THE WEALTHY KAISER

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 52, 25 November 1926, Page 5

THE WEALTHY KAISER

LARGEST LAND-OWNER IN GER-

MANY.

t week of peculiar triumph for the Hohenzollerns, beginning with the fall of so great a man as General von Seekt over so insignificant a cause as the exCrown Prince’s son, has ended in the gift by the Prussian State of a very big fortune and nearly nil the properties dearly coveted as full of "tradition.” This is the result of the failure of the referendum on the entire confiscation of all royal properties, which caused so much excitement in Germany last spring, states a Berlin message to the London “Observer.” Each Federal State will now vote its own ex-royalties their dues. Prussia opens the list with fifteen million marks and the equivalent of 250,000 acres of land. This at once places the Hohenzollerns in the position of the largest land-owners in the whole German Reich. In their capacity of private citizens they will rank among the very wealthiest of German families. It is poor comfort, not only to the workers, but to the needy middle classes and families dispossessed of their pre-war fortunes by the fall of the mark, to reflect that three generations hence, with so large and prolific a family, the private means of the individual Hohenzollern will be negligible compared with what they are to-day. The fact, remains that to prevent another national upset the Social-Democrats in the Prussian Government agreed to abstain from voting against the measure. There is no danger of a Monarchist rising to-day. But Hohenzollerns,, living in peace and plenty, with money for propaganda in their pockets and several very presentable castles to live in, may in years to come be tempted to lend an ear to unwise counsellors and begin to, dream of power again. For this very reason the fact of their fighting for, and winning back, the historic palace of the old Emperor William, "Unter den Linden.” is a blow to all Republicans, even to tho=e who respect property and voted against complete confiscation. There is a clause in the agreement providing (hat the castle and park in Homburg shall be available for the ex-Kaiser's residence should he and his wife ever return to live in Germany.