course will naturallv be that of expediency. The Dutch are a little nation, neighbours of a great and brutal one. If their neutrality on more than one question has been influenced by that consideration, they have more than usual excuse for caution in the present instance. They cannot know that i lie Kaiser, now ■ a fugitive, will not be the lord | and idol of Germany to-morrow. J. That being so. they may well consider that it- would be rash for them, of their own motion, to deny him hospitality, but probably their Government will be more relieved than otherwise to

get riil of AYilhelm, wlien they can say they «li<l so under the Allies' pressure. tiling is risked by their passive roie. It' tlie Allies want Wilhelm they can have him: even German lvoyalists would not expect Holland to resist the Allies. How the Germans feel towards tlieir late idol and destroyer is uncertain. Recent arrivals from Germany sneak of a ~>owinjr revulsion of feeling for him. and Tenort that fiftv per cent, of the returning: soldiers have not lost their love for the Holienzollerns. The tdot for their restoration ■which is to-dav reported seems to •have heen discovered anil ii">"ned in the hud too -"oniptly for the real extent of this f,. ( „l'"<" f 0 l>e shown hv it. l>ut Gei>era' "MaeTcpxsen is named as its leader, and "reHv reHainlv *t was e»»-r-onrnnpo/l ]> v t| ir > ,»v-T\ :l Kevins sinef his ! '« '"vn h-wl uninterrupted and unlimited p "- ••>liti"- for ion v'ih his friends in Germany. For that country Hohenzollern liave a double dansrer. first, that they may succeed aud second that the persistence of them even "when they fail mav assist the Bolsheviks to n-aiu control and make of Germany another Russia. One result would be as bad as the other, alike for Genuanv and for Europe. If the Kaiser's crimes did not present full reason for his extradition the Allies would have ample cause to demand his custody, and to dispose of h im. as a dano-er to the iieaee of Thirone. that his extradition has been resolved upon we should not he sumrised to hear of' TVilhelm throw'"'- himself on the -—Section of the Ignited States Tlmbacsv. and apoealini? to America for kind treatment r><= the ally he has iniured least. If he does so lie will mistake the character of }lr "Wilson.