reference to the Spanish American War: "If I had had a larger
fleet I would have taken Uncle Sam by the scruff of his neck."
Though the reason for Germany's attitude has never been proven by
documents, circumstantial evidence points convincingly to the
explanation. The quest for a colonial empire, upon which Bismarck
had embarked rather reluctantly and late, had been taken up with
feverish zeal by William II, his successor in the direction of
German policy. Not content with the commercial conquests which
German trade was making in all countries of the earth, the Kaiser
wanted a place in the sun exclusively his own. The world seemed,
however, as firmly closed to the late-comer in search of colonies
as it was open to him as the bearer of cheap and useful goods.
Such remnants of territory as lay on the counter he quickly
seized, but they hardly made an empire.

It is not, therefore, a daring conjecture that the Kaiser was as
carefully watching the decrepit empire of Spain as he was the
traditional sick man of Europe, the empire of Turkey. In 1898
revolutions were sapping both the extremities of the Spanish
dominions. The Kaiser, while he doubtless realized that Cuba
would not fall to him, in all probability expected that he would
be able to get the Philippines. Certain it is that at the close
of the Spanish American War he bought all the remaining Spanish
possessions in the Pacific. If such had been his expectations
with regard to the Philippines, the news of Dewey's victory must
have brought him a bitter disappointment, while at the same time
the careless and indiscreet remark of an American official to
certain Germans--"We don't want the Philippines; why don't you
take them?"--may well have given him a feeling that perhaps the
question was still open.