The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-14 00:00:00

people, but how long we may continue so no one can
pretend with any certainty to predict. In the
Northern States—where the voice of the people, if
not exactly the voice of God, is, at all events, the
voice of authority—it is confidently declared that
the termination of the civil war will be simultaneous
with the commencement of a war with England, and
that the legions which are now scattered over the
Confederacy will be launched against Canada. How-
ever this may be, the contingency is, at all events,
a possible one, and therefore one which the Govern-
ment of this country should look steadily in the
face, and decide upon the manner in which, in the
event of its occurrence, it should be met. Colonel
Jervois, a very able engineer officer, has been
recently employed in examining the defensive con-
dition of the Canadian frontier, and his report has
been published by the Government. In the debate
which took place a few weeks since in the House
of Lords the Government was reproached for
having thus officially declared to the world that
Canada was virtually defenceless—a charge, how-
ever, to which the notoriety of the admission made
furnished an adequate answer. Much more mate-
rial, however, is the question which the publication
of that report naturally provokes, and to which the
nation is entitled to look to the Government for an
answer. If with any troops we would be able to
spare, aided by the militia of Canada, we could not
hope to defend successfully the Canadian frontier
in its present condition against an invasion, what
course are we prepared to adopt in the event of our
friendly relations with America being brought to a
close ? Do we intend fortifying the frontier or leav-
ing it in its present state ? and if the former, what
steps are about being taken to carry that object into
effect ? Such were the questions raised in the de-
bate of last evening in the House of Commons.
When Mr. Cardwell stated, with considerable em-
phasis, :that war with Canada would be war with
England, he gave the fullest and most unequivocal
refutation to any suspicions which may have been
entertained of the intention of Great Britain to
abandon her dependency in the event of its being
invaded by the armies of the American States.
But, in truth, the question of the expediency of for-
tifying the Canadian frontier does not depend, as
Mr.:Forster would have us suppose, on the accu-
racy or inaccuracy of the opinions we may form of
'the intentions of the American people, because no
State, with anypretentionsto be considered powerful
or independent, should rely for the integrity of its
dominions on the forbearance which it may anti-
cipate at the hands of a foreign Power. It is not
what we suspect the American nation of intending to
do, but what it is capable of doing, which should
furnish the guide for our future conduct, and there-
fore conjectures attributing to it aggressive designs
are not only offensive but irrelevant. It must be
admitted that Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald introduced
the subject with great moderation, and contented
himself with an inquiry into what would be the
conduct of the Government, and what the defensive
resources of Canada, in the event of a possible con-
tingency. The conduct pursued by the American
Government in giving notice of their intention to
terminate the treaty regulating the naval force main-
tained by Great Britain and the United States on the
Lakeshas not unnaturally excited some suspicions of
their future intentions ; and the member for Horsham
even went so far as to say that gun-boats were
being now built in English dockyards intended for
the service of the American Government on these
Lakes, for which no ostensible use could be assigned
except in the event of a war with Canada. Dis-
missing, however, any conclusions which might be
drawn either from the conduct of the Federal Go-
vernment or the language of the American press,
Mr. Fitzgerald simply accepted the report of Colonel
Jervois, and, assuming that the Canadian frontier
is as that officer represented it to be, in a defenceless
condition, pressed the Government for a declaration
of the course which they intended to adopt. It is
satisfactory to learn, on the authority of the Colo-
nial Secretary, that with the co-operation of the
Canadian people, the requisite defensive works may
be raised at a cost which the English nation will
not consider unreasonable. Whether the Americans
intend invading Canada or not, we have resolved on
not leaving such towns as Quebec and Montreal in
a condition which—regard being had to the recent
changes in the science of warfare—would properly
be regarded as absolutely defenceless. It is estimated
that the cost of fortifying Quebec will be £200,000,
of which sum it is proposed to ask for £50,000 in
the current year. The objections taken to so small
a vote—on . the ground that the danger which
threatens Canada is imminent--were conclusively
answered by Mr. Cardwell. It would be impossible,
he told the House, to expend more than that sum
during the next twelve months ; but in the succeed-
ing year a vote for. the balance would betaken, and the
works would most probably be completed within
two years from the time of their commencement.
The question of defending Canada is, however, as
he pointed out, not one for the mother country
alone. We may be under obligations to stand by
Canada in the hour of danger, but the Canadians
are equally under obligations to defend themselves.
And it is but just to say that the Colonial Legisla-
ture do not attempt to ignore or to shirk this obvi-
ous duty. They have undertaken to provide for the
fortification of Montreal and for the erection of any
works which may be deemed necessary to the west-
ward of that town. Active preparations are also
being made for putting the militia in such a state
of efficiency as to enable the Government to have at
their command in the event of invasion a numerous
and well-appointed army, In a word, Great Bri-
tain has resolved on continuing to make the cause
of Canada her own, and is determined, so long as
the colony acknowledges her supremacy, to regard
the invasion of its territory as an act of war against
herself. This, then, being the declared policy of the
British Government, nothing remains but to com-
mence and push forward towards completion with
all necessary speed those works which, in the opin-
ion of competent engineers, are considered necessary
for the defence of the Canadian frontier. Nothing,
as Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald justly observed, would
be more likely to provoke a war than a confession
on our part that we were unprepared for it, and we
may therefore regard the measures which we now
propose to adopt as the best guarantees for the pre-
servation of peace.