President Roosevelt and the Senate are still at variance. His
concessions on the Railway Rates Bill have increased the number of his supporters, though, it is doubtful if they will enable the measure to pass; but on the Philippine Tariff Bill, a test measure of the new American Imperialism, his policy has suffered a severe defeat. The Bill was rejected by the Senate Committee on the Philippines, who were influenced by the sugar and tobacco interests, which feared the free access of Philippine goods to the American markets. The opposition was largely Republican, being composed partly of those extreme Protectionists who regard the existing tariff as sacrosanct, and partly; of those interested in the commodities protected. It is unlikely that the President and his chief lieutenants will sit down tamely under their defeat. The Philippines are subject to. the restrictions of the American Navigation Laws, and it is only just that they should share in the advantages of their connection with the Republic as well as in the burdens. Unless this principle is established
beyond cavil, America's new dream of empire is foredoomed to failure. What the Senate is doing is to treat the oversea possessions of the United States as foreign and commercially hostile communities.
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