88 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



Man finds himself in possession of a world full of all the essential 

 elements required for his highest enjoyment, and in the possession of 

 powers and faculties adequate to produce from these elements the desired 

 results, to amply supply the physical needs of the entire race, and when 

 all are prepared to act their part in the productive industries of the world 

 the whole human family may have an ample supply for all their needs. 

 Much of the land now considered worthless will, in time, as our knowl- 

 edge of agriculture increases, be made to yield abundantly, for "the 

 desert must rejoice, and the wilderness be made to blossom as the rose." 

 Here in the fertile valleys of the West, where the soil is wonderfully 

 prolific, we have little or no conception of what man is capable of doing 

 in transforming the barren wastes of the earth into fertile fields. Sahara 

 is a name typical of barrenness and desolation, yet science has already 

 accomplished much even there. The experiment of artesian wells was 

 first tried there by the French, and afterward by the natives themselves, 

 and finding that water could be obtained in this way, many tribes have 

 abandoned their wandering life, planted palm trees, and commenced the 

 cultivation of the soil. Laurent, a French writer, says: "Everything 

 had been prepared to take advantage of this new source of wealth without 

 delay. A division of the tribe of Selmia and their Sheik laid the 

 foundation of a village as soon as the water flowed, and planted twelve 

 hundred date palms, renouncing their wandering life to attach themselves 

 to the soil. In this arid spot, life had taken the place of solitude, and 

 presented itself with its smiling images to the astonished traveler. Young 

 girls were drawing water at the fountain ; the flocks, the great dromeda- 

 ries with their slow pace, the horses led by the halter, were moving to 

 the watering trough ; the hounds and the falcons enlivened the group of 

 parti-colored tents ; and living voices and animated movement had 

 succeeded to silence and desolation." There is no land so poor that 

 industry and science cannot reclaim it. It is said that the Chinese carry 

 the earth up the mountain sides, and deposit it on the bare rock, and 

 succeed thus in raising valuable crops ; and much of the famous wine of 

 the Moselle is obtained from grapes grown upon earth carried up the 

 cliffs on the shoulders of men. The lands that man's ignorance and 

 wickedness have cursed, shall yet be redeemed by his intelligence and 

 virtue. The valleys of the East, now lying barren and desolate, shall be 

 redeemed and regenerated, and Palestine shall again become what it is 

 said to have been, "a land flowing with milk and honey." Man, by his 

 industry, wealth and increased intelligence, will eventually succeed in 

 overcoming all the physical evils that surround him, and thus bring about 

 the only millennium that can ever come to him upon the earth. 



REPORT ON PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



Tyler McWorter reported as follows : 



Your committee, appointed to report on the President's Address, 

 would respectfully report that we consider the literary excellence and 

 earnest thought of the address are such as do much credit to our worthy 

 President. 



