New York Times Current History: The European War from the Beginning to March 1915, Vol 1, No. 2 | Page 5

from Dresden to the King of Saxony, Oct. 2.
I am very glad to be able to send you the best reports of the Nineteenth
Army Corps and the Twelfth Reserve Corps. I visited yesterday the
Third Army and greeted especially the brave 181st Regiment, to which
I expressed my recognition. I found your third son and your brother
Max as well as Laffert and Kirchbach in the best of health. The spirit
among the men is splendid. With such an army we shall be able to
complete victoriously the rest of our difficult task. To this end may the
Almighty stand by us.
WILHELM.
* * * * *

HIS INDISCRETION WAS "CALCULATED."
Interview With Kaiser Wilhelm II., Oct. 28, 1908, and Its
Consequences.
_An interview between the German Emperor and "a representative

Englishman, who long since passed from public to private life,"
appeared in The London Telegraph on Oct. 28, 1908, and was the next
day authenticated by the German Foreign Office in Berlin with the
comment that it was "intended as a message to the English people."
This last expression of the Kaiser toward Great Britain--until his
declarations on the eve of the present war--deeply stirred the German
people in protest and resulted in the Kaiser's pledge to Chancellor von
Buelow that henceforth the imperial views would be subject to the
bridle of the Ministry and the Council of the Empire. The interview as
recorded by the "representative Englishman" was as follows:_
Moments sometimes occur in the history of nations when a calculated
indiscretion proves of the highest public service. It is for this reason
that I have decided to make known the substance of a lengthy
conversation which it was my recent privilege to have with the
Emperor.
I do so in the hope that it will help to remove that obstinate
misconception of the character of the Emperor's feelings toward
England, which I fear is deeply rooted in the ordinary Englishman's
breast. It is the Emperor's sincere wish that it should be eradicated. He
has given repeated proofs of his desire by word and deed. But, to speak
frankly, his patience is sorely tried now; he finds himself so continually
misrepresented and has so often experienced the mortification of
finding that any momentary improvement in relations is followed by
renewed outbursts of prejudice and a prompt return to the old attitude
of suspicion.
His Majesty spoke with impulsive and unusual frankness, saying: "You
English are as mad, mad, mad as March hares. What has come over you
that you are completely given over to suspicions that are quite
unworthy of a great nation? What more can I do than I have done? I
declared with all the emphasis at my command in my speech at the
Guildhall that my heart was set upon peace and that it was one of my
dearest wishes to live on the best terms with England. Have I ever been
false to my word? Falsehood and prevarication are alien to my nature.
My actions ought to speak for themselves, but you will not listen to

them, but to those who misinterpret and distort them."
Resents a Personal Insult.
"This is a personal insult which I resent; to be forever misjudged, to
have my repeated offers of friendship weighed and scrutinized with
jealous, mistrustful eyes taxes my patience severely. I have said time
after time that I am a friend of England, and your press, or at least a
considerable section of it, bids the people of England to refuse my
proffered hand and insinuates that the other hand holds a dagger. How
can I convince a nation against its will?"
Complaining again of the difficulty imposed on him by English distrust,
his Majesty said: "The prevailing sentiment of large sections of the
middle and lower classes of my own people is not friendly to England.
I am, therefore, so to speak, in the minority in my own land, but it is a
minority of the best element, just as it is in England respecting
Germany."
The Englishman reminded the Kaiser that not only England but the
whole of Europe viewed with disapproval the recent sending of the
German Consul at Algiers to Fez and forestalling France and Spain by
suggesting the recognition of Sultan Mulai Hafid. The Kaiser made an
impatient gesture and exclaimed: "Yes? that is an excellent example of
the way German actions are misrepresented," and with vivid directness
he defended the aforesaid incident, as the German Government has
already done.
The interviewer reminded the Kaiser that an important and influential
section of the German newspapers interpreted these acts very
differently, and effusively approved of them because they indicated that
Germany was bent upon shaping events in Morocco.
"There are mischief makers," replied the Emperor, "in both countries. I