The times., 1898-12-03
GENERAL POLITICAL GOSSIP.

fIesiueHt 5 friends some trouble. Wnen
he retired from the Cabinet last Spring
1t was privately reported that Mr.. Sher-
man was senile and could no longer attend
to the important duties of his position
The Presidents friends expressed deep re-
gret over the decay of a once famous
statesmanoand; were thoughtful enough to
inspire paragraphs in the newspapers
commenting on Mr. sherman's collapse.
! and delicateiy referring to his alleged
| mental incapacity. 1t appears, however,
that Mr.. Sherman, for some reason did
not appreciate the kindly intentions of Mr..
| McKinley's friends in Classifying him as
a mental and physical wreck. He has ap-
parently decided to lay aside his senllity
| for the present and have some fun with
| Senator Hanna and a number of other
| gentlemen not remotely connected with
| Mr.. McKin,ey's Administration. Mr..
| Sherman will be in evidence this Winter
and his influence will.it is understood. be
| quietly exerted to defeat the plans of the
| Administration. Mr.. Sherman feels very
| sore over his treatment at the hands of
the Administration, and he Is disposed to
| do everything in his power to get even.'
| 1t Is generally admitted now that Mr.
| Sherman was induced to leave the Senate
| to make place for Mr.. Hanna, and that
! he was subsequently forced out OF the
/ Cabinet into private life. He realizes thai
! he has been made the victim of Mr.. Han
'na's scheming.
The suggestion>o Mr.. Sherman as n
| candidate for governor of Ohio has been
| encouraged by his friends. They thina
that 1t is the only course for him to pur-
| sue to demonstrate that he Is not poit-
! ical "has been" John Sherman has sun
| a good many warm friends in the Senate
| and his influence will probably De leh III
| that body as long as he lives.
| The decision of the Republican Natioiiai
| Committee to establish headquarters mere
| this Winter and commence the Presldeh-
tial campaign of 1900. seems to meet with
| general approval among the Immediate
| friends of the President The idea orig
| mated with Senator Hanna, who is the
| chairman of the committee. His OBJECT,
| it Is understood is to make sure OF the
denomination of Mr.. Mckinley two years
| hence, All of the machinery of the COM
| mittec will, it is said. be used TO accam-
| plish this result. A close friend OF Sena-
| tor Hanna said last night 'While sena-
| tor Hanna is confident that Mir. Mchiaiey
will be renominated in 1900. he does not
| believe in taking any chances. by nav
! ing the national committee in session he
| can head of and squelch any incipient
| Presidential booms that may appear on
| the horizon However, there Will be Il
| great deal of routine work that the ma
1 tional committee can dispose of before the
| opening. of the Presidential campaign,
! which is generally neglected until after
| the nominations are made. If the pres
/ ent arrangement is carried out. ii will
/ be in shape the moment the national con-
vention adjourns in 1869 TO take up the
| important work of the campaign. II VIII
| not be necessary, as has been the case in
| the past. to waste one of two months N
getting ready 10 do something.
The Republican leaders are said TO be
contemplating the formulation of some
| plan which will checkmate the suppress
sion of the coiored Republican vote in the
South The plan that appears to meet
with the most favor among them is to cut
down the representatives in the House
from the South. If the colored voters, the
Republicans contend. In the South are to
be disfranchised. then they should not be
counted In the enumeration of inhabitants
for the purpose of fixing the basis of rep
resentation from the Southern States. 1t
is claimed that the South today has rep
resentation in Congress and in the cleo
toral college out of proportion to the
States of the North and West. With the
colored vote eliminated the South would
lose, ii is estimated, at least forty MEN,
bers of the House of Representatives and
half as many members of the electoral
college.
The Republican National Committee has
been wrestling with this problem for sew
eral years without arriving at any definite
conclusion in regard to the matter 1t
was proposed after the defeat of Gen.
Harrison in 1892 to change the system by
which delegates We're elected to a nation
al convention. One of the plans suggest
ed was TO allow one delegate for each con-
gressional district and additional dele
gate for a certain number of Republican
votes above given number. By this ar
rangement some districts would gain del
egates, while others would lose. 1t was
thought that the enforcement of a scheme
of this kind would have the effect of in
creasing the Republican vote, as each dis
trict would have an incentive to do its
best, and at least hold its two delegates.
The st. Louis convention, however, re-
fused to consider the proposition. and it
is not likely that the next national con-
vention of the G. o. P. will take a dif-
ferent view of the situation.
The open door policy of the Admin
istration with reference to the Pbi,jn-
pines.' said Senator William E. Chandler
of New Hampshire yesterday, appears
to be quite generally misunderstood
inaugurate this policy, foreign nations
who are in closer proximity to the phil
lpplnes than the United States will have
great advantage over us in the matter
OF trade. Now, as a matter of fact this |
pohcy Will not continue for any great
length of time. The President il must
be remembered, has no authority to pre- |
scribe permanent tariff laws for the phil |
ipPihes' that Is Congressional function. |
anu must ne dealt with exclusively by |
congress when the islands have reached |
their normal peace conditions. The Presj- |
dent, IN the execution of his duties, has |
only the right to demand that Spain must |
eNacuate the Islands and that they must |
be turned over to the United States. He |
communicates with the Spanish govern |
ment and tells the Spanish people to get |
out OF the Philippines, for which we |
propose TO payfS20,00a000. Then he estab- |
ilshes a military government for the ISL |
ands until such time as the Congress NAV
act Further than to declare to Spoin |
that she must leave the islands he has |
no authority in this matter. 1t then rests |
with congress as to what commercial |
conditions shall be outlined.
Ihe open door policy will prevail only |
50 SO iong as II Is necessary to raise the |
UD, which it is agreed to paw Spain |
After this money is raised then-it will be |
to