KAISER AND BRITAIN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2398, 13 January 1909, Page 2

KAISER AND BRITAIN.

THE SUPPRESSED INTERVIEW. 0 ' WHAT DID IT CONTAIN? Communicating with his paper on .November 27th., the London correspondent of the Melbourne “Argus” wrote regarding the now famous interview as follows: I mentioned last week that the German Foreign Office had purchased the issue of the American “Century” magsftaine, in order to suppress the publication of Mi* AY'. B. Hale s interview with t-lid Kaiser on board the Imperial yacht at Bergen. Mr Hale spent a whole day with His Majesty, and tns honored, with a long talk upon ci variety of subjects, tlio substance of which was intended -for Air Hale’s newspaper, the “New York Times”; —one of the few sane journals published in the. States, ror reasons of policy the editor decided that the contribution was not suited for the “Times.” Air Hale, therefore, tow rote his article for the “Century,” and the proofs were submitted to the German Foreign Office. AY lien it- was discovered in Berlin how sadly the Foreign Office had blundered oyer its handling of the interview which was lately published in the “Daily Telegraph,” immediate endeavors were" made to suppress the article which that department had “passed” for publication in the “Century.” This dutv was successfully undertaken by the German Minister in America. It resulted in the destruction of many thousand sheets and plates, ami tlio pavmeht of a large sum of money, named at £7,000. The suppression of the! Hale article necessitated a new “make-up” of the' “Century” magazine. According to one statement every line in proof or manuscript of the suppressed article was destroyed. According to another story, copies of the document are actually in the hands of several influential people, some in Europe. It is impossible to say what is the truth respecting that aspect of the matter. The whole incident was calculated to whet the (appetite’ of American journalism, and it is not surprising that more than one newspaper •should have published a synopsis of the mysterious contribution. Last Friday AD* Hearst-’s “New York American” gave, in the shape of a. ruble message from London, an “exact summary” of the Kaiser’s statements. Next day Air Hale denied that summary “in toto ; ” On the same day Air Pulitzer’s “AVorld” published wliat it described as “an accurate synopsis” of the interview, (adding' that “proofs of its articbyliad been approved by Air Hale.” Again Air Hale gave'a denial, and said the whole of the story published in the “AYhirld” was a “fabrication.’ There was n. striking similarity between the statements printed in the two newspapers. The. “World” was. not to he suppressed by a mere denial, for on Afonday last it gave reproductions in of proofs, on which corrections appeared to have been made in Mr Hale’s writing. But Air Hale’s denials have been supported by the Berlin Foreign Office. Tliut department intervened with the official statement that the article in the “AVorld” was -a- baseless invention from start to finish.” Prince Buelow lias also given a denial. Nevertheless on the general assumption that there is usually fire behind smoke, and because some weight is vittached to the “World’s” facsimile of Air Hales writing, there are. persons, who believe' that the summaries published m the two New York papers are not wholly fictitious. The sentiments are. very like those with which the Kaiser is often credited, and I may, therefore, give the chief points of them as summarised in. one of the bon don papei.s. The most notable is the first, namely, that King Edward had 1 been humiliating ihis Imperial Majesty for more than two years, and that he (tlio Kaiser) was exasperated. “That Germany was the paramount power in all Europe, and that England was trying to neutralise that P °“That the Kaiser held France in the hollow of his hand, and that Russia wus of no account since the disastrous war with Japan. “That if the pan-European war, so much talked about, was (inevitable, tlio soonor it came the better, toi Germany was ready tand tired Oi tlio suspense. , , , “That Groat Britain had been a decadent nation ever since her victory over the Transvaal and tlio Orange Free State, because hers was an mirigliteous and ungodly cause, and JJ - vino judgment was bound eventually to overtako the powerful nation that r aged such a war.

“That .the Anglo-Japanese allinnce mvus an iniquitous alliance against the white races.

“That Japan was honeycombing Ih'dia with sedition and flooding it with spies, while professing openly to be England’s friend-and ally.' “That the only way to counteract this alliance was for Germany and America to act together at an early -date, or America would have to fight the Japanese in ten months’ time. ‘‘That in the event of a great war, England would lose many of her.largo colonies, especially those in tue Pacific. “That all the Kaiser would for Germany would be Egypt, though he would liberate the Holy Land from the yoke of the infidel —presumably meaning the Sultan. “That the perfecting of tlio Zeppelin dirigible balloon would give Germany a powerful advantage in war, and she was ready to make use of it to the fullest extent.” It is stated that when Air Hale re turned from Bergen to New York ho visited. President Roosevelt Kit Oyster Bay, and made him aware of the Kaiser’s expressions of friendship’ towards himself and towards America, The correspondent of the “Daily Alail” assorts that that visit was followed by a campaign in some of the American papers in favor of American-German .co-operation in the Far.- East, and ol a. Chinese-American alliance. It is added that, the Kaiser’s sentiments towards Great Britain did not surprise Air Roosevelt, who had previously heard many similar reports. According to the “AVorld,” the Kaiser talked in a similar strain to several Congressmen, who visited him in Berlin, in 1905, urging them to support Air .Roosevelt’s policy in building a vast American fleet. To one Congressman, who suggested that the size of the German army was n barrier of peace, the Kaiser remarked: —“My army is the greatest agency for peace ■in Europe. Without it I should be at the mercy of Europe. Now I" maintain the peace of Europe. I have Russia, at the north, my most persistent enemv, who would overrun my. borders if' my army did not guard them. To the west iiiul south I have the enemy of a hundred years, France, which still seeks to recover AlsaceLorraine. England, my commercial enemy, is always ready to take advantage of any new situation. You are wrong, gentlemen. I am not the enemy of jieace. I am maintaining peace with my army.” „ AVo have not heard the last of this Kaiser’s interview with Air. Hale. It is sure to be published some day. The people of Germany are glad to believe the official denials. They don’t- want any more personal difficulties "with tlieir Kaiser, especially after his promises to Prince Buelow last week that he will be more careful of bis words in future. The American versions are not wholly accepted in England, and, notwithstanding the Kaiser’s many acts of folly, and his inflated aspirations’to rule the universe, there is no personal illwill towards his Alajesty in this country, so that there is a general feeling that it would be well to draw a curtain ovVr liis Alajestv’s indiscreet chaiterings.