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[Illustration: WILHELM II.,
German Emperor.
(_Photo from Charles E. Ritzmann._)]




SPEECH FROM THE THRONE.

Kaiser Wilhelm II., Opening Special Session of the Reichstag in White
Room of the Royal Palace, Berlin, Aug. 4.


Honored Sirs: It is in an hour fraught with fate that I have
assembled about me all the representatives of the German people.
For almost half a century we have been able to keep to the path of
peace. The attempts to attribute a warlike temperament to Germany
and to circumscribe its position in the world have often put to
severe tests the patience of our people. With unswerving honesty,
my Government, even in provoking circumstances, has pursued as its
highest aim the development of all moral, spiritual, and economic
powers. The world has been witness how tirelessly we strove in the
first rank during the pressure and confusion of the last few years
to spare the nations of Europe a war between the great powers.

The very grave dangers which had arisen owing to the events in the