Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1864-12-23
sEE1ssI IF y rHH HIsHF tIeHT.

The Toronto G'O6e coulmentsoh the aun0tce-
ment by President Lincoln that the requisite
SIX months notice has been given for the tsrmiD
alton ofthe treaty between Great Britain and
the United States, which forbids .either party
having armed vessels upon the lakes be-
tween0 Canada and ths United States. After
saying that To Canadians especially it is a matter
of gravest moment as it wiz involve large
outlay for naval purposes to maintain an equal
ity with the force put in. commission by the
United States, it adds:
Phe parties 70 whom we are to owe this all
tered state Of things are those Confederate refu-
gees who have endeavored to make the northern
lakes the scene of piracy and robberY-the Pc
culiar pets of the Leader and similar Iournals.-
Much as we regret the determination of the
American Government we can hardly be sur
prised at it. We caDnOt expect Mr. Lincoln
and his ministers to sit quietly by and witness
such acts as the plundering Of the two steamers
on Lake Erie two or three months since with
out taking some steps TO protect the commerce
Of her people OF only did these robberies oc-
cur; not only have other Outrages of similar
character occurred; not only is there plenty Of
evidence that the outrages which have taken
place ara but small portion of those which have
been proiected-that, IN fact they a part Of a
regularly planned system; but there is, moreO-
yer, a systematic effort made in this country to
defend the pirates and raiders from the conse-
quencesof their crimes.
Leading newspapers endegyOr to create public
sentiment in their favor, and by pettifOggiDg
and twisting of small legal points to make It ap-
pear that there is no legal mode Of furnishing
them. Every effort BY our Government to pre-
serve our neutrality and to prevent such expe-
ditions of piracy and robbery from being or
ganized upon Canadian territory, is made the
subject of ridicule and abuse
So far as the Confederate pirates are concerned
| the change will be satisfactory enough If
| there bad been gunbOat hard by to overhaul
| the rascals who captured and robbed the Philo
Parsons aud Island Queen, our officers Of Justice
would have been saved the trouble Of catching
Burley, and our courts the difficulty and re-
\ spOnsibility of deciding what to do with him.
But for our own people, the appearance Of a
nuaber of gunboats on eur inland seas is very
| different affair. The business men and proper
ty-holders of our exposed cities and towns. and
those engaged IN our lake commerce, viii hard
| ly consent that there should be gunboats on one
side OF the lakes and not upon the other That
state of things would put US in eminent peril in
the svent of war. If the Americans had gun
boats while we had none, they could make short
work Of the chief cities of Upper Canada. Long
before we, could supply the deficiency, we
might haye the very points most essential to
] the defence of Western Canada wrested from US
If therefore, the present purpose Of the American
Government be carried out, there can hardly be
a doubt that it involves the providing of num-
| Der of expensive gunbOats for Canadian defence.
| So much seems in store for us as the result Of
lawlessness and utter disregard of the Claims of
| gratitude by rascals to whom our country af-
forded an asylum when they were in need.