The times., 1898-12-01
GENERAL POLITICAL GOSSIP.

dENEhAL POLlTlCAA GUSSlF.
Their opponents of expansion SEEM
ed toeibe considerably elated yesterday
over an interview telegraphed from Bos-
ton with Senator George F. Hoar- They
professednto believe that 1t foreshadow-
| ed the ultimate rejection of the treaty of.
peace with Spain by the United States
Senate, In his interview Senator Hoar
is quotedlas saying:
| ''We have not. SO far, any news which
is absolutely trustworthy of what they
are doing In Paris. But If the report is
true that it Is proposed to buy OF Spain
the sovereignty of the Philippine Islands
and to pay s2o.oO0.OOO for it. do not be-
lieve that such treaty will be agreed to.
/! and do not believe 1t ought to be agreed
to. Spain has very little sovereignty In
:! the Philippines to sell Just now. and dc
| not think the people of the United States
! are In the market to buy sovereignty just
now or. that the Constitution has confer
| red on anybody the right to buy any such
! commodity. !.
| The Constitution was framed upon the
| theory that sovereignty is not a salahle
| article. The people of the United States
1
| make such purchases in their behalf. We
have acquired territory, either vacant or
| so sparseiy settled that there was no peo-
| pie capable of governing It and no germ
of national life. We have also, In one
! recent case. acquired a territory where
the original germ of national life had
! perished. But neither of these Dreced-
| ents applies to the Philippine archipelago.
! with It's millions of inhabitants.
1t will be recalled in this connection
| that Senator Hoar was one of the leading
opponents of Hawaiian annexation at the
| last session. He spoke against 1t and ap-.
parentiy was perfectly sincere in what
he said Upon the final round up. how
| ever. he voted for annexation Senator,
Hoar has lectured his party in the past
on numerous occasions. There is no rec
ord. however, of his ever having voted
against his party on any strictly party
Legislation, and the friends of the Admin
| istration are confident that he will be
| found on their side on the final roll call
FOR the ratification or rejection of the
treaty. The rejection of the treaty by
| the Senate would be about as severe
blow as could be dealt at Mr.. Mckinley.
| y close iTiehu OF lEe PRESIDENT SAID
last night: There is not the slightest
| chance that the treaty of peace will be re-
jected. The most that the opponents of
| the treaty can accomplish is to prevent
| Its ratification at the coming session. If
| they hold out stubbornly. they may be
, able to prevent a vote being taken on
| the treaty before the 4th of March, when
the Fifty-fifth Congress will expire The
treaty would, in that event, go over to
| the next Congress. An extra session
| would, OF course, be called Immediately,
/ and the new Senate would ratify the
| treaty forthwith. Leading Democrats
| realize this fact, and they also appreciate
the tact that IL will be great deal bet
ter Tor the Democratic party to have the
| treaty ratified before the 18th of March.
poll of the present Senate will show
more than the necessary two-thirds ma
| 1ority IN favor of the treaty. But of
course. three or four senators will have
it in their power to staye off a vote in
definitely. / hardly think that they will
| go to the length. however of preventing,
! vote on the treaty at this session. Pub
lie opinion VIII be too strong for them
| to hold out against it, even If they are
| disposed to do SO. The President is not
very apprehensive on the subject
The So, COO which is to be paid 10
| Spain however. under the terms of the
treaty may not be appropriated at this
session. The House will have something
to say about that, and Mr. Reed may try
| TO embarrass the President by refusing
| to permit the appropriation to go through,
he Is quite capable of such an act. but IL
| he tries 1t on, he can make preparations
to vacate the Speakers chair on the 18th
OF March, as he could not be reelected
after an exhibition of petty spite of that
! character. However it is not of vital i'm
| portance that the appropriation should be
Made at the coming session: 1t will not
| affect the validity Of the treaty If it Is
not passed, but at the same time 1t win
make an unpleasant impression both at
home and abroad if Congress. after rati-
Tying the treaty, fails TO make the an
! preparation of money called for in il.
Spain will get her money all right in the
end. as the honor of the nation will he
involved in seeing that it is paid
Speaker Reed has deferred his arrival
until Saturday night. Some persons suy-
gested yesterday that it was done to give
to his entry into the Capitol a dramatic
coioring. Mr.. Reed has not been in Wash
| irgton since the adjournment of Congress
| last Juiy, ana so rar as known he has
| not been in communication with any mem
| Der of Mr.. McKinIey's Administration
since he left. The President and his i'm
mediate advisers are in absolute ignor-
| ance of any official information as to Mr..
| Reeds position on any of the vital aues-
| uons growing out of the war. 1t is not
| likely that he will call at the White House,
and proffer any advice upon his arrival
| The Presidents message will have been
| practically finished by the time the Speak
| er reaches Washington. Friends of the
| President say that Mr.. Reeds conduct
| under the circumstances has been most
extraordinary. As the third officer of the
| Government they think that Mr. Reed
| should have manifested some interest in
| the progress Of the war and the shaping
| of the policy of the Government in con-
| nection Herewith. In war times, they
believe that party and personal feelings
should be subordinated to the public veal.
| and any man who cannot sink his own
individuality at such a time shows that
he is not statesman or patriot in the
| highest sense of the term. 1t is asserted
| that Mr.. Reeds failure to put in an
| appearance at the White House has not
| been due to any fault on the part of the
President. Mr.. Mckinley's latch string
| they say, has been hanging on the out
| side for the Maine autocrat all the time.