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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1906)
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL. PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING, NOVET.ItlrS ' 23. 190S. III - ) J u L " 11 fr ill V IP II-i 111 f'jT 'M' ' ' 1 llB ill r tan C P Sll - M W r ill fill, n ;fF f I ' S i v u ll i ll !v 1 2 11 i i" 1 1 sbsw -sewerm kiOMtH"'! WMSSSSBBS-.. ; ' f By, Rudolph Von Elpberg. . (ToiTrt(M la ta Oal4 - BtatM o4 Craat Briuia kr Oartta Brvwm. AO Etgbta Btrtlf Bwtrail.l TT F h wer not aupportad ' by- th I'vitron arm of th kaiser. Bombard ' Dernbur. tbo Jawiah banker, who haa ban appointed to cleans the Augean stables of colonial corruption MMf MfllAmtnlifMHAiL nrohAhlv would find bis task an utterly hopeless on. He has mad a rood beginning by dls- dorllngs Of the colonial department and replacing- them with young; business men.. . -, ;: By this action be ha aroused the bit- (ami uoaviiiiy u wiw " " man officialdom looks down on the bual nea man aa a distinctly Inferior order of cr.tlon. -.That a man of this claaa. and a Hebrew to boot, should be placed t the bead of an important branch of th. covernmenU - was a bitter pill for Germ-! officialdom to swallow. But that be should mark his accession to rawer bv wholesale oismiaaaia 01 men of their own oasts and the bestowal of their- places : on mere ' counting-room rlerka and tradesmen was still wore. It would have caused open rebellion against him were tt not for the fear of bis Imperial master, who haa siren cinj a free hand. -1 .-...-. - But. w. b all his energy. execuUre ability and business capacity. It . Is douotf ul if he will succeed In his co lossal task, aren -with the sSipport of ths mailed flat. Germany has -experienced nothing but failure In her colonial en terprise. The Germans tn their ef fort to colonise distant countries bar rtrealad surprising weakne, and the Teutonic - possession, although enop mous la ,ext-nt, are little more than vast areas of desert producing no profit to the ' fatherland, but hardening the home country wth heavy ooet. -Henac of tht Fatur. . .. . , , This abeolut failure In alT colonial entarprli:- 1 m. sinister omen for the future of Germany. The -inability of ... Germans to build up a rfreat colonial empire menaoes ih future of the Ger man. It must be remembered that Ger many U already packed with as many inhabitants aa the country can comfort ably bold and within a short time the e-.-rcrowaing will have reached a seri na and dar .arena limit. The blrtB rat In Germany 1 higher than that of any other country In Europe, and the proline Germans, who now nnraber"-tO, , 000, will Jxav reached a total of 100,00,i,tft within a measuraoi numoer of year. .-'. .There la no room for this surplus population In Germany, and no oppor tunities of expansion in Europe. The superior diplomacy of Great Britain has already created a European coalition destined to prevent Germany from car rying out any ambltlou plana In Eu rope. Thla coalition . already exist among Great Britain, Franoe and Spain, and -can -count on the support of such smaller powers a Belgium, Denmark, Holland. Norway and Sweden. These countries form an unbroken line along western Europe, and. in' course of time, they will undoubtedly he joined by Italy and by Austria and Hungary. Russia, too, will be an early recruit to the anti German combination. - TkeM British scheme destroy one and for all the hope entertained by tn-Oermana that Germany can swal low up the greater part of Austria and extend her boundaries Into the Balkans and into Asia Minor. British diplomacy will bring Germany to ths point of des pera tun in Europe, and thus make suo reeaful colonising a matter of life find drain to Germany. Th colonial fall ir of Germany must be lewed1n this light tn orOr that their full significance may be realised... , - .j ... - . Extent of Her Colonies.! , 7, 1 lie tremendous extent of German co lonial pAaseeetons renders the fnllsre rr ait colonisation nlryr!se all, the "W . Mill I HFRF.DTFARY PRWCB EffJ&ST mors conspicuous. , German East Africa covers t,009 square miles, German Southwest Africa 120,000 square miles. and -German Cameroon -in west Africa 100,000 square miles. Th German pos sessions la the southern Pacific. ocean oover an area of 180,000 square miles. Theee 'colonies, together . with ether smaUsr foreign possessions, make an aggregate area, of approximately 1,100, (00 square mile. ' These colonies hay been In th possession of dermaay for periods varying from II to li years, and they ere Intended to provide a suit able outlet for th surplus population of th mother country, The last census- returns -Ttakerr-six months ago reveal th astonishing fact that the total whit - population of all th German colonic amounted In round figures to 11,000 persons. This means that there 1 on solitary whit Inhabi tant to every hundred square mllea of territory in th Germsn colonies. About on fourth of this handful of whites distributed over ' more i than 1,000,000 square mil are European of other nationalities so that only about 0,000 are Germans. Mors than half of these Ger mans are either soldiers 'or government officials, so that Germany has been able to disgorge her surplus population? - to the colonies to th extent of lust about 1000 persona. . These plain . facta and figures reveal at first glance an abso lute break-down of German colonial en tarpris. . . fn . , Constant Drain on Treasury. But the whole truth about th Ger man colonies I by no mean contained In these revelations. Th German colo nise hay not only been a failure bat have Involved enormous financial losses to th Fatherland. Instead of providing market for th German products and bringing In welcome additions to the impoverished treasury of the German empire, million upon million of monay have been spent in th vain - endeavor to transform them Into profitable un dertakings. Take th case of German South West Africa. Germany has already thrown away XI &o, 000,000 on this country, and it Is estimated that a further sum cf 1100.000,000 will bar to be spent as an Irreduclbs minimum within th next ten year. German Southwest Africa yields nothing In return. The natives have been in open rebellion for th last three years, and apart from money th Uvea of thousands, af German, soldiers, have been saorlflccd in . th . suppression of the rebellion. - Tb cultivated land has been - devastated and the little nter prises started by . Germany nave been destroyed by the Insurgents. German Southwest Africa shows no prospects of future Improvement: on the contrary there Is every, reason to believe that Germany . will go on sinking money without reaping any returna. . Take the case tt Klaochao, a little atrip of Chinese territory, - sorns 193 sfiuar miles In area, wnlblt Germany has leased from the Emperor of China for a period of 90 years. Germany , has spent 1100,000.000 on Klaochao In six years and the aggregate German - ex ports to Klaochao during these sis years did not amount to $10,000,000. On ths 'Wrong Side. y . v Durlrt the last 11 months, Germany spent fX,O0O,000 on hsr. colonies and re ceived In revenue from th colonies ths sum .of t2.SO0.0O0. Moreover the present state of affairs Is not only disastrous, but shows no signs of Improving. It Is this hopeless aspect of German colonial enterprises that has caused s strong revulsion of - German public feeling against any further disabling in colonial under takings. Many Germans would like to sell sll the German colonies to the highest bid der or to maks a free gift of them to some other power Just to get rid of them. , The German emperor,' however. considers it essential to retain the colo nics and to go on spending money on them because any. ether policy would be Inconsistent with his imperisl dig nity and the prestige of his empire. The failure of -the German colonies bss been ' duo partly to Incompetence and partly to corruption. Germans have always been . colonizing at . the wrong end. They have taken possftMston of a territory, have hoisted ty German flag, nave oecupiea u wun a Herman garri son, and made It doubly secure by a force of Prumlan police. These first steps having been accomplished, they set about Introducing on thla virgin soli a complete system of German bureau era tic government by , narrow' minded and Incompetent German state officials. Having laid the foundations of a model state from the German bureaucratic point of view, the German government has proceeded to Invite German sub- leots to go and inhabit the new colony. The figures given In th foregoing show that very few Germane felt Inclined to place themselves, under bureaucratic rule In the German colonies. A Ger msn contrives to bear the burden of militarism, nolle tyranny and bureau cratic administration at home, but he alway desire to turn hi back on these abuses when he ttulte the fatherland. Cause of Emigration. Thousands upon thousands of Ger mans emigrate to Great Britain' and America and other free countries In or der, to evade compulsory military ser vice and to enjoy the political liberty which tbey cannot find at home. Poli tical liberty and freedom of action are more necessary tn a virgin country than anywhere else because enterprise - is killed by, any ether conditions.' In some of th German possessions In the Paclflo ocean there are - actually more government officials than ordinary white Inhabitants. In other possessions there ia a government official to every two white Inhabitants. There are very many more government official In the Oerman colonies thsn - In the ' British IcoInnlflH yrMtih ffomptt, T!:r'r' C'J!" giooe, ana contain many, minions 01 whit Inhabitants. Tb Germsn farmer who desires to till the virgin soli, say In German South West Africa, must first obtain an official license to follow the agrlcul turai occupation.' then another license to permit him to keep horses, a third to psrmlt him to keep cattle, a fourth permitting htm to keep a bouse, a fifth permitting him to keep doga and poul try,- a sixth license allowing him to marry a wife, a seventh license allow ing him to employ the native as agrt cultural laborers, an eighth license per mining him to purchase agricultural implements and so forth. Such bin d ranees aa these hare driven many-energetic colonists back to the father land before they have a fair chance of trying their luck In the new coun try. v, ;;.'- '; . ':. Constant Official Supervision. ' Those who overcome the preliminary difficulties created by this senseless system or bureaucratic control rind their Uvea and careera disturbed st very point by a oontlnuou system of Interference and supervision. If this buresueratle control had el ways : been efficient and honest, tt would still have been disastrous, but It has been doubly disastrous because In many case th worst features of mis- government have bean noticeable. All th reliable evidence available points to the certain conclusion that the re bellion la German South West Africa, which has been proceeding for th last thrw year and haa cost many thou sands of Uvea, besldee devastating -the entire colony, was due entirely to the tyrannical mlsgovernment of the Oer man authorities. Similarly In German East Africa, the ' natives have been goaded into rebellion by the intolerable tyranny of their native governor. Th German newspapers publish day after day details or innumerable colonial scandals to such an extent,, indeed, that newspaper1 teader 1 In Germany have ceased to pay any attention to theee never-ending disclosures. The clerical member of the relchetag, Herr Erxberger. , who his taken the moat prominent part tn dragging the scandalous conditions In the admlnls tratlon of the German colonies Into public notice, announces thst the truth about th worst scandals of all still remalna unpublished. . He declares thst th next colonial scandal will surpass all the recent abuses discovered end exposed by the express. Herr Bribers erg forthcoming revelations are await ed with keen inters t. Police Chief an Artist. ' - ' Meanwhile details of another rolo nlal scandal ha ve been made public. Herf von Puttkamer, who haa been deprived of the govern ajjp of the Ger msn Cameroon for perpetrating vari ous abusss cf official power, once ap pointed a . personal - friend - nsmed Muachner to be chief of police In the district of Buea.- In thl position, Herr Leuschner not only commanded the native police forces composed of ne groes from Liberia, but slso sctod ss supreme Judge and administrator of the district. Herr Leuschner bed no claim to this Important position beyond th fact that he was a-talented artist whose water-colored pictures strongly sppealed to the "fcovernor's srtlstlo tastes.-. .-.1 After occupying, this position' for some, time, Herr Leuscnner, whose brain sppesre to have been affected by the tropical heat, allowed bis wife to persuade htm that the" negroes f brnTOlf hla police corps were meditating the massacr of all th Europeans in ' ths dltrlct.. Herr.Leusch.ner thereupon summoned all the Europeans and served out to them rlflea and ammunition of the Istest -pattern.- He -then- drew-up the native police In ranks and ordered them in harsh tones to lay down their arms. Th negroes,, not understanding what waa required of them and having perfectly clear consciences,- hesitated for a moment In astonishment., , Herr : Leuschner regarding their momentary hesitation as a proof of their intention to mutiny, ordered, with out further hesitation, the assembled Europeans to fire oq the natlvee. This order ' was promptly . carried, out ' with the result that nearly all were killed and many wounded. ... . Ths, uninjured remnant of the police corps broke up and Ifled precipitately to the adjoining district, where they besought the Ger man chief of police for protection against Herr Puttkamers violence. A Queer Investigation. ' . PHw TntlnMllnr delta ' WhA hum HOW been -appointed Herr Puttkamera euel cessor aa governor or Cameroon; corn ducted an official Investigation into the affair, and his judicial methods appear to -have been opon to croaaxamloauon, Two members of the police corp were condemned to severe - terms of imprls onment, whereaa Herr Leuschner es caped without, any punishment If there -had been nothing to conceal. Privy Councilor Belts would hardly have Impressed on all the witnesses of this terrible affair tb ' necessity - or maintaining secrecy. Frau Lelschner received stringent Instructions from him to hold her tongue and not to gossip about her husband's acta. . , The truth about the matter would probably never have been revealed If the German consul of Monrovia In Liberia had not reported to his governor that It was extrsmely difficult to recruit Llberlan nntlve for Cameroon since Herr Leuschner had' caused the mem bers of th police . corps to be shot down at Buea. Thla consul reported all the unsavory details which have now been published. ., , 1 Outbreaks of thla kind have been fre quent. Nor have the abuaea atopped the outbreaks. There have been outrages sdded to graft of the worst kind, where by large sums of public money have been unlawfully appropriated by cor rupt colon'al :- officials. The young bloods who were good for. nothing in their own country have been aent out to the colonies to rule the . unfortunate natives who were placed In their ab solute power.. ; . - .... . - , Many Cases of Graft. .. '-: During the last three years no less than 41 well-established cases of graft have been brought to light In connec tion with colonial administration. The Incompetence and corruption have not been confined to government officials Iq th colonies, but - hare permeated to German colonial ministers . tn Berlin. Her the- off totals-have .been guilty of corrupt practice, have Intrigued against one another for personal ends, and have systematically failed to discharge their duties In a competent manner. Th health of Baron Rlchthofen.' who died early In thla year from mental breakr-down waa undermined by hla ter rible experience at th German colonial office which he entirely failed to re form. Hi eucceasor, Herr von Stuebel. was recently forced to resign - In dis grace partly because- he himself was suspected of . corrupt, prewtlce and partly because b tolerated graft in hi own department. HI successor waa the hereditary Prince Ernest of Hohenlohe, who la a7man of royal rank closely re lated both to the kaiser and to other European sovereigns. H was supposed to have sufficient authority to put down firm hand. After six months. Prince Ernest of Hohenlohe was asked t re sign because hie administration . had been a total failure. ...... In despair the kaiser sppolnted Herr Dernburg to the post. The selection of a business man Indicate that th Ger man emperor favors American rather than British method of administration. John Barley Com Struck "Billy"-Patterson THAT somebody struck "Billy" Patterson la m aur thing. Any , way, the fact that "Billy" was .- . ..Jl struck . is pretty ' generally known, but the mystery about It all Is the Identity of th striker. Th whol world has been agog about thla myeterf oue fentleman with the etrong arm who laid "Billy" Patterson low, but up to the present writing he haa remained an unsolved problem aa the choice of th princess in "The Lady or the Tlgerf "Billy" waa supposed to have origi nally been a native of Kentucky, but other states hsve claimed him, - and one for all English papers made him a native of Nottingham. The Chinese have not yet claimed "Billy,' however. and now It is too late, eaya th Ports mouth correspondent for th Baltimore Sun, for th truth about him la to (b told here ana now. - Billy" Patteron was s Virginian. He mav have been an F. F. V., but we haven't had time to look Into hie family history very closely. When the war between the states - orox out "Billy" shouldered a musket and started to ' th front, but In some way h got sidetracked -irrter-th artillery, nd- along about If! found himself serving the suns behind the earthworks with which th Confederates had fortified Bewell'e Point .the very ground. In fact, upon which the Jamestown exposition la now building. - -. Theee batteries dominated the waters of Hampton Roads and performed an Important part in ths detenoe of Nor folk until after the destruction of ths Merrlmao, when they were abandoned. "BUly" Patterson atood one day at hla-gun patiently waiting to- near some bod v makJ a noise like a Tankee war ship. It waa foggy, and "Billy" wanted to show his skill tn gunnery by boring a round bole In th ctrcumablent scen ery with a Federal gunboat at the end of the - vista. While he waited -tie mused on th delights or the long toddy, now for msny moons missed from his dally regimen. As he mused thus eadly a hall earn over tb water and through the fog: ).". , , , , "Hi there. Johnny!-, ' , . , "Hi. there! Who goes thereT" "It's me. Lofl't shoot, for God's stkel I'm all alone. Got any tobacco T" vjourse. Who'n hell" "All right I've got a Jug of whiskey here, Til trade" -. : , - v, "Sure. Coma on in." , "BUly' hurried down to th beech and In half a minute s boat came ashor with a loir Tank and a large demi john aboard. "Hello, Yank!'; , "Hello. Reb!" , '-'. "Oof th tobaccer ; "Cot tb whiskey r , "..',, . .. . - . 1- """iiFWk t IT the verdict on Wllhalm Volgt. th ex-convlct cobbler who cap tured Koepeplok town hall and rifled . the .. munlclnal treasury. could -be determined by the votee of the German people, ther is no doubt he would b allowed to go scot-free by e large majority. - Though a, criminal, as th author of tH greatest hoax of th age, he is acclaimed a hero throughout Germany. He holds th . atag a -th -world's champion bluffer. He haa eclipsed th kaiser at, his beet; he baa conrerrea Immortality on the town which wa the seen of hi exploit: he has added new verb to the dictionary to koepo- nlck: he haa aet th whol civilised world laughing: be haa earned the un dying admiration of mankind by per forming a feat that would nave nan scouted as absurdly tmposstbl bad it been recorded in the daring pagea of Dumas. Except In officialdom, which he so beautifully fooled, th only re gret felt in connection with th Inci dent Is that he ha bean caught. -. New- that his -personality - has- been revealed to tb world, th greater grow th admiration for the eoloasal. audacity which enabled him te carry his plot through successfully. It would be hard te find a man outwardly more Ill-suited te th role which be played. Thar I nothing about htm remotely suggestive cf the smart military cap tain. He la f 7 years old, and looks older. He Is etoop-ahouldered, - and walks with a shambling gait. He has coarse, mottled features, high eheek henacn a flat no with big. noatsHsn and Urge ears that atlck out atraight. His teeth are badly decayed. - HI hand are horny and knotted, and hla nail are broken. . "Low - claaa" Is written large all ever him. -'It le the fetish of the military uni form whloh made It possible for such a man o carry out bis daring coup. Nowhere else but in Germany could he jHere's th. flrjwa,trlwe gallons of It1 "Walt over ther by the oak tree.' said "Billy" Patterson, probably Indt eating the Powhattan oak. which still standa on the exposltoin grounds. "Billy" went Into the works and pro curing a big roll of tobacco rejoined hla friend at th oak tree. The Tankee filled hla pip on tb spot and began to puff with great gusto, while "Billy.' disdaining cup, gourd or glsss, drank deeply from th flagon. , 1 Th fog hung around all that day like the ghost of a water goddess In her winding shset of mist. The guns were elient and no Tankee boat approached, but what kept "Billy" Patterson from his postT . - -. ., Th truth might aa well be told first aa , last When the magnificent aurora or dawn again Illuminated the oriental horiion th Inanimate form of "Billy" Patterson was found recumbent on the sod under the Powhattan oak., Waa "Billy" dead? : NO. - ' - ' V . ' Had "BUly" been hitt ' He had. - '. ; . , y Waa he eutT r " - 1 . He waa out. 1 v . "-Wh rbtt" hiaTTheTan?-- "- No. ; ' ;-. ;' v . Then, who didf .'. 1 :'.-''."'' '. Nobody. - - ; . H wa hit, yon esyf , . ; Yes . Went ' ... : - ', Well, it waa simply a ease of tit for tat "Billy" hit th flagon a little too hard and the flagon hit him back. ' Cable Triolet. A gentleman whom no one would sus pect of wtahtng-to writ trioleta, even If It were Imagined that his arduous duties left him any time for such di versions, evolved th other day one of those teasing little . poem In a form which mnkea It a literary eurloslty, re calling the word-play of the Alexandrian scholars and th lusua varborum of some of th medlevale. It will be ob served that each Una haa exactly eleven letters It le reproduced here Just aa the learned Theban wrote it upon - hie typewriter: ; v . , T,.H I. STRI01.ET ; IBLITTLEFUN SOHARDTOGET ' ,.v :.. T H I 8 T K I O L B T . . INFUNANDVKT . . EX A'C T L T V O N B 1 X, HIST Rxl O I U T ISLITTLEFUN ' ' "- .'''Knocav , ; From Ideal Power. ' 1 The persistent msn accomplishes a lot of things that are not worth while. have euooeeded.' That le one of the leasona which Germany la taking to heart ":" But hla capture reflects some credit on the German police. After th raid, they began to figure on - th known criminals who would t moot likely to undertake such a sensational . robbery. It show what high opinion they bad of Volgt'a skill, cunning and audacity that he waa among those they decided might ha v don It Although released from a term of II years' panel servi tude only a few months ago, his photograph,- for some Inexplicable reason, was not In th rogues' gallery. But th police learned that last summer, during on of hi brief - attempt at earning an honest livelihood by hla trade, that of a cobbler., he ' had been photographed with hla sister and had sent on of his photograph to his former employer at Wlsraar. If Volgt had never. had that photograph taken, he might still be th Oreat Uncaught - Tb polio ' got hold 'Cf th photo graph. - The Koepenlck burgomaster, and other victim Identified It ae that of the. bogus captain, who. had made them the laughing stock of the world. After that through Volgt'a alaterj It proved a comparatively easy matter to-TInd out where he was "lying low." uAwa located1 In Berlin In a mean houae kept by an - aged 'couple who ekedgut,a!trellhood by.seJLUflgjewe "papers and picture postcards on the street. To them the Koepenlck affair had oomo aa a God-send, since it en abled them te sell hundreds of eomlo postcards deplotlng the . Incidents of the raid. , Little did they dreane that their lodger was the hero of It for whose capture a reward -of f too bad been offered. ' - Seventeen Men to Catch Him. The respect entertained 1 by the po lice for Volgt'a cunning and resource fulness waa shown by th precautions taken to affect hla capture. Men were posted at the front and back entrance of tb house In which he lived, and at the doors of th three houae.. Alto gether IT policemen shared In th glory of nabbing him. When every possible and Impossible mean ef es cape had been guarded against, four polio Inspector entered Volgt'a room. The found him eating hla breakfast A piece of sausage -waa polsod on the end of hla fork. He knew that the game was up but he did not change color. - "Oood morning," he said, with out a tremor In hla vol 00, and swal lowed the bit cf sauasage which aa a aouvenlr would easily have fetched tt. "If yon have no objection," he then added, "I should like to finish my breakfast" 'vThe Inspector, good, natu redly, gave th necessary permission. Misfortune hod not Impaired the cobbler's appe tite. ' - 1 . ; At the police station he ' told the story of the raid from beginning to , end. .He waa proud of what he had done. It waa evidently something of a relief to hint that h could at last claim for himself th applause -which th world had heretofore been shower ing on an unknown. When the bur gomaster of Koepenlck confronted him and trembling with raga said, "That Is the man," Volgt comported himself as ths superior -or the civic dignitary, and almply bestowedsJiauf htjratsre Studying tht Wars of Officer . V After "The Idea of the coup had come to htm, Volgt frequented mualo halls Slid other places where military offi cers resort that he might study them and their ways. The deference with which he observed they were every where treated, soon convinced him that th uniform counted for vaatly more than ihe j-rnatS initlde of It He had first thou girt of raiding one of the Ber lin, municipalities, but came to the con clusion that in N a place where ther sr so manv officers about tbe risk waa a little too great. ' Then he select ed Koepenlck for his exploit. Koepen lck la a thriving city of 78.000 Inhabi tants situated on the eastern outskirts of the capital. Its municipal treasury, he thought would provide him with a rich haul. . . ' - After donning a discarded uniform of a captain, in ths First . regiment of Infantry guards, which he purchased In a secend-hand clothing shop, h strolled calmly along a street in th east of Berlin awaiting the return of a detach ment of Grenadier guard from the drilling ground to their barrack.' II knew that they must march back to barracks early In the afternoon, and he also krew that they would be In oharge of a corporal who would prove easier to deal with than an officer of higher grnde. . True to hla calculations, the detach ment consisting of li men, each carry Ing a rifle appeared. , 1 ..' ' til 1 1 - - " -.' I VOIGT. THE COBA.FJ3. "Tour men must ' follow me," Bald ' Volgt accosting the corporal . "I have the kaiser's orders to make an Import ant arrest and need your aastatano,?, Grimy and battered though. he was. and much too eld for a oaptala, nee of the scldlr thought for an Instant of challenging th seedy uniform wt th ' stlrst - guard. They obeyed hla tike sheep. ! He marched them t th nearest railway station, from whence he took them by train te Koepenlck. Arrived at Koepenlck he ordered them to tlx bay onets and march te the town halt ' , . Before arriving there, Volgt put the . potency ef hi uniform to another test It was essential te th Vucces ef hla coup that all communications between the outside ' world - and the town ' hall should be prevented while be held pos session of It -Otherwise th frantlo mes sage aent -out by some of the pffieial or their underlings , would inevitably have brought to th eoen ' some big military functionary, and the bogus cap tain would, have been Immediately ex posed. .; ... ......... Halting at ' the , telephone exchange, Volgt ordered th official In charge' te rat off-communication with the town -Jall for the next two hour under pen-. "alt0f Inuunliir th kaiser' dlspleaa- ur. ' The uniform triumphed again. The trembling official promised Implicit one dlenc. - . ' j Then hla uniform enabled the disrep utable eld Jailbird to carry all before him at th town hall, and after eetstng all -th money he could lay hla hands on In . th municipal treasure chest only CtOO he sent the burgomaster. Dr. Langer-' hans. a prisoner te Berlin, under an armed guard. But perhaps the most striking feature of the-affalr, and air nlflcant of th subserviency cf the dvto to military author! tlea which obtains in Germany, was the aid which Volgt received from the Koepenlck poUoe. Police Help th Raider.- . ' : T ' The chief of the Koepenlck poire tack orders from Volgt without question. Th uniform hypnotised him aa it did every body else. By Volgt'a direct ions. : th chief placed a squad of police around th tows hall to keep th orewd back, and aa proof of hla seal, actually ar rested five cftlsens whoa curl oat ty got . the better ef their discretion. In hie wildest extravagansaa Gilbert never emv celved anything more ludlcroua than a municipal police foro helping a thief to loot the municipal treasury and ar resting honest men te make things easier for him, . . . , All but a small portion ef Votgfa loot haa been recovered. - In Oermany many times ths value of what h stole haa been made by exploiting hla feat.! Two or three comedies have been put en the stage, founded on the gtgantlo hoax, In which ths central role la that of th bogus captain. A fortune ha been made out of the sale or comle picture, poet- -cards. Illustrating the ludlcroua Incident of the raid.' Only red-tape-fettered of ficialdom which haa been held up - te . ridicule, feela sore over the exploit. The fetish of , the military uniform has re- , celved a deadly blow. The absurdity of ' the-eeml-dlvlnlty which ta Germany doth hedge about tb military caste has been" egpoeed Hsdloul- may. aooompany.,. a reform cf the eystem which loglo and nnrnmon sense have failed to achieve. The day may com when Germany, freed from the tyranny of a military bureau cracy, may recognise that It owe a debt of gratitude to th cobblar who mad th whol world laugh. Volgt'a case has' called attention to another form of tyranny which needs reforming In Germany, It la the aye tera o t police supervision cf ex-convicta. ' That made It "Impossible for-Volgt to make an honest living.. Perhaps Voigt's efforts In that direction wers not par ti cuTajfty treTruous, but It is certain that -; he lost his Job at Wlsmar, where he had obtained employment aa a cobbler, be- -cause of police persecution. His tnaaiter there says that he behaved well In every respect - while working for hlra. But -wherever he obtained work, police su pervision prevented him from holding any situation long. It was, he eays, be cause there was no way- open to htm by which he could ,mik a living hon estly that e conceived the Idea of ef-' fecUng a coup which h fondly hoped would bring him money nough to en able him to llv without any more work, either honest or dishonest, and wed bis ' old sweetheart, - That story may be taken with a grain of salt, Uii that th hoary sinner has soma right good stuff , In him which has survived a scor of years spent In Jails, la shown by th fact attested by tbe old folk In whose house.be was lodging ''when caught' that he nursed there, with touching dc- ' votton, a young girl who waa dying; ec consumption, -, , - 7 .