The sun. [volume], November 02, 1913, FOURTH SECTION PICTORIAL MAGAZINE, Page 2, Image 32

About The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916

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THE SUN, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1913.
FEUD OF ECCENTRIC CROWN PRINCE AND
KAISER KEEPS GERMANY ANXIOUS
Is" ..Ik
Government Officials Are Becoming Worried Over Renewed Political Activities
ot Royal Frederick William All Germany Asking ' if He Is
Properly Equipped to Handle Delicate Problems of State
Should Fate Suddenly Make Him Emperor
WHAT would become nf the
peace of Kuropc If Frederick
William, the eccentric Crown
Prince of Germany, should
suddenly become Kmperor, the head of
the great German military urgnnlzn
tion? It la mu nl fen that rash Im
pulses and ill considered Jingoism
might easily plunge the country Into
war overnight.
Store and more anxious are Herman
Government officials over tile political
nctlvlttcH of their Prown I'rlnce. more
and more serious is becoming the ques
tiun: What manner of man is this who
may any day stand at the head of the
(lerman Kmpirc, the man on whom the
pence of all Kuropc depends? What is
the matter with Frederick William?
they ask. Is he really a hot headed
militarist or Is lie merely tactless mil
youthfully meddlesome in spite of his
thirty-one years?
Thoughtful Germans looking into
the future are puzzled and a little ap
prehensive, and many of them, not the
least of whom Is the young man's Im
perial father, wish that he might have
sat at the feet of his great-uncle, Kd
ward VII., and better learned the line
art of being an heir apparent.
With increasing force, the realization
Is borne in on Germany that her Prown
I'rlnce Is not the negative quantity she
has long considered him. With growing
frequency he is displaying positive
qualities entirely at variance with all
previous estimates of his character,
which during his youth was good na
turedly summed up In the words. "At
least there's no harm In him " Mis sen
sational Jingoistic demonstration over
tin- Morocco-Congo matter In the
Uelchstag two years ago. his recent In
terference In the troublesome Cumber
land affair and his frequent t.ictless and
seemingly deliberate Irritations of the
Kaiser have served as ee openers to
the German nation.
The German Kmpirc lias many dif
ficult problems before it, and any man
to deal with them adequately and main
tain the position of the country in
world politics must be equipped with
personal forcefulness,, tact and train
ing. The German Kmperor, whoever he
may be, must always have to deal with
the delicate Internal situation in the
empire, not the least disturbing feature
of which Is the growing power of tin
Socialist, he must also handle the
complicated political situation resulting
from Germany's carefully planned ex
pansion In the Near K.ist and In Africa
and her trade development in the Far
Kast, and tie must be prepared to up
hold his country's hardly won portion
as one of the greatest of the world
Powers.
William II. approached these duties
with a training in civil and military
administration obtained, while he was
still plain I'rlnce William, under the
personal guidance and supervision of
Prime Slsmarck. He was thoroughly
conversant with the empire's foreign af
fairs: he had had seasons of hard work
in the Prussian Ministry of the Interior,
in the War and Navy ministries, and he
was well Informed of the country's con
dition and Its needs In the departments
of railroads, commerce, agriculture, and
education.
In the Internal condition of the em
pire he has brought about u cohesion
which, while It has not yet become
wholly satisfactory, as is shown by the
Cumlierland feud, has et gone far to
allay the constantly recurring Jealousies
of the twenty-four rulers of the German
sovereign States. His skill in tho use
of social amenities in bringing this
about and his adroitness as a match
maker have worked wonders In this
tempestuous sen of internal politics.
His six sons have not been the least
of his assets in accomplishing this pur
pose, for three have been provided with
German wives and have thus strength
ened the ties of at least three ruling
houses.
Much of the prominence of Germany
In the last twenty-live years and her
steady commercial advancement has
been due to the brilliant personality of
William II. He has had Prime Minis
ters and Ministers of Foreign Affairs
of skill and capacity, but back of
their every project, and more
especially of their every accom
plishment, have been the keen mind
and the masterful hand of the Kaiser
himself, He has not always been diplo
matic: he has been guilty of occasional
"blazing Indiscretions"; he has more
than once deeply Irritated France and
England. Rut the fact remains that
for twenty-five years he has maintained
a delicately balanced peace and In the
sum total of his accomplishments in
this time his occasional failures of tact
have little significance.
To these great Imperial duties, of
such Importance that the whole world
asks the question, what equipment will
the man bring whom Fate may any day
summon to assume them?
In the matter of personality Fred
erick William has always shown him
self entirely lacking in the brilliancy
of his father, and even without the
humanly likeable attributes that make
for the general popularity of a prince,
and which are possessed In a large
degree by his brother, Kitel Fritz. Men
tally he has always been adjudged some
what slow and plodding, with an In
tellect scarcely above mediocrity and
without the quick perceptive faculties
that his father possesses. He has never
shown either taste or aptitude for otll
clal duties, while his recent unwelcome
injection of his own personality Into
politics lias been taken in olllclal circles
as an Indication of dangerous tactless
ness. In practical training the young man
Is virtually unprepared fur the great
responsibilities that are In store for him.
It Is for this reason that many Germans
are tolerant of his Indiscretions, at
tributing them to tho Inexperience of a
high spirited young man chafing under
the strong personal domination of his
father. Frederick William Is a well
drill) d anil enthusiastic soldier with a
practical knowledge of the service, but
beyond tills he does not go. There was
a great ileal nf talk at one time of his
undertaking actual work In the various
Ministries as a means of training In
governmental duties. Hut the young
man felt no enthusiasm for this kind of
Instruction and his enforced absence
from social and sporting activities was
very Irksome to hii wife and soon noth
ing more was heard of his keeping olllce
hours.
Hut it In not the Prince's Inexperience
in government affairs thnt has made
Germany grave. Such Inexperience lit
not unusual in heirs apparent and Is
not a menace to the future If it is com
bined with a well ordered mind and a
willingness to learn from constituted
authority. The utterances and activi
ties of Frederick William during the
past two years have not been of n char
acter to give this assurance. Hence
comes the newly awakened and wide
spread Interest in this young man In
whose untried hands enormous Influ
ence nnd authority will some day be
placed.
Frederick William's military career
began at the age of 10, when, according
to the Hohctizollcrn tradition of 180
years, he was commissioned a Second
Lieutenant of the crack Potsdam regi
ment, the First Foot Guards. Prior to
that time he had been drilled by a ser
geant major and since the age of 6 had
been under the constant training of a
tutor.
The Kaiser's sons all spent their
childhood n the simplest possible man
ner, sleeping together in one big room,
having their meals, lessons and sports
together. Hut at 6 the tit t tu Crown
Prince was taken away from the others
and given a suite to himself, where he
had his meals, his lesoons and his
meagre recreations apart from the
others. He grew up a strong, heilthy
youth, well ver.-ed In sports and eager
and enthusiastic over all military mat
ters. Ills military education was advanced
by four years spent at the great Acad
emy Ploeii 111 llolsteln, from where, tu
the eaily spring of HUM, when he was
20 years old, he went to Itonn, the tra
ditional university of the royal family.
There he took the regular matriculation
examination and was placed under the
care of Franz von ltottenberg, whose
wife, by the way, was an American,
Ml.-s Marian Phelps.
At Itonn the young man studied so
cial economy, administrative law and
the history of German Government in
stitutions. Ills record In these studies
was not distinguished, nor, Indeed, was
his university career especially coloiful
in any way. He was not popular with
his corps and student activities were
obviously uninteresting to him.
In view of later events It Is worth
noting that It was during his year at
Honn that the Prince tlrst aroused his
father's wrath to any serious extent.
Curiously enough, It was on account of
a drinking bout, a very unusual occur
rence, as It was well known that the
Prince found university drinking dis
tasteful. Uut on this occasion he was
"aid to have consumed something like
nine quarts of champagne and was
brought home to Berlin in an ambu
lance car.
During the three years that inter
vened between Ills stay at Honn nnd his
marriage most of the Crown Prince's
troubles with his father were due to his
susceptibilities. For the most part these
stories had to do with pretty actresses
and attractive American girls. None of
the affairs was serious, and in only one
was tile Interference of tile Kaiser to be
seen. In that case. It was said, official
means were called on to secure the re
turn of a historic ring which the badly
smitten Crown Prince had presented to
a young woman. For this, it was re
ported, he was obliged to undergo en
forced detention in his rooms for a
week.
Detention of this kind has been the
favorite If somewhat Ineffectual pun
ishment selected by the Kaiser for his
bothersome heir. So frequent did it be.
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come at one time thnt whenever the
Prince was absent from his usual
haunts the ordinary comment wns. "The
Kaiser has given him eight days again."
The marriage of the Crown Prince In
1904 put an end to dangerous possi
bilities In hotheaded love affairs. In
choosing a bride for his son William
made a brilliant move. The young
Duchess Cecilia was of u winning tem
perament, nnd charming personality,
and was so closely allied to the ruling
families nf Denmark, of Holland, of
Itussla and to the haughty and difficult
Cumberland family as greatly to
strengthen the Hohcnzollem connection
with each one. .
Cecilia was young, but she was shrewd
and level headed, with a keen realization
of the value of personal popularity, The
young couple were established ut the
'Marble Palace In Potsdam, with a win
ter residence In Filter den Linden. Im
mediately they began a regime of social
activity which endeared them to the
tradespeople of the capital, and injected
new and startling liveliness Into tho
dull and stodgy court circles of Berlin.
The birth of their sons strengthened
their position with the people, and for
several years they enjoyed a consider
able degree of popularity. They repre
sented the court at various Important
functions, coronation' and celebrations
of one kind and another, nnd gained
something of a reputation for brilliancy
in this Held of International Intercourse.
Hut In spite of his fondness for his
pretty daughter-in-law nnd his nffee
tlon for his young grandsons the Kaiser
was not altogether satisfied with con
ditions in the gay household In the
Marble Palace. He did not approve of
the lavish and costly entertainments
that followed each other In rapid suc
cession, nor did he approve of the over
whelming enthusiasm for spurt that
swallowed up every serious Interest,
and, but for his strict orders, would
have Interfered more than once wl h
olllclal duties.
This disapproval became so apparent
and the obliviousness of the princely
couple to It was so marked that It came j
as no surprise when the Prinre. ostcn-
slbly In th uirse of promotion, was
oniercu to join nis regiment, ine iamous
Death's Head Hussars, at Danzig.
The prince was furious and the Prin
cess dismayed. All her wiles were re
sorted to In order to obtain a mitigation
of the decree, but the Kaiser w.w Inex
orable, and to Danzig went the Prince,
angry and sullen and determined on
revenge. It Is to this spirit that many
of h:s subsequent exploits have been
attributed. He learned how to irritate
his father, and the whole thing soon
resolved itself into a vicious circle of
constantly deepening discord.
His first step In Danzig was to set
up the smallest possible establishment
nnd to do the entertaining required of
him In a painfully meagre manner. He
had been noted for his perfect dinners,
but at the first one tendered to the
officers of the Death's Head Hussars lie
served only the commonest German
dishes, Including a certain rather ap
palling kind of mutton hash called halts
mnnnskost, which the Kaiser always
made a great show of'eating at manceu
vres; a thick pea soup and ordinary
Dutch cheese. He carefully explained
the fare to his guests by saying that his
father wished him to live simply.
Although the Prince lost no oppor
tunity to do things calculated to annoy
his father it was not until November,
1111, when the famous Iteichstag in
cident occurred that a definite and open
breach between them existed. The
Iteichstag Incident was the Prince's
debut In politics, and it was not tame.
The Crown
For months Germany's position In
Morocco, culminating In the Agadlr
episode, had strained her relations with
France to the utmost. All the summer
Germany hnd been on the verge of war,
while In the country Itself party feeling
ran high and the whole situation was
tense In the extreme. At last after long
nnd delicate negotiations an ngreement
was drawn up by which Germany with
drew all pretensions to Morocco and
accepted Instead u sphere of Influence
In the Congo.
It was announced thnt Chancellor
von llethmann-Hollweg would present
the agreement In the Uelchstag on No
vember 0. To Berlin, driving half the
night In a racing car, hurried the Crown
Prince. When the Uelchstag assembled
every eye was drawn to the royal box,
where sat the Crown Prince In full
uniform, his brother, August William,
also in uniform, and the Crown Princess,
arrayed in a smart costume and a huge
led hat that Inevitably focussed at
tention. But the presence of the heir apparent
was more than ever noticeable as soon
as the speeches began. As the Chan
cellor presented the terms of the agree
ment he gave obvious signs of disap
proval, and when the speaker men
tioned the name of Dr. Llndqulst, who
resigned as Secretary of Colonial Affairs
rather than defend the Morocco-Congo
treaty, he leaned far out of the Imi and
applauded noisily.
When llerr Hydebrand. the Centrist,
made various allusions to Kuglnnd and
exclaimed, "Now we know where the
enemy Is'" he nodded violently and
nudged his brother W hen the same
speaker declared that "our peaceful
professions ale regarded abroad as a
sign nf weakness" ami "Germany's posi
tion In the world can only be safe
guarded by the Geiman sword" the
young man was vociferous in Ills ap
plause, keeping It up even after every
one else had subsided.
It wns a sensational and thiatric
demonstration, and it accomplished
more In that line than Its perpetrator
could have hoped for. The parental
wrath was naturally not long in de
scending. Before the chamber had ad
t. Chancellor nnd his wife
had been summoned to dinner at the
I palace and the Crown Prince nnd
Princess hail also been ordered to come
there to meet them.
Berlin was buzzing with excitement.
Practically nil the Moderate, Liberal and
Socialist newspapers condemned the In
cident, not only for Its lack of political
sagncliy but also for Its lack of taste,
once more tin; remark of the historian
Treitsehke was recalled, "Never In the
history of the Hohenzollerns have father
nnd son been able to agree." All sorts
of rumors were abroad as to the punish
ment to be meted out to the offender,
particularly after the story spread that
the Prince had communicated with two
of his brothers with a view to making
representations to the Kaiser disapprov
ing of the Chancellor's policy. This was
olllclally denied by the Crown Prince
Just as he was setting out for the din
ner where, It Is .reasonably certain, the
Kaiser forced him .to apologize to the
Chancellor he had during the afternoon
so grievously humiliated.
When the debate was continued the
next day the Crown I'rlnce was not
present. But In spite of all the otllclal
and the thoughtful disapproval heaped
on him the young man had the sym
pathy of the people in the street, who
felt thnt the treaty constituted a back
down to France, To them his Jingoistic
performance was sheer heroism, and
during the day and evening he was con
stantly cheered, first when he and his
wife made an ascent in the dirigible
Prince leading charge of the Crack
Schwaben and again
peared at the theatre.
when they
ap-
This was too much for the Kaiser,
and he promptly resorted to the In
evitable eight days detention, the sen
tence to begin nt once. The Prince left
for Danzig nt midnight.
Hussars.
WiMeBiWtiMr
Vim ' ? fcaPaWMy
Frederick William, Crown Prince of Germany
The Kmperor's public and semi-official
rebuke was expressed In an Inspired
telegram published in the Cologne On
zrttr as follows: "We believe It to be
the right and duty of the heir to the
throne to take nn Interest In politics.
He cannot be reproached for forming
&&jflmi
his own opinion even If It Is not c a
sonant with the Imperial policy. We
further do not desire that the Cr nn
Prince be prevented from expressing .
opinion in a fitting manner and pi
not, however. In the way chosen In
Iteichstag, the efTect of which was i .a
sldered extremely grave.
"It goes without question that '
episode and the press comments there
upon were reported to the Kmperor m
whom the absence of the Crown Prli.-e
at Friday's sitting was due, nnd t
whom Thursday's events and the i i
sideratlons Involved therein cannot
agreeable."
The Kmperor could not get over "
Uelchstag Incident and ho and his "
have communicated with each ' '
only formally since that time. In .l.m
ary, 1912, the Prince did his utm
without actually issuing a statemen '
make It clear that his behavior was n."
Intended as an antl-Brltlsh dcnionstr
Hon, hut wns meant to show his upp
sltlon only to certain features of r
German foreign policy.
But William was not to be placat 1
The following summer, on the occas.
of the army manonivres, the Prow
Prince had his regiment drawn up n ad
for the Kmperor. After a long wait tl
Kmperor finally sent nn aid to review
It. thereby deeply offending tho prince
Colonel, who complained bitterly and
publicly nf the treatment accorded him
That summer too friction between Uk
two was Increased by half a dozen Inc
dents. The Kaiser was annoyed by t
conduct of the Prince, who laid hlm
open to general censure by the pi
for his frequent nnd long continued
sences from his post nt Danzig.
cordlngly the Prince wns command) d '
abandon several big hunting pit'
which ho had projected and to I. i
tho frequency of his visits to Berlin
Immediately thereafter the Pi luce ai)
nounced that he would build a boat i
race against the Kmperor's at the r
regatta nt Kiel. Highly edllled tin- p'
lie looked forward to such a race, ki
Ing the discord that existed, as u sp.
Ing event of more than usual inter. -
i The Kaiser came back with an "M
forbidding tho entrance of the Piin
I boat in the class with his own and
ueriiiB mo young matt to remain w.
his regiment nt Danzig and not sh -himself
at Kiel. Furthermore, it v, .
rumored, seemingly on good nuthon".
that the young man was to rccciw
promotion In the service thnt would !
move him to Koenlgsberg, from wh
trips to Berlin would not be so cas '
make, '
At this point the Kalserln took a bar.'
in the quarrel and entreated her lun
band not to enforce the sentcme. whit .
amounted to banishment from tin' ca -tal.
She had the Crown Princes a I
the little grandsons come to I'oi-d u
on a visit to add their pleas to h
Oossip was rife In Berlin over the s
atlon, and the story was generally c i
Continued on Third Pal"'