It is not impossible that the United States may be
bitten by the annexation fever. The people are greatly moved by the- prospect of the Canal through the Isthmus of Panama, and. both Houses at Washington have passed resolutions which mean that the Union must control the Canal. Moreover, ad interim- arrangements have been made at Washington with the Minister of Columbia,—the new official name of the nine potty States: of the Isthmus, now federated,—under which the American Government can occupy forts on the Isthmus, establish naval stations there, and send men-of-war through the Canal. It is said the Columbian Congress will disallow the arrangement, but with a very little American help, the President, who has sanctioned it will make himself Dictator, even if he does not sell the Isthmus to the Union. There is no real force at Columbian disposal,. the railway is American, and the local anarchy is becoming a nuisance to the trade of a continent. From New Orleans and. San Francisco, the Americans, if they please, can strike at the Isthmus on both sides.
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