exception of lumber, we probably should have no great inconvenience were Canada uninhabited and inaccessible to us. The old stock of Canadians, (the larger part of the population), differs from us in blood, speech, and institutions. For this' reason we fail to see what benefit our country could receive by their annexation. The people of Canada have never been educated up to the ideas of a republican form of government; and it is to be seriously doubted whether she could harmoniously unite with us in the government which we enjoy. Al- ready her experience with con flicts bet ween Church and State ought to be enough to settle with us all questions of annexation. Why should we wish to mix ourselves up with that disturber of peace ? for annexation would be no settlement of this ques tion, only the inauguration of it. If we had no social or political problems of our own to solve in the near future, we nevertheless ought to con sider well our ground before taking to ourselves the solu'ion of a problem with which we have never had any experience. It has been expressed that Canada would be of value to us in the event of war with England, for the reason that if owned by England, she could use it for a recruiting ground and base of supplies. This may be true, but our country has never look ed forward to a war policy. We would be con tent to use Canada fora battle ground, and thus save our own territory from the devastating re sults of war, should we ever meet England again; for did we own Canada, it is no more probable that we would be invaded there than elsewhere, where as it now is, either Canada or the border line would surely be the field of action, on land, were a war with England in progress. It is true that England has the advantage of us by owning the ship canals which lead from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, thus controlling the outlet of the Great Lakes. Were our country less tardy in gaining the management of important com munications to the interior of its own territory, we should already have had canals of our own, upon THE FLEE LANCS. our own territory, suitable for the passage of ships to and from the Lakes ; for many such routes have been pointed out as feasible by engineers. As for territory we have ample room for devel opment in all branches of indurtry. We can double, yes, quadruple our present population be fore we shall begin to feel uncomfortable, and by that time all land that is unsettled in Canada, will not be worth considering. We should look to history and weigh well the results which have come from the greed of territory. We shall not have much trouble to see how mighty kingdoms, and empires, kept grabbing territory until they had boundaries too large to hold in their power ; and how by trying to assimilate different peoples they were eventually crumbled by invasions from without, aided by civil dissentions within. The power of a country does not depend wholly upon the size of its territory, its large population or its wealth, but upon the. unity of its people, in their institutions and in the government which has giv them peace and happiness. Let us then not envy foreign powers of their territory, when we possess the finest country, all things considered, which the light of the sun shines upon, when we enjoy the freest govern ment in existence. Let us not like Rome of old add so much ter ritory to our own, that, through diverse races of people and antagonistic institutions, we shall be unable under one form of government to Main - - tain peace and order. By measures, reciprocal and otherwise, it is possible for the two countries to exchange with each other their products in a manner both satis factory and beneficial to each. By better diploma tic laws it is possible for better relations to exist between them. By internal laws best suited to each and best formed by each individually, they can and ought to grow in power and wealth, liv ing peaceably side by side ; where were they unit ed as one country under a common government, conflicts would inevitably occur between people so different in growth and sentiment.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers