20 OCTOBER 1866, Page 2

A very odd and not very agreeable telegram has been

received from Vancouver's Island. Mr. M'Clure had announced that the Government of Vancouver's Island intended to petition the Queen for a responsible government, and a reciprocity treaty with the United States. Failing this, "the Qtteen will be solicited to arrange for the annexation of the colony • to the United States." We presume this means that the colonists will solicit this, not the Government, but this perpetaal menace getting very tiresome. There is no reason why the , people Of Vancouver's Island should not have self -government, if they like; but it takes two governments to make a treaty, and Her 'Majesty cannot be ordered to petition the Union to grant what this very telegram will encourage American statesmen to refuse. If annexation is the alternative to the treaty, Washington will refuse the treaty for ever.