KAISER'S STAY IN HOLLAND.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16433, 29 January 1919, Page 10

KAISER'S STAY IN HOLLAND.

"II ANXIETY. I K. ..LIED ACTION. (From the Special Correspondent of "Tho Times.'') TELE HAGUE, December ° The procession of events of the first magnitude moved so rapidly during November that no one has yet had timo to grasp them in anything like thoir true significance. When the Kaiser quietly slipped over the ' Netherlands frontier, the collapse of his empire, tho capitulation of his army, and the insurrection of his subjects, threw into the shade the comparatively minor matter of his ignoble desertion of those who wore still fighting for him in the field, aand his pusillanimous evasion from justice. His presence in Holland naturally caused a local sensation. How could it bo otherwise when for over four years the Dutch had been trembling in their shoes lest at> the nod of this awful potentate their little country should bo laid waste, as was that of their friend and neighbour, Belgium, by the fire and sword of the German ] biirbarians? I

Having lived in Holland during the v.-hole period of the war, I- have , liad innumerable opportunities of learning how ever-present to the minds of the Dutch has been this anxiety. At the beginning of the war the Dutch still felt ronfidence in their historic means of defence —opening dykes and flooding the country. As the war proceeded, however, they realised that longdistanco guns, and the enormous impetus given to aerial warfare had effected a radical change in conditions, while at one moment in particular, when the Kaiser thought it desirable to rattle his sabro at them, Holland was frostbound, so that flooding could not have been carried out effectually. Their desire to remain on good terms with so formidable a neighbour as AVilliain 11. therefore needs no elaborating. It is recorded at Alva that he said, "I have conquered a people of iron; shall I he afraid of a people of butter ?" It is the fate of the Kaiser, whoso armies in I Belgium have rivalled the brutality of Alva's, to seek sanctuary with "the people of butter" like any of tho hundreds of thousands of refugees whom I have seen fleeing before his. merciless I and brutal soldiery. When the Kaisev arrived at Maastricht lie was regarded by the countryfolk, with much the samo curiosity as ihey would have looked upon a ca.gcd lion in a; travelling menacerie. One Dutch lady wrote in a letter to a friend that her father called her early in the morning, saving. "The Kaiser's here, come and see him.' T She thought it a. joke, but finding it really true went to rod him. and then went home quietly to breakfast, _ after [ which-she again went to the station to have another look at fallen majesty. BIDING HIS TIME. How thp Kaiser made his inglorious progress from the irontier to Amerongeli is known. He is now biding his time in Amerongen Castle, where tho Kaiserin joined him last week. His suite of titled attendants has left for Germany, and he remains nominally a private individual enjoying the amenities of a charming residence in this charming Meantime the Dutch, who are* nothing if not a thoughful, reflective people,, aro asking themselves a few questions about' this amazing state of things. "A'few" is. perhaps an unhappy' exprossioi>—they aro asking many questions. I-conversed with many Dutch people arid did not find one who does not deplore these two unwelcome guests. Several have said to me that it was really too bad, after having managed to avoid international complications hitherto, that Hollandl should be involved in them at the very end of tho war oy the persons responsible for it and for all the misery it has brought upon the world. j On onb of the Kaiser's last visits to England I was present at the Guildhall when he publicly asserted—"History will do mo tho justice to admit that i I have ever been a friend of peace." Thau ' is not the judgment of history as represented by contemporary opinion in Holland. Moreover, the Kaiser is looked upon as one who brings ill-lucK ■wherever ho goes. It is remembered that he never visited liaigland without having some political axe-to grind, and that Ms visits were invariably followed) by England's being involved in. diplomatic difficulties witb other countries. The misfortunes which have overwhelmed everyone who trusted him —tho rulers of Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, to say nothing of his House and all the Princes of the German Empire—hxive given him a most unfortunate reputation, even among those who are nor. openly liis foes.' If he possessed tho evil eye he could not possibly b© more disliked or distrusted. Consequently the Ihitch are now very uneasy as to the result of his presence among them. AN INVETERATE INTRIGUER. All one hears of the Kaiser at Amerongen is that he cats and sleeps well, and takes a little gentio exercise in tno grounds, sometimes, indeed, going rather farther afield in his host's- motorcar. No one who knows "William, however, supposes that this, is the sum of his activities. No.one who remembers his restlessness, his ambition, his determination at all costs to occupy tha centre of the political stage, with tho limelight full upon him, imagines for a moment that ho has suddenly lost ;»-il these characteristics. Reports which reach here from other countiies make :t perfectly clear to the Dutch that his stay in Holland is resented abroad, and may easily bo productive of very disagreeable consequences, even without any overt or covert action on his' part. William 11., however, as everyone knows, is an inveterate' intriguer. he is intriguing at this very moment to repair his broken fortunes is as certain as anything can possibly be, short of tangible proofs. His hatred of England is ineradicable, yet it would surprise no one if he were found to be seeking a reconciliation with his enemies, whose destruction ho for four years endeavoured to compass by every means at his disposal. Evil though he is, he is still not without influence and friends. He is therefore still a dangerous man, and, what is more, a terribly compromising one. Most of the Dutch recognise this quite clearly—most, but. not *2fc all, though it will doubtless become clear to all in time.