The Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1888. THE AMERICAN TROUBLE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1812, 6 November 1888, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1888. THE AMERICAN TROUBLE.

America's present attitude towards England is assuming a rather serious aspect. It is all attributed to the forthcoming Presidential election, but we doubt very much whether there is not something of a more serious nature behind it. The fisheries question of course is the great pretext for the disagreement, and without doubt it has been the cause of a good deal of irritation for years. So far as we Know the fisheries question consists in this —The Canadian Government will not allow American fishermen to fish within about nine miles of Canadian land, hut the American Government place no restrictions on Canadians. They allow them to fish where they like. This has been a burning question for years, and recently Mr Joseph Chamberlain was sent over to America by the British Government to try to settle the dispute. He arrived at certain arraugements, but they were not ratified by the American Government, and next the President of the United States proposed to retaliate on Canada by adopting measures to stop Canadian goods from coming into the American markets. He has followed this up now by picking a quarrel with Sir Lionel Sackville West, the British Minister at Washington. The cause of the quarrel is said to be that the British Minister signified his preference for one of the candidates for the Presidency, lair L. Sackville West sayls that a trap was laid for him, and that he was betrayed into saying what he did say, but evidently his explanation is not satisfactory to President Cleveland. The attention of Lord Salisbury was first called to the conduct of Sir L. S. "West by the President of America, but Lord Salisbury took no notice of it, and according te later accounts a very serious step has been taken. Sir L. S. West has been officially warned by the Secretary of President Cleveland that he is no longer acceptable as British Minister, which is tantamount to turning him out of the country. The reason given for taking this high-handed step is that it has been done because Lord Salisbury took no notice of the matter when his attention was drawn to it, and thus what is almost a challenge has been thrown down to the British Government. It is undoubtedly an insult of a very serious nature, and England has often gone to war for a less reason* It is said that President Cleveland is doing all this for electioneering purposes, so as to secure votes. If so it does not say much for the feeling towards England which exists in America. If to insult England is to secure popularity, then it is evident that there is a bad feeling towards England in America. Our own opinion is that there is something behind all this. For years past a certain amount of discontent has existed in Canada, and a large portion of it desires separation from England. What their grounds for objecting to the union with England are we do not know. They have a free Government, freer than we have in this colony, and England interferes very little in their arrangements, and why they should desire the change is incomprehensible. There is no doubt but it is a fact that the United States outstrips Canada in the race of progress. Canada is as large as the United States, yet the population of the former is under 5,000,000, while the population of the latter is over 60,000,000. There are only about 1£ persons on every square mile of land in Canada, while there are about Hi persons on every square mile in the United States. Perhaps the climate has something to do with this, but it may also have an unsettling effect on the minds of some Canadians who may think that the freedom enjoyed in the United States has had a great deal to do with its progress. At any rate it is so. A good many Canadians are desirous of a charge. Some years ago there was some talk about separation from England, and we remember reading an account of a debate held in a College Debating Society, in which the students almost Unanimously voted for separation. Recently this discontent has shaped itself into an expressed desire to unite with the United States, and foremost in this movement came the French Canadians. This is remarkable. When the United States rebelled againss British authority the French Canadians remained loyal, although their grievances were equally as galling as those of the others. Doubtless they have some cause for desiring separation now, and it is probably because the English are becoming too numerous for them and securing the advantages which they in former years enjoyed. However that may be, the fact remains that the French Canadians desire to unite with the United States ? and the probabilities are that President Cleveland is endeavoring to hasten the union, Thorp is alse evidence to show that the United States is ready to welcome them any moment they decide on making the change. The province of Quebec, which has a population of nearly l£ millions and an area of J. 88,688 square miles, is almost exclusively French, and as they have a Provincial Government of their own they can easily pass a measure placing themselves under the protection CI tlie &**! *5 d gripes, Jtis |

more tban probable that this is at the bottom of the action recently taken by the President of America, and if so a war between the tvro nations is within the bound? of possibility.