TO THE EDITOR OF THE “DAILY NEWS.”

Sir,—Ought not the narrow escape we have had of a war in defence of Canada to lead the nation to think seriously not only of the reduction of Colonial expenditure, but of Colonial Emancipation? England has long promised herself the honour of becoming the mother of free nations. Is it not time that this promise should be fulfilled?

If there had been a war with the United States, the “Trent” would have been the occasion, but Canada would have been the cause. It is because we have a dependency on that continent, easily assailable, and which, because it is a dependency, it is thought not immoral to assail, that the idea of a quarrel with England rises in the minds of the Americans whenever their temper or the desire of relief from internal difficulties leads them to think of a foreign war.

It was generally assumed that the war would have been short and easy. In defence of England all wars would be short and easy; but the best judges seem to think that a war would be by no means short or easy if waged in defence of Canada against a power with an immense population close at hand, and able to put an overwhelming force upon the Lakes.