ADDRESSES OF MAJOR LACEY 359 



Havre to Paris, was practicable. He said that it was not. 

 It might, he said, be used on level ground, but what if you 

 struck a grade? Then you would need cogs on the 

 wheels so they would not slip. He decided that the rail- 

 road was not a good means of traffic, but that the road 

 engine was. Sixty years have passed by, and the road en- 

 gine, now known as the automobile, has come to stay. 

 The velocipede was invented, tried and used for many 

 years, then discarded. Someone invented the improved 

 rubber tire, and now the velocipede, known as the bi- 

 cycle, is seen every day upon our streets. It is a common 

 vehicle. 



We have covered the land with railroads, and we are 

 supplementing them with canals, to be used not as the 

 rivals of railroads, but to strengthen them and build up 

 their business. Many of you, no doubt, have looked 

 through the great telescopes at our universities, and seen 

 what astronomers tell us are canals upon Mars. Mars 

 is probably older than the earth, and they have their 

 canals completed. We are going back once more to canals. 

 The canal at Suez today is a revival of one built many 

 ages ago, which had been filled up with sand. Renewed 

 in our day, it has become a highway for the nation, revo- 

 lutionizing the whole East and bringing it to the doors of 

 Europe. 



I suppose your idea in inviting some of us gentlemen 

 here tonight was very similar to that which our -wives 

 recognize as one of the principles of good policy, and 

 that is when they introduce a bill from their committee 

 on appropriations, they call it up immediately after din- 

 ner, in order to secure its passage. I know that my wife 

 selects that occasion as the most fitting one, and you 

 gentlemen have shown your wisdom by inviting a number 

 of us here to listen to the eloquent addresses we have 

 heard tonight, and with all the good cheer, sound logic, 



