and will bestow on the working class the blessings of fresh air 

 while they are enjoying the blessing of pure food. 



The foaming torrent of Niagara has been harnessed and 

 buckled to machinery for the creation of electricity in the great 

 State of New York. We have, in this State, water power in 

 the streams and lakes of the Sierras, which can be utilized in 

 the same way. There is no limit to the volume of electricity 

 which skillful engineering can make them yield. Machinery 

 adapted for the purpose was exhibited at our last Mechanics' 

 Fair. By turning it to account, California will ask no odds of 

 States which are more bountifully supplied with the l)est kinds 

 of coal, and will overcome the drawback of its geological 

 formation. 



But this new power, with its vast possibilities, should remain 

 the property of the people of the State, and be guarded against 

 monopoly by individuals or corporations. A special bureau 

 should be created by the Legislature, with authority and 

 means to erect the necessary plants and storage reservoirs. 

 Such a bureau could be manned by a selection from the most 

 distinguished graduates in engineering at the two universities, 

 and there is ample labor in our cities to perform the mechani- 

 cal work. Under proper management, electrical works, such as 

 supply the Folsom prison with the power it uses, would become 

 a source of income for the State, and might in time justify a 

 reduction in the tax levy. * 



A question arises, however, it can not be kept back, are our 

 California boys and girls receiving such an education as will 

 enable them to take advantage of "the tide in the affairs of 

 men, which taken at the flood, will lead to fortune?" Are 

 they receiving a proper technical education? I look upon this 

 question as one of the most important we have to grapple Avith 

 to-day — as a question which should be especially considered at 

 the thirtieth fair of our Institute, which ever since its birth, 

 has by its library, its classes, its lectures and its fairs, estab- 

 lished a right to consider itself a pioneer in the field of techni- 

 cal and mechanical education. 



The whole of the United States is drying up for the want of 

 technical education. It is dropping behind other nations, and 



