The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-05-26
SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.
EDITORIAL OPINIONS OF THE LEADING JOURNALS
UPON CURRENT ToPIos-CoNfPILED EVERY
DAY FOB THE EVENING TELEGRAPH.
CANADIAN ANNEXATION.
From the NJ Y. Sun.

CANADIAN ANNEXATION.
From the NJ Y. Sun.
The loyal subjects of Great Britain in
Canada are generally resting under the delu-
sion that their country is much coveted by
their American neighbors, and that the latter
are only awaiting pretext for attempting
forcible annexation of their territory to the
United States. In this they are greatly mis-
taken. Our country is large enough for the
present; in fact, it is too large to be well
governed until we get an administration a
good deal wiser than the one now in power
Nevertheless, annexation will finally be ac-
complished, and that result will come to pass
mainly through the efforts of the Canadians
themselves Already there are many active
and earnest advocates of annexation in
Canada; and unless some extraordinary and
unexpected change in the condition of the
two countries should occur, the number of
these must steadily increase. The reason for
this state of things is very simple. In the
United States business is brisk and remune-
rative, and the value of property of all kinds
is constantly increasing; while on the other
side of the line, with very few local excep-
ton, trade is stagnant, labor is poorly paid,
and real progress is almost unknown.
Nothing will more plainly show the differ
ence in the actual condition of the inhabi-
tants of Canada and the United States than
a comparison of the state of affairs existing
in places on each side of the line possessing
similar natural advantages. Take Portland
and Quebec, for instance. The former city
was almost burned to the ground few years
ago; now it has been rebuilt with much more
elegant and costly buildings than it previously
possessed, and is one of the most thriving
cities in America. Mechanics command high
wages and all is life and prosperity. Quebec,
on the other hand, is surrounded with very
valuable water power which is not applied to
any useful purposes, and has direct trade
with Europe, and every facility for an i'm
mense lumber trade. But the city is bank
rupt; it cannot collect taxes enough to pay
the interest on its debt. Business of every
kind is dead; the mass of the people are
miserably poor; there is but little demand
for labor; and the industrial classes, when
they find employment at all, are compelled
to work at starvation prices. Ship carpen-
ters in Quebec get from forty to sixty
cents day.
Just as marked contrast is to be observed
between the towns of Ogdensburg and
Prescott, the first on the American and the
other directly opposite on the Canadian side
of the st. Lawrence river. Ogdensburg is
full of busy manufacturing establishments,
and evidences of thrift and enterprise are
manifest in every direction. Cross to Can
ada and one finds sleepy old town that ap-
pears as if it had INDUCED in Rip Van
Winkle slumber for the last half century.
So at Windsor, opposite Detroit; although
so near to one of the most busy and enter
prising cities of the Western States, it seems
as If the boundary line had proved an i'm
pregnable barrier to enterprise and public
spirit. Trade is dull, real estate sells at
ridiculously low figures, and farmers may be
seen hawking their produce around for mere
nothing. At St. John, below st. Albans, on
the Chamblay river where within a circuit of
twelve miles may be found water power
more than equal to that of Lowell, Man.
chester, and Lawrence combined, lands and
houses can be bought for mere song. In
the villages of st. John and Chamblay COM
Portable houses, with garden attached, can
be rented at from twelve to eighteen dollars
a year. A few weeks ago farm of two hun
dred acres of land, partly improved, in Maid
stone township, Canada, lying within sight
of Lake st. Clair, and but one mile from
station on the Great Western Railway, was
sold at public sale for twelve dollars an acre.
Land in Crosse Point, on the American
shore, directly opposite, is worth one hundred
dollars an acre, not because it is any richer
land, but because it is within the United
States.
Now this state of things cannot last forever.
The spirit of loyalty to the British Grown is
strong in the average Canadian, but his in
herited love of roast beef is stronger. Thou
sands of Canadians are emigrating to the
United States every year; twenty five hun
dred passed through st. Adams recently in
single week. Great numbers Of Canadians
fiocksto our manufacturing towns for employ
ment during the winter months, many of
whom return to Canada in the summer.
Every one of these is a missionary in the
cause of annexation. The oflice-holders, the
pensioners of the British Government, and
the wealthy traders who are gradually getting
into their possession the lands and property
of the poverty stricken inhabitants, will con-
tinue intensely loyal; but the desire for an
nexation to the United States will so spread
among the masses as to form before many
years a wave of public opinion which it will
be impossible for the loyalists to resist. In
the mean time we can afford to watch the
progress of events with entire equanimity.