Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1898 — WILHELM'S DREAM. [ARTICLE]

WILHELM'S DREAM.

The Emperor of Germany Thinks He Te Kins of England It Is rather curious to outsiders, writes the London correspondent of the Times-Herald, and wholly unpleasant to the queen to know that the German emperor regards himself as the rightful successor to England’s throne. This is a matter rarely spoken of, though perfectly well realized at court, and it is a strenuous reason against her majesty’s ever abdicating in favor of the Prince of Wales. So when next you hear that she meditates such a step do not believe it She is safe to do nothing of the kind, though she lives a hundred years. The erratic German emperor bases his claim on the not unnatural assumption that his mother, born princess royal and eldest child of Queen Victoria, is heir to that mother’s crown, and he her immediate successor! It Is said that the kaiser Is wildly indignant because his mother will not press her claim and take her rightful place as the future sovereign of England. That the Prince of Wales Is not the Prince of Wales, but that the kaiser is that as well as emperor of Germany, he has fully decided in bls own mind. When the time edmes for his contention It is scarcely probable that he wl’l hold his peace. Of course it is not for a moment to be supposed that England would endure Wilhelm for its king. But the case is a knotty one upon which even the constitutional lawyers cannot agree. Wtdle the queen remains sovereign this family unpleasantness is not likely to arise, but when she abdicates or dies there is pretty sure to be an uncomfortable time for all parties concerned. Still, the English are certain to reject the kaiser, even though England has to resolve Itself Into a republic, and then choose Albert Edward to be its ruler. Quite as strange things as this have happened in the history of the world, and may chance again. In spite of rumors, and raillery of the press in by-gone times, the Prince of Wales is well liked in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the English temper would not bear the German emperor’s ideas of “lese majeste.” Here one may discuss the prince’s debts or the queen’s penuriousness, and nobody interferes or minds in the least. In Germany one may not mention the kaiser’s name disrespectfully, because even the walls have spying eyes and listening ears, and “lese majeste” Is sorely punishable. German students, lam told, are driven to alluding to his mightiness as “Herr Johannas Schmitt” or “Squire Nemo,” in order to save themselves from punishment for anything that may be construed as “lese majeste.” In short, there Is no such thing as freedom of speech in the German empire and such an active, Inquisitive, curious man Is William that, It is said, he keeps carefully posted on everything that goes on In our country as well ms his own.