The by-election held in the Eighth Congressional District of Miesouri
on Tuesday has attracted a great deal of attention, for it has resulted in a serious reverse for the Republican party. The battle was over the policy of expansion ; for the Democratic Convention declared that "we are unreservedly opposed to the militarism and Imperialism of President McKinley," while the Republicans strongly asserted that the point at issue was whether the President's policy in the Philippines should be endorsed or repudiated. The result was an overwhelming victory for the Democrats on a very fuel poll This, no doubt, seems a heavy blow for the Administration, but we meet not forget that the Democrat was an advocate of the free coinage of silver as well as is anti-Imperialism, while the Republican opposed it, and that tile dietriet was in a very special sense a silver district, having again and again returned Mr
Bland, of the Bland Dollar Bill, by large majorities In any case, the election is no safe indication of popular feeling. One must wait to see what the Far Western and Pacific States, where the Philippines are something more than a name, have to say to the President's policy. We may also note that the Ohio Democratic Convention has passed a platform opposed to entangling alliances with foreign king dome and empires, and denouncing "the secret and vicious alliance now in evidence between England and the Republican Administration whereby the United States may become in- volved in war with foreign nations." English people need not, however, pay any close attention to platform items of this kind. It is the mere babble of the political auction. room, and has little serious import.
Previous page
