The times., 1898-11-24
GENERAL POLITICAL GOSSIP.

ries from different parts OF the country
asking Sfor an explanation of the pro-
posed open door" policy of this Govern
ment In the Philippines. There seems to
be considerabie uncertainty as to just
| what is meant by the term "open door.
Whether it implies that the nations of
the world will be admitted to the Philip
pines after we have formally taken pos
session of them, on the same basis as
this country, or is merely an empty phrase
Invented for the occasion, is as yet an open
question. The strict enforcement of an
open door policy will undoubtedly an
tagonize many of Mr.. McKinley's former
protection friends. They regard 1t as an
| opening wedge in movement looking to
the establishment of free trade in this
| country. In other words. If the so-called
open door" should prove to be a success
, in the Philippines, the protectionists be-
lieve that 1t will only be a question of
time when 1t will be applied to every
part of the United States. They already
| perceive the end of the protection doc
| trine, which has been one of the cardinal
| principles of the Republican party in the
| past. 1t is admitted that protection and
expansion do not harmonize and that one
or the other will be compelled to walk
the plank.
Some friends of the President assert
| that it is not the intention of the Ad-
| ministration to extend the "open door
/ IN tine Philippines to all nations indis-
! crimnately. They say that 1t is Mr.. Nc
| Kiniey's idea TO use II as a means to OBJ
tain concessions from other countries.
! In other words. the nations that wish to
obtain the benefits of the .'open door in
the Philippines must first make trade
concessions TO us which will be of equal
or approximate value. The country that
| is not in a position to offer anything in
| return, or is unwilling to do so, cannot,
| II Is said. expect to enjoy the privileges
| of our open door policy In the East.
! The President, it is understood, will dis
cuss this subject in his forthcoming mes
sage to Congress next month. He will,
II is said. outline the proposed policy Of
the Administration in this connection.
prominent Republican Senator. in
| discussing the future policy OF his par;y
yesterday. said: Protection as an issue
is dead. II will never again be supported
by the Republican party. That fact must
| be apparent to anyone VINO has observed
the trend of events. New conditions have
arisen which have wrought complete
| change in the situation. In 1900 you will
| probably find the Republican party de-
| claring outright for free trade, or its
| equivalent. Our Democratic friends may
! shift their ground and come out for pro-
! lection, but if they do they will be behind
! the times. As party the Republicans
| have decided to abandon the protection
( doctrine ii may be retained theoretical
1 ly in the Republican curriculum out oi
! Difference to the feelings of certain indi-
vidual Republicans. but practically and
actually il is thing Of the past.
| "The battle today is for commercial
supremacy. The nations of the world are
engaged in a struggle for the conquest OF
/ trade zones. Our future policy will DC
/ along those lines We have out grown the
J necessity for protection: in fnct pro;ec-
( tion is dlAmetrically opposed to the the
! ory of expansion. Our aim must be to ex-
tend our trade, and to do that we must
| remove all restrictions To the eNten.;iG
4 OF our commerce. Within the next six
/ months you will see a complete reversal
! of most Of the old and time-honored ira
ditions of the Republican party"
| Murat HaIstead who has recently re-
turned from Manila, was In Washington
yesterday. Mr.. Halstead talked with Ad
miral Dewey and gives II as his opinion
! that the hero OF Manila Bay Is without
political ambition Referring to the re-
/ pott that Dewey had refused an offer OF
| S 200 TO write magazine article. Mr.
Halstead said he could readily believe Il.
! as it would be in keeping with the IA
nous adniraI's character. He was not
! looking for that kind OF notoriety and
| the money offer would he no temptation
| to him Dewey" Mr.. HslsteGd added. lis
/ a most remarkable man In many ways
/ Success has not changed him In the least
] He said that he could not understand the
/ fuss the people Of this country were max
/ Ing over him Every man In the fleet,
/ he said. did his duty. even down to the
/ Chinese. and / think that all are equally
4 entitled to praise i told him that no
saloon in the States was considered
| properly equipped that did not contain
! half dozen portraits of Dewey. BY the
way he said. what Is your particular
/ brand OF whisky / said / had no pref
| erence-that all brands looked alike to
me-whereupon We retired to his cabin.
Keep the philippines? Why. of course
We will. The Philippines in my judgment
will prove more valuable TO this country
than the entire West Indies
Col. ]. W. Babcock. chairman of the
Republican Congressional Committee, ap-
pears to be meeting with considerable
opposition in his canvass for a senatorial
seat in Wisconsin. Four or five rival can
didates are in the field, chief among them
| being Henry c. Payne, of Milwaukee,
! who is the Republican member of the
| national committee from that State. Mr.
Payne is backed by railroad interests. He
| was formerly one Of the receivers of the
| Northern Pacific Railroad. and is at pres
| ent the head of the street railway system
| in Milwaukee. Mr.. Payne, it is said is
preparing to spend a great deal of money
| to defeat Col. Babcock and to win Sena-
| tor Mitchells seat for himself. Col. Bah
| cock Is not a rich man. but he is very
! popular with the rank and file of his
| party in Wisconsin, and his defeat by
4 representative of a railroad corporation
| like Mr.. Payne would not help the Re-
publican party to carry the Badger State
| in the Presidential election two years
| hence.
1t has been assumed that Senator Davis
of Minnesota, would have no opposition
to his reelection. but this APPEARS To be
| a mistake When Senator Davis accepted
the position on the Paris Peace Comm's-
sion, some of his friends warned him 'nat
II might Interfere with his being re-
| elected to the Senate. Others, however
| told him that his absence from the coun-
| try this Winter would not be taken ad-
vantage of by his rivals, and that in any
event the glory that he would attain in
Paris would be sufficient to keep all pos
| sibie competitors at home in the back