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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 1917)
THE-3IORXIXG OREGOXIAX, FRIDAY. OCTOBER 19. 1917. m- ..V IVIQRGENTHAU BARES KAISER'S WAR PLOT Hostilities Decided on at Con ference in Berlin July 14, According to Participants. AUSTRIA PARTY TO PLANS EX-AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY FROM UNITED STATES, WHO TELLS OF GERMANY'S PLANS FOR WORLD CONQUEST. Germany Dubbed I. W. AY. of Na tions, Always Sowing: Dissent to Weaken Rivals "Witli Ultimate View of Domination. t 'Continued From First Pa. military machine into operation. Kadi was asked if he was ready for war. All replied in the affirmative except the financiers, who insisted that they must have two weeks in which to sell foreign securities and arrange their loans. jt the time this conference was held, nobody outside the inner circles of the Rerlin and Vienna governments dreamed of war as a result of the Sara jevo . assassinations. They took good care that no suspicion should be aroused. The Kaiser -went straightway to Norway on his yacht. The Chancel lor left Berlin for a rest. The'diplomatic corps had no intima tion of the impending calamity, and the British Ambassador went away, leaving the embassy to the Charge iAffaires. The some drug was used in Vienna, and, even when the .blow fell The Russian Ambassador was ab sent from his post on vacation. As the British White Book shows, it "Was not until July 2 that Sir Kdward rcy. the British .Secretary of State for foreign Affairs, asked the German Ambassador in London whether he had any news of what was going on in Vi enna in regard to Serbin. Many days before the British Foreign Secretary asked this question war had been for mally decided upon in Berlin and Vi enna and everything was being made ready to raise the curtain upon, the most ghastly drama of history. Mnrket of World Raided. From the date of this conference the German financiers were busy with their Vert, -while the army marked time. All the great stock exchanges experienced nn acute financial depression as German-owned stocks were quietly pushed into the market. In New York, as I found afterward, there were astonish ing slumps- in quotations. Between .luly 10 and July 25, which was two days befor the ultimatum, was sent to Ser bia, Vnion PaHfic dropped from li44 to 1254, Baltimore & Ohio went from S04 to 78U. and Knited States Steel slumped with the railroad stocks. No adequate explanation was of fered, and in the .absence of anything better there were bitter' complaints against the Simmons-Underwood tariff as the source of all economic evil. The tariff had as little to do with it as the. J'ederal Reserve act. which was not yet euacted into law. There were financial iepresion and a. general decline in juarket quotations because the German financiers were carrying out their part of the .Kaiser's war plans. It was not to me alone that' Baron TVangenheim told the story of this Berlin conference. Only recently the Marquis Garroni, the Italian Ambassa dor at Constantinople, announced that Baron W'angenheim said the same thing to him, Italy at that time being a. mem ber of the Triple Alliance. My Jiiary shows that the conversation with the German Ambassador took place on Au gust ti. This was about six weeks after the fateful council in Berlin in which the Kaiser gave civilization over to fire and sword, and all the de tails of the meeting were, still fresh In Baron Wan gen helm's mind. Plot 2 Tears In Hatching. The decision for war which the Aus trian Emperor had confidrd to his Am bassador to Turkey in May. and which the Kaiser fully revealed to bis lieu tenants in July, was the culmination of plans that had been under way for -5 year. Just as Bismarck had plot ted and contrived to unite the German tate? by war and to crealo an empire Nomina td by Prussia, so the Kaiser bad brooded over hid own dream of iia k iug Germany the master state of the world. Throughout all his policies for a quarter of a century runs this W'elt- jnacht motif, like th motif of a Wag- ( ncrian opera. Jhveryttung that was done or left undone had its inspiration in this single purpose. Year in and ear out the Kaiser brooded over this ambition, in whieTi he was the central figure of a stupendous moving picture, directing and controlling the destinies of the world. When he rama to the throne he found a mighty military machine al ready constructed for his use. It was not enough. It was necessary to cre ate a mighty industrial, financial and l ransportation machine as well, and to build a navy that could mobilixe thi power for use anywhere on the globe. The Kiel Canal was a war measure. Government aid to German industries whs a war measure. Government regu lation and sti inula tiou of ag riculture was a war measure. The German rail road systems wore developed with an eye single to moving vast armies to the east and the west. Everything that could contribute to the winning of a war was encouraged by t he govern ment. Krupp's was made almost a na tional institution under the personal patronage of the Kaiser, who, by the way, was one of its stockholders. Kxperta Head Departments. Just as the army was in charge of military experts, so German finance. German industry. German agriculture and German administration were all turned over to experts. It was a nation of experts with boundless ambition and infinite arrogance, but with the nar row vision of experts. To create this new war machine the Kaiser made Germany a great materi alistic empire. He foand a disciplined and docile people, and he proceeded to mould them- to his new scheme of world domination. Everything that was characteristic of the old Germany t lie Germany -of MS was eventually smothered and stifled. The old idealism, the old philosophy, the old religion, the old freedom and passion for education all disappeared. The state, the church, the schools, the universities, art, literature and music were shaped to the Kaiser's will as the army, the navy, the finances, the industries and agriculture were shaped. The Kaiser became the head of a new Prussian system erected upon the foundations of the system that Fred erick the Great had created out of his genius, and war remained as ever the chief industry of Prussia. In pursuance of the war plans of the Kaiser and the Pan-Germans who in spired him and probably used him as the agent of their ambitions, the world was besieged by armies of Prussian spies, advancing Prussian interests and doing Prussia's work everywhere. Not a nation escaped this infamous inva sion. The Kaiser's brother. Prince Henry, was sent to the United States ostensibly - to assist. in the launching of the.im- f , . : v - i -ti V t J? S-.v , - - ?f, -x . i ' -r. ' I ! HEXRY MO RCEXTHAC -52- r rhoto by Underwood. perial yacht, in reality to rekindle among Americans of German descent their vaterland's liebe and organize them into German societies that could be directed from Berlin to suit the ex igencies of the imperial policy. At least 80,000 Germans were turned loose upon Spain, and probably a quar ter of a. million upon England. France was overrun with them. There was no occupation, calling or Industry in which they did not make their way. They swarmed over South America, over the Near East and the Far East, and all of them-were card indexed for the uses of Berlin. Nothing was overlooked. Nothing is more characteristic of the Prussian methods than the manner in which they obtained possession of Tur key. .After a Sultan was deposed the Young Turks were in hard straits to maintain themselves. Throughout the Moslem world they were generally -under suspicion as Freemasons and athe ists. The European capitals were gen erally skeptical. In England a liberal government Was in power and it was not disposed to take on any Turkish complications. ...... The Turks, as a whole, were distrust ful of the Frenc h because of Syria and frankly antagonistic to Russia. That was Germany's .opportunity. German military experts were sent to explain to the -Turks how their disasters had come about in the two Balkan wars and how similar disasters might be avoided in the future by proper co-ordination of military and transportation resources. Germany was willing to spend money in gambling that the Young Turks oould retain control of the government and the Young Turks were glad to be gambled on. Turkish Affairs Dominated. PI owl y but rurcly Germany pushed itself into Turkish affairs until it be came the predominating partner. Ber lin had made itself indispensable to the men in control of the Turkish gov ernment, and when the war came Tur key was a German pawn. The Turks did not always submit gracefully. There wero many protests against German pretensions, but in the end the Kaiser always prevailed. It bad not been the original intention of Ber lin to bring Turkey into the war Germany had other plans but the ar rival of the Goeben and the Breslau in the Dardanelles changed the situation. There was no desire on the part of the Young Turks to enter upon a fresh war, but by that time they were help lessly enmeshed in the German net. So completely was the German gov ernment the master of the situation that even after Turkey's entrance in the war became inevitable the Turkish govern me nt was held back until the Germans had completed one of the most powerful wireless stations in the world with which to direct operations from Constantinople and had brought in the necessary guns- and ammunition through Roumania. Turkey was vital to Pan-Germanism. It was an essential part of the Mitteleuropa programme, and when the Kaiser was ready to strike, Turkey was already a vassal of Germany to be used as Berlin saw fit, either neutral or belligerent, but always in Germany's Interest. It came about that most of Ger many's carefully laid schemes in .other countries went wrong and the money invested turned out to be a total loss, but the Turkish investment paid divi dends from the start. In respect to Tur key alone were the German calculations correct, and without the control of Turkey Germany could not have car ried on the war. for Turkey not only kept 1,000.000 allied troops occupied around the Dardanelles, in the Cau sasus. Asia Minor and Egypt, but pre vented a flank movement against Aus tria. For 20 years Germany has been the I. W. .W. of nations. Wherever there was trouble the' "Kaiser was there add ing to the difficulties of a peaceful settlement and watching for his oppor tunity to set tho war machine in oper ation. The German policy resembles noth ing else so much as the policy of the L W. W. leaders in hastening to every town in which there were labor dis putes to take charge of the strike en courage lawlessness, promote sabotage and preach the doctrine of rule or ruin. KaWer Sides With Spain. In the Spanish-American War the Kaiser was notoriously on the Bide of Spain, in the belief that Spain could humble the pride of the I'nited States. In the South African War he was all for Kruger and tho Boers, in the hope that England would be beaten and her prestige in Africa and Asia forever weakened, lie intrigued with the Czar against Japan. Ho intrigued in every South American country against the United States. Baron lshii, the head of the Japan ese commission to the United States, has publicly declared in his speeches that the anti-American agitation in Japan and the ant i-Japanese agita tion in the United States, which have so menaced the relations between the two countries for a dozen years, were the result of German plots, and no body now doubts the truth of this charge. It explains what was hitherto tin explainable, just as the German con spiracies in Mexico enable us to un derstand why Mexico distrusted the United States in the face of the most overwhelming evidence of wholly be nevolent intentions on our part. Much of this intrigue may appear to have been almost purposeless in its malice so far as the Interests of Ger many were concerned, but the Kaiser was always looking ahead to the day when the imperia I war eagles would be unloosed, .and the more interna tional misunderstandings there were, the more certain Germany would be of success in carrying out its pro gramme of world domination. Irish Agitation Stirred I p. The attitude of Germany toward the nations in general was not unlike its attitude toward the Irish question Just before the beginning of the war. Both factions in Ireland were supplied with guns and ammunition from Germany brought over In German ships. Berlin cared nothing for Home Rule or for Ulster's objections to Home Rule, but it cafed a great deal for a civil war in Ireland that would cripple Great Britain's hands when the great day dawned and the new Attlla set forth at the head of his hordes. As I have already said, it was not by accident that t he war came, and it was not by chance that it came in 191-1. In all his calculations the Kai ser had overlooked one factor that of human nature. He had not per ceived that his own people might fail him In the critical moment and that the control of the great machine which he had constructed might be challenged before he could set it in motion. Baron W'angenheim confided to me that there would have been war at the time of the Algectras conference, but Germany was not ready. No mat ter how elaborate the preparations had been, there was always something lacking, so Germany proceeded to get ready with a new army bill and a new budget which Imposed a capital tax that all the world now recognizes as a war tax. The amazing thing is that it was not so recognized at the time. The new army estimates would have expired In 1915. The Social Democratic movement was gaining enormously in Buy a Liberty Bond and Help Win the War Table D'HOTE Meals, 25c Manager. strength throughout Germany. Before the Kaiser was fairly ready for his great exploit In "Weltmacht he was threatened with a social revolution at home due to the heavy burdens the German people were ' carrying, the spread of democratic doctrines and the growing resistance of the working classes to arbitrary government. If things drifted until It was neces sary to renew the army appropria tions, the Social Democrats might be able te hold up the estimates and force sweeping reforms that would practically put them In control of the Reichstag and perhaps end forever the Kaiser's dream of world domina tion. It was vital that the war should come before this issue was joined at home, and hence the murders at Sarajevo were little less than a godsend to the German autocracy. They gave the Kaiser the "excuse he needed and they provided the opportunity to maneuver Russia into a position in which war could be represented to the German people as one of self-defense. The Ber lin conference put the finishing touches on the programme. The German finan ciers finished their task and the trap was sprung. There can be only one end to this struggle, and that is the complete de struction of Kaiserism and absolutism. Among the great statesmen of the world. President Wilson was the first to see that without this elimination of Kaiserism and absolutism no durable peace was possible. To make peace on any other terms Is to make a truce and give Germany time to prepare for a fresh attack. Germany Sees Errors. As Baron Wangenheim once hope fully remarked, the next time Germany would be even more far-sighted and would have at least a five-year supply of cotton and copper when war was de clared. That Is unquestionably what will happen unless the nations that are now fighting autocracy make the re sults of this war so decisive that the Russian system can never be re-established. The Germans must be beaten at their own. game. The Prussian system was created by military prestige. It rests upon military prestige, and It will collapse when that military prestige is destroyed. The German people accept ed It because it had made them rich and powerful. They will abandon it when it leaves them Impoverished and defeated. There Is nothing miraculous or invincible about this military sys tem. It is merely the product of ex perts who have devoted all their ener gies to It. Germany studied for decades how to create armies and make war, but the allies in three years have learned all that Germany ever knew and more. Everything that Germany has done in a military way we can do. The Ger man has no special genius for war. as events have proved, although he made war his trade. In France I saw how three American regular Army officers, one of them a medical man. allotted to each Ameri can regiment of engineers, created an astonishingly efficient military unit in a remarkably short space of time. That is what we must be ready to do with 5,000,000 men, if necessary, cost what it may. No matter how heavy the ex pense may be. it will be light in com parison with the price that the United States would have to pay If Germany won the war. The great majority of- Americans seem to have little realization of how close we stood to the brink of a preci pice. It was no Idle threat that the Kaiser uttered when he told Ambassa dor Gerard in October, 1916. that when this war was over he Intended to stand Pinrlurtd on Paw -3. Column a.) IOE A GREAT SALE FRIDAY I Our Entire Stock of This Season's Choicest and Most Fashionable Weaves, Colorings and Patterns in Both Silk and Dress Goods Remnants to Close-at Half! Included A re Coatings JVaistings and Suitings in Fine Woolen Fabrics Also Plain and Fancy Silk in All Popular Colors and Weaves. It Is an Extraordinary Saving Opportunity That No Pru dent Woman Will Care to Miss Choose Front the Entire Assortment and Pay Only One-Half the Marked Regular Remant Prices. Great Gathering of Women's Fall Coats and Suits Models, Fabrics and Materials to Suit O 7 C O C All Tastes, Specially Priced Today at JJ-0.yO Attend this sale and youH meet with one of the most unusual buying opportunities of the season. We have especially undervalued a wonderfully attractive lot of Women's Fall Coats and Suits. The coats are shown in fine velours, in navy, green and brown. The suits are of tricotine, gabardine and poplins, in navy, brown, green, etc. All are well tailored garments, perfect in fit and unmatchable J- P QF at Bargain Friday's Price DXJeJ An Exceptional Lot of High-Class Novelty Laces Exquisitely Dainty and Beautiful Patterns To Select From Friday, at the Yard. 98c Just such laces as are in, great demand for evening and dinner dresses, overdrapes, etc. Included are 27 to 40-inch White, Cream and Black Bretonne Nets, embroidered in pretty rosebud designs in gold, silver and colored silk. Also 18 to 34-mch Silk Net Flouncings, embroidered in gold and silver 16-inch Allover and 12-inch Flouncings in gold, silver and heavy burnt-out effects 18 and 27-inch Black, White and Cream Chantilly Flouncings all on sale Bargain Friday at, yard 98c Especially Undervalued Offerings in MISSES' AND CHILDREN'S FINE SHOES Well-made, durable Shoes, in gurimetal, and patent leather with cloth or mat kid top seasonable weight Shoes that will both fit and wear to your satisfaction. Sizes 5 to 8 at. S2.00 and S2.25 Sizes 82 to 11 at S2.00 and $2.50 Sizes ll'2 to 2 at, pair S2.50 and $3.00 Boys' Box Calf and Velour Shoes in heavy Winter weight and in button and lace styles. Sizes 9 to 132 at, pair .$2.00 and $2.50 Sizes 1 to 52 at, pair $2.50 and $3.50 One Day Only Ch ild 's Supporters Priced 1 Qr Friday at. tx All Sizes 2 to 14 At the Notion Counter we've ar ranged a special nale of children's Shoulder Waist Supporters. They come in sizes 2 to 14 years. Cedar Polish Priced Friday at. 25c 12 and 16 Ounces An unsurpassed polish for cleaning and polishing furniture, floors, auto mobile, etc. Comes in 12-os. bottles or in lfi-oz. cans. Store Opens at 8:30 A.M. Saturdays at 9 A. M. The Most in ValueThe Best in Quality '""ft. -r Titrr.ru -lor-ift Store Closes at 5:30 P. M. Saturdays at 6 P. M. IOEXO r : : . maihts WEN'S WEAR 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Vf llllllilllllllllllll(llllllllllllllllllllllllililllllllllllllli Now Again Another 100-Foot Display Over This Time! - Doesn't it make you feel good when you chance upon something that pleases other people and at the same time brings success to yourself? First, we had our exhibition of "100 Feet of Hats" and that was so successful that we exhibited "100 Feet of Suits." Again we met with unexpected success. It has proven to us that people like to see a big display of mer chandise from the outside before they go inside to buy. So here we are again, with our entire 100 feet of concave win dows given over to a great display of the snappiest Overcoats we have ever shown. One Man Remarked- 5th and Morrison During the Hat display one man remarked, "I didn't think this store had enough hats in it to fill 100 feet of windows." That's just the point: We want to impress upon you that, not only do we carry the Best of Everything in our line, but Lots of It ! We can fill our windows several times with exclusive displays of Hats, Suits, Overcoats, etc., and not show the same article twice. But back to Overcoats ! For the past five years this store has been featuring fine Overcoats. We like Overcoats, and one always favors anything one likes. You, too, will like our Overcoats! Prices from $20 to $75 on display all this week. Gorbett Building nttitiiiiiif Him miiiif fimiif mil miftifiitiiiiii mini 'lUUIIIIIIIilllllllillllllillllllllllilllllllllilllHIIIIIIIIIill MEN'S . WEAR 1 MiiiiiMiiiiiiiiimiiiimiiiiMmimimimiiiimiiimn llUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllillltllllillillllllll? o n o a o o D o o n o o D a o o a o a o o D o D o 3 II