312 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



broken in health have never sought her prairies as the 

 natural home for the weak; and her people have grown 

 from a selection among the strongest in the land. But 

 whatever pride of state we may have, whatever pride of 

 state we do have, the people of Iowa always have subor- 

 dinated their love of their own state to that of the union 

 of all the states. 



When Shakespeare wrote his immortal plays there 

 were not so many English speaking people in all the 

 world as now live in Iowa and Illinois Today 120,000,- 

 000 tongues are speaking the language of our forefathers. 



Jasper County was settled in 1843 ; Prairie City, first 

 named Elliot, was settled in 1856. The enabling act to 

 admit the state into the Union, was passed in 1845, only 

 fifty years ago. Already over two million people are liv- 

 ing within her borders. No state takes better care of her 

 deaf, dumb, blind, helpless, and insane. It is not mere 

 wealth or invention that benefits a people. It is the use 

 to which inventions are applied. 



The Chinese had gunpowder and printing before the 

 Christian era, and the Tartars guided their carts and 

 wagons through the plains of Asia with the aid of a mag- 

 netic needle floating in a vessel of water. It is the man- 

 ner in which inventions have been utilized which consti- 

 tutes the chief glory of the present generation. 



