The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. 'FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3,1909. THE GERMAN CHANCELLOR.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2597, 3 September 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. 'FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3,1909. THE GERMAN CHANCELLOR.

It is nearly two montlis since the German Chancellor, Prince Bulow, resigned his position, and latest English; mails to hand contain interesting comments on) the changed political situation. The resignation incident is picturesquely described by one journal winch says: The task of-financing Germany has been too much, for him, and so Prince Bulow, carrying in his hand the Order of the Black Eagle set with brilliants, and a warm' letter of thanks from his master, goes the way of Bismarck, Caprivi,' and Hohenlohe; and Herr von BotbmannHollweg reigns in his stead. The position, is one worthy of careful thought, for tho peace of Europe can easily be made or marred according to the type of .man who fills the German Chancellor’s chair, and the question of the hour has become “What will the new Chancellor be like.” If he is to be merely a mouthpiece for .the Emperor, there will bo considerable grounds for misgivings, for although that Royal personage is constantly assuring the world that his chief object in life is peace, he displays every evidence of a decidedly militant disposition. To what extent the new Chancellor, Herr Von Bethmann-Hollweg, is likely to assert diplomatic ability and independence of thought in the conduct of foreign affairs seems difficult <*o judge. Hd has had no official experience of foreign affairs, unless he may be supposed to have had a little when he was Vice-President of the Council of Prussian Ministers. As " Imperial Minister of the Interior, and as Prussian Minister of the Interior before that, he concerned himself almost el> tirely with domestic affairs. He is said to be an admirable official with a painstaking and accurate mind, but with little of' the dialectical adroitness and habit of good-natured raillery which distinguished Prince Bulow, and made him a master of Parliamentary fence. Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg, of course, may exhibit qualities which have been, unsuspected, for the employment very often makes the man. He is in his fifty-third year, is the son of a Rhenish land-owner, and is connected with the well-known Bethmann family of bankers. He w'as at the University of Bonn with the Emperor, and has been one of his friends ever since. Still, ‘ it is not unfair to say that the enormous powers and responsibilities of the Chancellorship are'being entrusted to one who has had no experience in those very matters which will bring hii'n into direct contact with Europe, for its satisfaction or its pain. The fact that he is a personal friend of the Emperor, and that;, the Conservatives still rule the roost', in the Reichstag, thus creating an atmosphere favorable to 'the personal regime, gives weight to tlhe suggestion, that the now, Chancellor will probably be ‘an Emperor’s man.’ ■'On the other hand it is considered • in some quarters that the fact of Prince

Bulow having been forced to resign by a vote of the Reichstag represents such a signal vicory for constitutionalism as opposed to tlio personal rule of the Kaiser and his appointees that bureaucracy will never bo able to regain the lost ground. On this point it must bo j remembered that a German Chancellor, being appointed by the Kaiser, has no need to resign simply because an adverse voto is recorded against him, and so long as his sovereign backs him up Iris position is secure. Summing up the situation the “Spectator” says:—“We cannot think that the prospects of Constitutional development have been improved by recent events. Eight mouths 'ago, after the “Daily Telegraph” interview, tho Emperor felt obliged to accept a rebuke from his Chancellor as a condition of the latter continuing in office; to-d;iy that Chancellor has de-* parted to Iris country house, the Junker influence is more powerful than ever in tho Reichstag, and an old personal friend of the Emperor is the new Chancellor.” This may he constitutional development, hut it certainly looks as though tho Kaiser has made a determined effort to strengthen his persona) authority.