Face to Face with Kaiserism

by James W. Gerard

"We extend to your Royal Highness our heartiest greeting as the illustrious guest of this country and the envoy of the wise and noble ruler of our Fatherland, whom the world recognises and respects as prince of peace and as the representative of a great and mighty nation that by its own power has united its people and achieved its present prominent position among nations of the earth.

"May the Almighty grant that the visit of your Royal Highness bear a rich fruit, that rulers and their people may join together and thereby promote peace, harmony and good-will throughout the world! May God grant this prayer!"

Everywhere the Prince went he was surrounded by German-American and German influences. In St. Louis, where the Prince spent about three and a half hours, the German-Americans gave him a great reception in the Grand Hall and lunch at the St. Louis Club which was attended by many Germans. In Chicago, a reception was given after the Mayor's banquet, in the First Regiment Armory, and attended by ten thousand Germans. The following day in Chicago he went to a large luncheon at the Germania Club. In Milwaukee the officers of the Deutscher Kriegebund gave a reception at the Exposition where ten thousand German-Americans cheered the Prince, and also a luncheon at the Hotel Pfister where many German-American officials were invited.

The speeches throughout had the same tone, those of the German-Americans expressing their respect for the Fatherland and those of the Prince spurring on loyalty in the hearts of the German-Americans. The Prince's speech in the Armory in Chicago is quite typical. In reply to a speech made by a German-American, the Prince said:

"You have left your Fatherland, but if you still have some love for the Fatherland then I ask you to give three cheers for the one who has sent me here as the representative of Prussia to bring this greeting—the German Emperor and King of Prussia."

In another speech which the Prince began with "Mr. Chairman and Fellow-Germans," he said: "I would like to say that the Germans in this country have done a great deal for the literature and science of this country and I hope they will continue in this good work." The whole attitude of the Prince seemed to be one of benevolence to his "Fellow-Germans" and personal interest in them. Wherever the Prince discovered a German wearing the Iron Cross in the crowd, he would ask an aide to bring the man up to him so that he could shake hands and converse with him.

Talking with Prince Henry one day before the war he told me he regretted that on his trip to America he had seen so little of the Americans. He said: "You know the Ambassador kept me always with the Germans and German Societies." I suppose the poor Prince did not himself know what was the real object of his visit. But undoubtedly his shrewd trip manager and the clever propagandists who accompanied him knew only too well.

It is hard to understand why any German-Americans should take sides with German autocracy. There are many merchants of Frankfort and Hamburg and Bremen and the great industrial towns of Germany who do not approve of the cruelties practised in this war and many of these will leave Germany as soon as peace is concluded.

Any one had a right to sympathise, to side with Germany, before our entrance into the war. But now what the lawyers call "the time of repentance" has gone by, there is no middle course and every citizen must declare himself American or be thought a traitor.

It is hard to understand what the pro-Germans in our country want. They left Germany because of a lack of opportunity there, because of their dislike for military service under Prussian conditions, because of the caste system which kept them under the heel of autocracy and because here every avenue of business, and social and political advancement is thrown wide open for them and their children. And I am quite sure that if one of these prosperous Germans were deprived of the money that he has won here, given back the rags and wooden shoes in which he landed and told that he was on his way to Germany, no wild animal in all the mountains and swamps of the United States would scratch and bite and kick and squawk more vigorously than he would. These German-Americans do not want to be sent back to their Kaiser and their fatherland!