The Daily News. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1918. HOHENZOLLERN COWARD ICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 December 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1918. HOHENZOLLERN COWARD ICE.

As soon as .1 bully is beaten be becomes a coward. No greater bully ever existed than tin; ex-Kaiser, and now that be is decisively defeated at his own game, both lie and the Crown Prince have shown their cowardice, meanness and falsity. Wilhelm now declines to accept responsibility for the \var : and, like a desperate criminal bereft of all morality, be seeks to place the blame 011 BeiliiuannHo.'lweg (ex-Chancellor) and' von Jagow (ex-Foreign Minister). He alludes to the fact that he was ab- | sent in Norway at the time. This absurd excuse has already been disposed of. He went on the trip on purpose to hoodwink the Entente Powers, and escape from the crime being fastened on him, but the world knows of this cunning scheme and its object—that his war lords and Ministers might carry through the villainous policy of attacking Servia, dealing Russia another blow and enhancing German prestige. The German military clique wanted war; "Wilhelm (the head of the clique) wanted war; and between them they brought upon humanity the most appalling catastrophe of all ages. The ex-Crown Prince is a true son of his father. He, too, said, "Contrary to all statements made abroad, I never desired war," but Mr. Gerard has made public the fact that in conversation Avith an American lady this scion of the once mighty House of Hohenzollern quite frankly asserted that if his father did not make war he (the Crown Princel would when he came to the throne, "Just for the fun of the thing." A personage who "boas/s of royal blood, and yet makes such an infamous assertion, is outside the pale of civilisation. Again, he has stated that he was convinced Germany had lost the war in 1914; yet this same essence of incompetence, in the last days of August, said: "We speak of victory, and the end will come through the enemy perceiving that the "colossal stake is not equal to the winnings, and that they cannot win as- much as they are bound to lose." From this assertion it is perfectly clear that Germany was out to win all she could, but to attribute that aim to the Entente Powers was to betray the most consummate ignorance that ever possessed mortal man. The Allies were fighting for freedom, justice and peace, none of which could be obtained until Prussian militarism was defeated. Is it any wonder that the Germans—especially the military clique—are so loathed and despised throughout the world? About two years ago the German Socialist journal Yorwaerts soberly declared: "In the eyes of the majority of the white and yellow races of the Globe Germany is regarded as the tyrannical and despotic conqueror, and her enemies are considered liberators. As the result of the Russian revolution and the American declaration of war this tempest of world opinion has assumed the proportions of a hurricane." To-day the author of that assertion might well be prone to say that the tempest of world opinion had become a tornado, which had swept the tyrannical and despotic conqueror and his fellow conspirators and abettors into exile; had brought Germany to her knees and compelled her people to take off their hats to the Allies' colors; had impounded her warships and submarines ; and was about to dictate just and humiliating terms of peace, while the feeling against the Germans as a people was one ()T detestation and contempt, and before they can again be'received into amicable relationship the barbarous and shameless spirit which dominated them and their actions must be cast forth or eliminated by the furnace of affliction. Great as have been the sacrifices made by the Allies, they have achieved their aini by a victory which alone could make it possible to rid the world of great armies, great navies and costly armaments intended for aggression and ,the paltering to,a lust for,power and dominance. Christian,civilisation can; and should,: now assert itself and lender impossible a recurrence of such' a world disaster as the last four years has witnessed. The end has eb'frre with dram&tic* Suddenness. It is but little more than two months since Bulgaria led the ivay in deserting the ship of panGerman ambition, and we have only to look at what has transpired —and is still transpiring—in Austria, Hungary, Germany. Bulgaria and Turkey in order to see"that the day of reckoning has arrived. Germany has fallen as she deserved to fall, and she carries the brand of Cain on her forehead. All her cunning, falsity, barbarity, scheming, intrigue and arrogant; presumption have left her a pariah among the nations. She and her people are to-day isolated and ostracised, and her .pledged word is regarded with abhorrence. No whitewash that can ever be made will suffice to hide the black hide-

ousness of her duplicity. "What time will do is hard to say, but her repentance will have to bear the hallmark of sincerity ere the 'Germans can again look honest men in the face without a flush of shame. As for the Kaiser and the rest of the brood, there is only one way of dealing with them., and that is to try and hang them for their colossal crimes.

A PROGRESSIVE STEP. The passing; of the New Plymouth Harbor Board Empowering Bill is a matter of great importance to the district, as it will onably the board, after the necessary poll of ratepayers is carried, to proceed with tiie proposed important scheme of development. The Bill has been somewhat altered by cutting out of the rating district that part of South Taranaki at present served by the port of Patca, this being necessary in order to facilitate the passing of the measure this session. This means that the hostile portions of the harbor district are now eliminated, and the success of the poll thereby assured. The latter is a distinct gain, though it entails some reduction in the security to be offered lenders for the desired loan. Whilst at present the Waimatc Plains relies yery largely on the port of Patea, there i 3 no doubt that in the near future it will utilise New Plymouth for its direct imports and also for its exports, for the sufficient reason that it will pay it to do so. Quite an appreciable proportion of our exports are already being taken by direct boats, but when the improvements contemplated are carried out—even before they are completed—there la every reason to believe that New Plymouth as a port -will be second in importance only to the metropolitan centres. During the next few years there is bound to be important developments in Taranaki, for there is still tremendous scope for settlement and intenser farming of the settled lands, and a harbor able to berth the largest overseas vessels in all weathers and at all tides must play an everincreasing part in the province's advancement and prosperity. Reference was made in Saturday's debate to the wasteful methods of some of tho New Zealand harbor boards. No doubt there is justification for the complaint, as instances are not wanting where hundreds o/ thousands of good money has been wasted by harbor boards—a waste that is still going on, and calls for remedy. But every pound spent on Taranaki's ocean pprt has proved-and must continue to prove-a splendid investment. It would be interesting to know what the port is at present saving the people ■of Taranaki, but the sum must run into several thousands of pounds. A prominent Taranaki business man not long ago declared that the port, as a business investment, was worth paying £SOOO a year in rates for. Be that so or not, there can be no question the harbor improvements designed by Mr. Blah- Mason, and for the authorisation of which tlw Bill was put through Parliament, are going to prove of enormous advantage to the whole of Taranaki, and incidentally convert the town of New Plymouth into one or the most important centres of the Dominion.