far as this is the case, she bears her part of the guilt of having conjured up the present world calamity. In saying this, I am not thinking of Germany's consistent policy of formidable armament. For I fail to see how Germany could have afforded not to prepare for war, so long as she found herself surrounded by neighbors every one of them anxious to curb her rising power. What I am thinking of is a spirit of superciliousness which, as a very natural concomitant of a century of extraordinary achievement, has developed, especially during the last twenty-five years, in the ruling classes of Germany.

The manifestations of this spirit have been many and varied. In German domestic conditions, it has led to the growth of a capitalistic class as snobbish and overbearing as it is resourceful and intelligent, counteracting by its uncompromising Herrenmoral the good effect of the wise and provident social legislation inaugurated by Bismarck. It had led to excesses of military rule and to assertions of autocratic power which have embittered German party politics and have driven large numbers of Liberal voters into the Socialist ranks, as the only party consistently and unswervingly upholding Parliamentary rights. In Germany's foreign relations, it has led to a policy which was meant to be firm but had an appearance of arrogance and aggressiveness and easily aroused suspicion. Suspicion of Germany led to her isolation. And her isolation has finally brought on the war.

It should, however, be said that these excesses of German vitality, so skilfully used by anti-German writers to discredit Germany's position in the present conflict, have not, as is asserted, been a serious danger to the rest of the world. Rather have they been an element of weakness to Germany herself.

THE KAISER'S PROCLAMATION1

One year has elapsed since I was obliged to call to arms the German people. An unprecedented time of bloodshed has befallen Europe and the world.

Before God and history my conscience is clear. I did not will the war.

After preparations for a whole decade the coalition powers, to whom Germany had become too great, believed that the moment had come to humiliate the empire, which loyally stood by her Austro-Hungarian ally in a just cause, or to crush it in an overwhelming circle. No lust for conquest, as I already announced a year ago, has driven us into the war.

When in the days of August all able-bodied men were rushed to the colors and troops were marched into a defensive war, every German on earth felt, in accordance with the unanimous example of the Reichstag, that it was a fight for the highest good of the nation, its life, its freedom. What awaited us if the enemy force succeeded in determining the fate of our people and of Europe has been shown in the hardship endured by my dear province, East Prussia.

The consciousness that the fight was forced upon us accomplished miracles. Political conflict of opinion became silent; old opponents began to understand and esteem each other; the spirit of true comradeship governed the entire people.

Full of gratitude, we can say today that God was with us. The enemy armies who boasted that they would enter Berlin in a few months are with heavy blows driven back far east and west. Numberless battlefields in various parts of Europe, and naval battles off near and distant coasts, testify what German anger in self-defense and German strategy can do. No violation of international law by our enemies will be able to shake the economic foundation of our conduct of the war.

The communities of agriculture, industry, commerce, science, and technical art have endeavored to soften the stress of war. Appreciating the necessity of measures for the free intercourse of goods, and wholly devoted to the care of their brethren in the field, the population at home has strained all its energies to parry the common danger.

1 Manifesto issued by William II, Emperor of Germany, from army headquarters, on Sunday, August 1, 1915, the beginning of the second year of the struggle.

With deep gratitude the Fatherland today and always will remember its warriors-those who, defying death, show a bold front to the enemy; those who, wounded or ill, return; those, above all, who rest from battle on foreign soil or at the bottom of the sea. With mothers, widows, and orphans I feel grief for the beloved who have died for their Fatherland.

Internal strength and a unanimous national will in the spirit of the founders of the empire guarantee victory. The dikes they erected in anticipation that we once more should have to defend that which we gained in 1870 have defied the highest tide in the world's history.

After unexampled proofs of personal ability and national energy, I cherish the bright confidence that the German people, faithfully preserving the purification acquired through war, will vigorously proceed on the tried old ways and confidently enter the new.

Great trials make the nation reverent and firm of heart. In heroic action we suffer and work without wavering until peace comes; peace which offers us the necessary military and political economies and guarantees for a future which fulfils the conditions for the unhindered development of our producing energy at home and on the free seas.

Thus we shall emerge with honor from a war for Germany's right and freedom, however long the war may last, and be worthy of victory before God, who, we pray, may bless henceforth our arms.

THE GERMAN EMPEROR1

Contrary to American public opinion, there is nothing pompous, nothing even pretentious in the bearing of William II. The Emperor's manner was the opposite of the ostentatious; it was plain, straightforward and frank. One's first impression is that of a strong man who is also a pleasant, simple mannered gentleman, with an agreeable personality, charged with that engaging quality called magnetism.

One's second impression, following so quickly upon the first

1 From "What Is Back of the War," by Albert J. Beveridge. Copyright, 1915, by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, and reprinted here by permission of the publishers.

that the two were almost one, is that of immense vigor, abounding physical vitality and searchlight mental alertness. With it all, you are instantly put at your ease, although indeed the psychological atmosphere is not that of apprehension. There is in the Emperor's demeanor none of that stiff reserve with which so many public men cloak their own fear of themselves, not a vestige of that stilted manner so frequently used as a substitute for dignity.

His Majesty was within a little more than two weeks of his fifty-seventh birthday. He did not look older than his age suggests. The mustache was gray and the hair almost white; the gray-blue eye was clear, its expression intense and full of nervous force. I had been credibly informed that it is a mannerism of the Emperor to look at you piercingly for a space before speaking, but nothing of the kind occurred. The eye does have a penetrating quality but if this experience was a fair test, the staring stories are untrue.

The complexion was pale with a faint tinge of color; the lips were healthfully red. Under the eyes were wrinkles, but not more nor different than one sees on the faces of most active men of the Emperor's age. The features were not full, as shown by portraits of a year ago; still less were they haggard, as they appear in photographs taken soon after the war began. The face was lean, rugged, wholesome.

The voice was vibrant and strong, without the faintest trace or suggestion of weakness or nervous exhaustion. The step was firm, decided, but not over-rapid; and at no time was there the slightest indication of weariness. The carriage was erect, elastic, vigorous.

While physically as well as mentally the Emperor showed extraordinary animation, there was a calmness and steadiness that surprised because of the descriptions to the contrary so universally published in America.

Such was Wilhelm II, on the afternoon of January 11, 1915. Yet only a short time before I had read that he was broken down physically, that he was fatally ill, that he was a nervous wreck, and even that his mind was affected by the world catastrophe of which he is the central figure. I am, of course, not a medical observer; but from my youth I have seen hard worked men in every state from perfect fitness of body, nerve and mind, to a condition of physical exhaustion and nervous collapse.

From this experience in practical life, if I had to do with a man, as friend or foe, who looked, acted and talked as the German Emperor did on the occasion I have described, I should count such a man a powerful force, with physical resources unimpaired, with mental strength at its height.

The Emperor's personality is a composite of the engaging and impressive, the attractive and compelling. One instantly forgets the station he holds in one's interest in the man. The mind is brilliant and stored with an amazing fund of information on apparently every subject. His careful and extensive education, of which so much has been written, is evident; his trained intellect has explored surprisingly wide fields of knowledge. It is impossible to think of William II as ever being dull for an instant; and one cannot conceive of his being uninformed upon any matter of large statesmanship coming to his attention or likely to be brought before him. It is asserted by his admirers and sometimes conceded by his detractors, even in hostile countries, that the Emperor is the most thoroughly educated of all European statesmen.

Also, from personal contact one cannot honestly doubt the Emperor's sincerity. And the accounts of his deeply religious nature are so plainly true, that the impartial observer does not even question them. The impression of cleanliness in mind, character and conduct is irresistible and increasing. One cannot imagine this successor of the great Frederick as thinking basely himself, or tolerating it from another. One can conceive of his being impulsive, stern, dominant, aggressive, masterful, but never as being colorless, vapid, weak-kneed, hypocritical or cowardly.

And it was universally asserted in Germany by friend and former foe (for at this writing the Emperor has no opponents in his own country) that William II was devoted to peace above all things, except the safety of the German people. “There is no question that the Emperor did not want this war," said a German Socialist who in the past has bitterly opposed the Emperor and who even now agrees with William II only in carrying on the war until Germany wins. “I am fair enough," said he, "to concede that undoubtedly the Emperor's one great ambition was to close his reign without war. I believe that he wished to be known as the peace emperor."

In Germany itself, comparatively few, if any, can be found