Great Britain has already secured to herself the means of access to the
Lakes by her system of Canadian canals, and the Military Committee of
the House express the opinion, that, in case of a war with that power,
"a small fleet of light-draught, heavily armed, iron-clad gunboats,
could, in one short month, in despite of any opposition that could be
made by extemporized batteries, pass up the St. Lawrence, and shell
every city and village from Ogdensburg to Chicago. At one blow it could
sweep our commerce from that entire chain of lakes. Such a fleet would
have it in its power to inflict a loss to be reckoned only by hundreds
of millions, so vast is the wealth thus exposed to the depredations of a
maritime enemy." We were saved from such a blow, a few months ago, only
by the failure of the Rebel agents in Canada to procure, either by
purchase or piracy, a swift armed steamer.

Ever since the War of 1812, England has been preparing, in the event of
another war, to strike at this, our vital point. In 1814 the Duke of
Wellington declared "that a naval superiority on the Lakes is a _sine
qua non_ of success in war on the frontier of Canada." Years before,
William Hall, Governor of the Northwestern Territory, made the same
declaration to our Government, and the capture of Detroit by the British
in 1812 was due to their failure to respond to his appeal for a naval
force. In 1817 the Lakes were put on a peace establishment of one gun on
each side, which was a good bargain for England, she having at that time
larger interests on the Lakes than the United States. Now ours exceed
hers in the ratio of four to one.

What said the London "Times" in January, 1862, in reference to the Trent
excitement? "As soon as the St. Lawrence opens again there will be an
end of our difficulty. We can then pour into the Lakes such a fleet of
gunboats, and other craft, as will give us the complete and immediate
command of those waters. Directly the navigation is clear, we can send
up vessel after vessel without any restriction, except such as are
imposed by the size of the canals. The Americans would have no such
resource. They would have no access to the Lakes from the sea, and it is
impossible that they could construct vessels of any considerable power
in the interval that would elapse before the ice broke up. With the
opening of spring the Lakes would be ours."

This is just what the English did in the War of 1812. They secured the
command