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New York,
January 1, 1914.
<margin>
<note><gap reason=�illegible�></note>
<note>Note. This view of the Kaiser was afterward confirmed.</note>
</margin>
Benjamin Ide Wheeler lunched with me. We had a delightful time together.
He is just back from Germany and has seen much of the Kaiser, not only this
time, but upon former visits. He visits him in the most informal manner and
spends many hours with him and his family. He gave me nearly all the informa-
tion I need regarding the Kaiser and his entourage. Wheeler is also a
close friend of Roosevelt's and I was interested in his comparison of the two
men. He considers them very alike, particularly in regard to memory and im-
pulsiveness, but they are dissimilar in as much as the Kaiser has a religious
turn of mind and is more cultured in his manners.
In order to obtain the information I desired I had to disclose my ob-
ject in questioning him, and he encouraged me to believe that I might have
some chance of success in bringing the Kaiser around to an agreement for dis-
armament. He thought the Minister of Marine would be the obstacle, just as
Sir William Tyrrell had pointed out. He said the Kaiser had told him that
his object in building a navy was not to threaten England, but to add prestige
to Germany's commerce upon the Seven Seas. He Had spoken of how impossible
war should be between England and Germany or, in fact, how utterly foolish any
general European war would be. He thinks the coming antagonism is between
the Asiatics and the Western peoples and that within twenty years the Western
peoples will recognize this and stand together more or less as a unit. (Note)
Wheeler told of how narrowly a general European war was averted last
March over the Balkan <sic>embroglio</sic>, and how the Em<add>p</add>erorthinks he saved the day
by his suggestion of creating the State of Albania. The Kaiser told Wheeler
that he had warned Russia if they attacked Austria, he would strike them im-
mediately. The Kaiser also told him he felt kindly toward England, and that
he was Queen Victoria's favorite grandchild.
In his talks with the Kaiser, he said the Kaiserin seldom joined in
| Title | ms_0466_s2_v2_001 |
| Transcript |
New York,
January 1, 1914.
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