Lese Majeste a Dead Letter.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 8, 24 February 1909, Page 9

Lese Majeste a Dead Letter.

GERMANY’S AMAZING SILENT REVOLUTION. (By A DIPLOMAT.) A week's sojourn in Berlin has convinced me that the Kaiser bubble has burst. William IL, who, for twenty years, has appeared to the world as a great and a heroic figure, has been reduced in the public eye to -his real dimensions. Far from being the strong, re-

solute ruler of indomitable will, he is revealed to his own country and to the world as an impulsive ousybody of excitable temperament and eccentric habits of speech.

The discovery of the truth about the Kaiser has been the most important feature of the political crisis through which Germany has just passed. For two decades the German Emperor has awed his own subjects into passive submission to his autocratic rule, and has figured in the eyes of other nations as the most wonderful monarch of modern times. All these illusions about the Kaiser have been swept away by the succession of amazing revelations about the Emperor’s own character and about the conditions prevalent at the Court of Berlin. The effect of the discovery of the truth about the Kaiser on the German nation has been remarkable in the highest degree. Germany has gone through a silent revolution during the last six weeks. Sixty millions of German subjects, who have hitherto bowed down and worshipped their imperial idol with an unquestioning belief in his semi-divin-ity, have suddenly realised that their sovereign is nothing more than a weak and erring mortal. The result of this awakening has been one great national outburst of lese-majeste. YESTERDAY. Hitherto, all residents in Germany have hesitated even to breathe the name of the august occupant of the throne for fear that the most harmless remarks about his personal character might be misunderstood ami misconstrued as criticisms or attacks. If, now an i then, one venturesome German generated enough courage to utter a disrespectful or critical remark about the Kaiser he invariably looked around him with nervous apprehension to make sure that none could overhear his treason, and then whispered his opinion on the Emperor’s doings or sayings with bated breath. - Men have been arrested in the street and indicted on a charge of lese-majeste for failing to doff their hats when the Kaiser’s motor-car dashed past at a reckless speed. In consequence of this protection of the Sovereign by a system of legal terrorism the Kaiser was generally mentioned as a higher" being. In the Reichstag the President of the Chamber promptly suppressed any critical reference to his Majesty, and deprived any Deputy who uttered a disrespectful word about the occupant of the throne of the right of speech. In all the provincial Diets of the individual States of the German Empire the same rigid restrictions were enforced on the. members. The newspapers never criticised the Kaiser, but always showered fulsome flattery on him. TO-DAY. All this has been changed during the last six weeks. Having discovered that William 11. is a rash and indiscreet man who has endangered the vital interests of his country by his reckless political eccentricities, the German people have broken away from the tradition of centuries, and are now indulging in astonishing criticisms of their imperial ruler. In the Federal Council of the Empire, where the opinions of the lesser German Sovereigns are voiced by their- chosen delegates, the Kaiser’s personal policy has been subjected to scatfiing attacks. The Krng of Saxony an 1 the K : ■<» of Wurtemberg have both declared that he must not be allowed to control German foreign policy without any check on his dangerous eccentricities. In the Reich stag, the Emperor’s reputation as a statesman and diplomat has bee-' fern to shreds, and thousands of German newspapers, have told their readers the •p’/iin. unvarnished truth about their monarch. The astonishing freedom with which Germans of all classes and ages abuse and criticise the Kaiser in public places without fear and without restraint, is a most surprising development in German national life. On all sides one hears the same bitter attacks, the same merciless criticism of the Kaiser's words and actions. People recall the fact that William If. was surrounded for tXarly twenty years by a group of perversely immoral courtiers who exploited him for their own purposes and erected a barrier between the Crown and the nation. They recall the many amazing inconsistencies of his policy—his sillv outbursts of temper and his open menaces to other countries.

TYPICAL STORY. One story of his irresponsible attitude towards the weightiest affairs of State is in circulation. When Herr von Posadowsky, a great statesman and social reformer, was Im|>erial Secretary of State for the Interior, his sagacious reports on the domestic affairs of the Empire always bored the Emperor, who sys-te"’o*ic-»li.- atte-'-pfed to evade the necessity of receiving this Minister in private audience. When, however, it was no longer possible to avoid seeing Herr von Posa-dow.-ky, the Kaiser introduced his pet Dachshund dogs to the audience-chamber. While the Secretary of State was reading a weighty report on some important matter eloselv affecting the welfare of the nation, the bored Kaiser drove his little dogs wildly about the room in such a wav that they rushed between the legs of the embarrassed Minister. When at last the embarrassment and confusion became so great that he could no longer continue his report, the Kaiser laughed with uncontrollable merriment r| I terminated the audience, glad to be relieved of a burdensome duty. Many similar stories of the Kaiser’s weaknesses and indiscretions are being repeated with great glee by his suddenly enlightened subjects. What is still more remarkable is the immunity which the critics now seem to enjoy. During this crisis there have been no prosecutions for lese-majeste. The inflamed state of public opinion would have made it dangerous to take any measures of repression. The silent revolution has been so effective that the established law of the land can no longer protect the Kaiser from the criticism of his subjects.