The Kaiser.

Taihape Daily Times, 14 November 1918, Page 5

The Kaiser.

KAISER INTERNED IN HOLLAND

intendeu-to SURRENDER TO

BRITISH.

NEW YORK, November 12

The Kaiser is reported to be interned in Holland. He was en route to surrender to the British when the revolutionaries headed him off, Ex-Priesident Taft, interviewed,said that the Kaiser may be extradited from Holland by the Allies in order to punish him for his crimes committed against humanity. International law permits such extraditions, and It is probable that Holland will surrender Wiihelm.

A London message states that Hindenburg and the general staff accompanied the Kaiser to Holland, Ten automobiles carried tbe fugitives, all being armed.

HOLLAND UNEASY.

DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH HIM.

LONDON, November 13

The Daily Telegraph’s Amsterdam correspondent states that the Kaiser’s arrival caused great excitement in Holland and much uneasiness to the authorities and the general public. Many think the Kaiser ■ and Crown Prince should be sent back or interned as German soldiers. The motor cars evidently chose the tortuous Limberg route, where the frontier guards are far apart, thus escaping being challenged. The Kaiser reached Holland at 11 on Sunday morning. Count Bentinck, at whose castle he is staying, is a Dutch subject. He has taken no part in the war. though an honorary Prussian cavalry captain. He has long been a close friend of the Hohenzollern family. HIS STAY PROVISIONAL Received 11.5. AMSTERDAM, November 13. It is officially announced that the Kaiser arrived in Holland. Representatives.of the Dutch Foreign'Ministry proceeded to Maestricht to discuss provisional arrangements for his stay pending a final decision on the subject. . RECEIVING THE KAISER. AN UNFRIENDLY ACT. Received 11.5 LONDON, November 13. The Standard hears that it is likely the Allied Governments will jointly inform Holland they "regard the asyluming of the Hohenzollerns as an unfriendly act.

HOUSE OF HOHENSOLLERN

■ . REIGN OF THE EX-KAISER. THIRTY YEARS ON THRONE. Wilhelm TL, who was born on January 27, 1859. became German Emperperor and King of Prussia on June 15, 1888. He had therefore reigned just over 30 years. He is the eldest son of Friedrich 111. On February 27, 1881 he married Princess Victoria of Schles-wig-Holstein, daughter of the late Duke Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein. Their children are:—The Crown Prince Freidrich Wilhelm f born May 6, 1882; Prince Wilhelm Eitel-Friedrich, born July July, 1884; Prince August Wilhelm, born. January born July 27, 1888; Prince Joachim, born December 17, 1890; and Princess Victoria Louise, born September 13. 1892. It is evident from the time he ascended the throne that Wilhelm 11, intended to take more than an academic interest in his new position. Prince Bismarck was the last person to realise however, though a few skirmishes with the young monarch ought to have warned him. On March 18, 1890, the world was startled by the news that Prince Bismarck had resigned. Everybody knew why, and Punch summed up popular feeling when it issued the now historic cartoon, “ Dropping the Pilot/ ’ The picture of the aged pilot leaving the ship while the new captain watched his departure with a sort of grim pleasure was quite the best comment on the extraordinary incident. Wilhelm had seen that Bismarck was the one man who stood between him and the accomplishment of his wishes, and, therefore, the Iron Chancellor, was the first victim of the mailed fist. Soon after his accession the ex-Em-peror started a tour of European courts that proved to be the most warlike of “ friendly’ ’ visits history recalls Less than three months after his accession he went to see the Tsar at Peterhof; then Copenhagen, Stockholm, Vienna, and Naples were visited. The rest of the world waited and wondered what the result of this burst of activity. would bring in its train ? but any fears they might have possessed were groundless, land when a little later he went to England ho -was received with enthusiasm. His tour with

tlio ex-Empress in 1898 was a journey during which the acts of Royalty, all the trappings of pomp and were employed to lend dignity to the great procession to the reputed Tomb of Christ.

The Sultan of Turkey received the Royal couple with the sort of feeling that must animate a mouse when in-, terviewiug two cats, but the ex-Kaiser was geniality itself, and the Sick Man of Europe recovered for a time. The war-lord was one of the best diplomatists —when he wished to be diplomatic. He was seen in his character of “War Lord” when addressing recruits. Some years ago he created one of his sensations by a speech in which he told his soldiers that if he asked them to shoot their own fathers and mothers they would be bound by tbeir oath to obey that command. But all his military addresses were couched in the same strain. Patriotism he interpreted as implicit obedience to himself. He is, or used to be, a firm believer in the divine right of kings—hence the vindictiveness with which he punished lese majeste. In the years immediately preceding the war the ex-Kaiser was troubled by the growing power of the social democrats. The astounding progress of this party amazed, enraged, and distressed him by turns. He knew that when his own personality was removed Germany’s danger would be internal. Often in the days of peace he was denounced as a firebrand, the disturber of peace, and as a general intriguer. On the very afternoon of the day when, he succeeded his father a message was cabled to an American paper to the effect that the young emperor “would die in his boots," so strong was the idea amongst some foreign publicists that his thirst for war and his ambition for martial laurels I would soon cover Europe with a sea of blood and carnage. 1