Part 11 (2/2)
April 27, 1893. [5]
The wisdom of the nations is now enriched with a new proverb, ”A rolling Emperor gathers moss, and gathers nothing more.” Before long the tumult and the shouting of the fetes at Rome will die down, and with them the popular excitement of enthusiasm for the all-powerful German Emperor. The Italian people will then find itself confronted by the exhaustion imposed upon it by the compulsory militarism of the so-called pacific Triple Alliance. Even if cavalcades, reviews and tournays, should awaken again in the heart of the Roman people that love of the circus, which this people has inspired in all the latinised races, the economic question still remains, the question of money and of bread, implacable. I know not why it is, but the brilliancy of William II's visit to Italy gives me the impression of a fire of straw.
What object had he in going there, and what has he attained? I can see none. All his fervent protestations appear to me in bad taste, when compared with the correct dignity of the Court of Austria, third of the Allied Powers.
May 12, 1893. [6]
How can our German Caesar, who has just made a journey to Rome after the manner of Barbarossa, continue to suffer an a.s.sembly of talkers, of political commercial travellers, of people who allow their minds to be dominated by the vulgar thing called economics? It is not possible, and therefore Caesar calls to witness the first Military Staff that he comes across at the Tempelhof and makes it judge of the matter. ”I have had to order the dissolution of the Reichstag,” says William to his officers and generals, ”and I trust that the new Parliament will sanction the re-organisation of the Army. But if this hope should not be realised, I fully intend to leave no stone unturned to attain the end which I desire. No stone unturned, gentlemen, and you understand, I hope, that it is to you that I am speaking, and you who are concerned. You are the defenders of the past, and of the prerogatives of the Imperial and Royal Power.”
If the new Reichstag meets in the same spirit of resistance to the excesses of Prussian militarism, William II will be condemned to const.i.tutional government and then, little by little, to the surrender of everything that he believes to be his proper attributes, and of all his tastes. No further possibility then of an offensive war, to escape from domestic difficulties; no more parades with the past riding behind him; no more finding a way out by some sudden headlong move, for he would drag behind him only a people convinced against its will and too late. The only thing then left to the King of Prussia, face to face with a new majority opposed to militarism, would be the dangerous resource of a _coup d'etat_.
Dr. Lieber, an influential deputy, has defined the actual situation with a clearness which leaves nothing to be desired--
”We perceive,” he said, ”that the Prussian principle of government is developing more and more, and tending to become the idea of the German Empire. The policy to be pursued in the German Parliament should be purely German.”
The dilemma is clear. Will Germany continue to become Prussianised or will she remain German? If she is Prussian, that is to say, militarist, socialism will grow and increase; if she is German, the development and expansion of her political and social organism, having free play, will come about normally and surely. Therefore, the solidity of German unity should consist in resistance to Prussianism or militarism, to William II, and to the past. On the other hand, submission of the old Confederation to Prussia must inevitably lead to disintegration.
May 29, 1893. [7]
William II has told us, on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of William I at Gorlitz, that the question which brought about the dissolution of the Reichstag, that like which confronts the impending election, is that of the Military Bill, and that this question dominates all others.
”That which the Emperor, William I, has won, I will uphold,” says the present Emperor; ”we must a.s.sure the future of the Fatherland. In order to attain this object, the military strength of the country must be increased and fortified, and I have asked the nation to supply the necessary means. Confronted by this grave question, on which the very existence of the country depends, all others are relegated to the background.”
Should we conclude, with the _Frankfurter Zeitung_, that ”that which oppresses our minds in this struggle is the reflection, that no possible benefit is to be attained through victory, nor any remedy for defeat”?
Will Germany yield, or will she resist the will of the Emperor thus clearly expressed? Herein lies a question which, in one way or another, must have the gravest consequences.
July 1, 1893. [8]
One day, on the occasion of a first performance of a play called ”Cadio,” by George Sand, I was with a woman, my best friend, in the wings of the theatre, Porte-Saint-Martin. I saw Melingue stamping on the floor with his feet and jumping and twisting about, and upon my asking him what was the meaning of these extraordinary antics, he replied; ”It is because, when I come upon the scene, I am supposed to have galloped several miles on horseback and it would not do for me, therefore, to present the appearance of a gentleman who has just come out of a room or from the garden.” I do not quite know why I should have remembered this far-off incident on learning that the German Emperor, King of Prussia, had come on horseback from Potsdam to open the new Reichstag. As a comedian, William II does not follow the methods of Melingue. He rides, in order to present a calmer appearance at his entry upon the scene. Clad in the uniform of a Hussar, he read the speech from the throne with an evangelical mildness. He was playing the part of a soldier-clergyman. The soldier said--
”My august allies agree with my conviction that the Empire, in view of the development of military inst.i.tutions by other Powers, can no longer delay to give to its armed forces such increase as shall guarantee the security of its future.”
The clergyman had upon his lips the honey of promises of concessions, and he concluded with these words, added to the speech from the throne--
”And now, gentlemen, may the Lord grant His blessing to every one of us, for the successful issue of a meritorious work in the interests of our country. Amen!”
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