A PROPOSED NEW STATE PARK 



H. S. Pepoon_, Lake View High School^ Chicago. 



I am before you today to present and speak in favor of a 

 Proposed New State Park, the Canyon Park, located in Jo 

 Daviess County on the upper approaches of Apple River, a 

 small tributary of the Mississippi. It seems hardly neces- 

 sary for me to argue in favor of such a place of recreation, 

 before a body of enlightened men and women such as con- 

 stitute the Illinois Academy. All of you, doubtless, will 

 subscribe to tlie proposition that within reasonable limits, 

 all the more remarkable natural feature of a state ought, 

 at least in part, to be preserved as playgrounds for our 

 own and succeeding generations. 



Let me, however, briefly, as stirring up your remem- 

 brance of the vital points of such a contention, that this 

 may in turn be used by you on any doubting Thomas, state 

 them as briefly as possible : — 



The first desideratum of any commonwealth is to po^ - 

 sess a vigorous, contented, and ever improving citizenry. 

 In these times of fierce and uncompromising strife for com- 

 mercial advancement, personal betterment, and all that 

 goes with the modern struggle for individual and commun- 

 ity success, the strain of labor becomes more and more im- 

 perative and exacting, and the absolute necessity for relax- 

 ation is an equally imperative call. No man, young or old, 

 can, with impunity, and without serious danger, toil ever 

 without play spells; for if he is able to do so physically, 

 the reaction on the higher qualities of mind and soul are 

 disastrous. My first contention, therefore, is that a man 

 or woman to keep normal must play at times, must relax 

 and give place to these higher qualities, that, in their culti- 

 vation, he or she personally, may receive enlarged bene- 

 fits, and the state have developed a better and more desir- 

 able people. 



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