vi PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 
annihilation of space is the rapid perfection to which wireless 
telegraphy is being brought. When we consider that space is 
of no importance in commercial relations excepting in so far 
as it separates communication, the tremendous importance of 
wireless telegraphy becomes apparent. Under the old 
system of sending electrical messages by wire, the undertaking. 
was one of extreme difficulty, not to mention the expense 
incidental. By the system of wireless transmission, the ends 
of the earth will be brought cheek by jowl, so that the furthest 
parts of the world will be nearest to whomsoever desires 
to have it brought on to his own office table. Hardly at this 
stage can we fully estimate, much less appreciate, the tremen- 
dous change which this scientific developement will bring 
about. It was thought when steam practically reduced miles 
to inches, and when later, to that swift fellow, electricity was 
given a position in our post offices, that the end of possibility 
had been reached. If we are to believe aright, the end of that 
possibility now is farther off than ever it was. Aerial loco- 
motion will be an‘accomplished fact doubtless in our time. 
In a thousand cities, in obscure laboratories the midnight oil 
is burning, ardent devotees at the shrine of science are at this 
very moment, patiently, indefatigably, restlessly, and un- 
ostentatiously pursuing their worship. The reward they may 
never reach. They are doing it in the great cause of a great 
power, yet one and all are contributing to the more effective 
carrying out of this tremendously complex system which we 
call commerce. By their efforts they are cheapening the food 
for the poor, the advantages of education, the extent of human 
enjoyment ; they are making easier the way towards that 
high ideality, that Utopia, of which the world’s most en- 
thusiastic philanthropists have reverently dreamed. 
But marvellous as have been the conquests of science over 
time and space, they fade almost into insignificance in com- 
parison with her conquests over that most stubborn of all 
elements, matter. Hardly need I dwell at any length on this 
particular portion of my subject. It is well known that in the 
largest paper factories of the continent, a tree trunk enters 
a machine at one end and comes out rolls of paper at the other. 
Look at the almost incredible advancement made in other 
processes of manufacture ; in every department of industry, 
primary and secondary ; in the treatment of ores; in the 
