which was so severely censured at the time by so many of the most prominent men of the nation.

Mr. Hay's one achievement, and for which he is fully entitled to credit, was his successful policy in dealing with the Boxer rebellion, and what was called the "open door" in China. After the disastrous war with Japan, China lay stranded, and all the powers seemed willing to see her dismembered, provided they could obtain a share of the spoils. It was the policy of the United States, if its trade relations were to be preserved, that the integrity of the Chinese Government should be maintained. This Government declined to support the pretensions of the various powers, Italy among them, for the occupation of territory, and yet it was not prepared to assure China that it would give her assistance in repelling any move of that sort by armed forces. It would have been futile to do so. Mr. Hay resorted to diplomacy, and finally addressed to London, Berlin, and St. Petersburg, his famous note on the open door, which was so skillfully put that the respective powers could not avoid an acceptance of the principle involved without turning their backs upon the system of free commercial intercourse between nations, which had long been recognized as proper and necessary in civilized countries.

It requested the European Governments to respect the existing treaty ports and vested interests, and to "allow the Chinese tariff to be maintained and to be collected in the respective spheres of influence, and not to discriminate against other foreigners, in port and railroad rates." After some hesitation an acceptance was obtained, first from one, and then from another, when other lesser powers were addressed and they could not but follow the example set.

The Boxer uprising in the meantime, and the prompt relief of the imprisoned embassies through American agencies, and before the arrival of the German punitive expedition, was hailed everywhere as a fine piece of work, and gave Mr. Hay great and deserved prestige.

DAVID G. MCINTOSH.

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