The Americans, it appears, are fortifying their Canadian frontier—that is,
they are not building new forts, but they are strengthening and repairing old ones, so that they may hold "three times" the number of troops. This is not done, says Mr. Proctor, the ex-Secretary for War, because they expect trouble, bat because they wish to be ready for it if it comes,— a remark we seem to have heard before. The plan is not, perhaps, very important, as the forts are only intended for regular troops, and the standing army of the Union is only 28,000 strong ; but it indicates, as does also the remark that the United States could seize the canal system of the St. Lawrence, that the American War Office has thought seriously about its Northern frontier, and does not expect just yet that Canada will merge itself willingly in the United States. The American experts know their own business, we suppose, but they certainly are not serious in expecting invasion by land from Canada.
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