64 



THIRD ANNUAL SESSIONS 



origin, of one race, with the scarlet thread of kinship coursing through 

 all our veins. Next, we have a common task — that of subduing a conti- 

 nent, of facing the stern conditions that would thwart our progress, and 

 the need of bending them to our will. Further, because we, in th© 

 broadest sense over a common Faith and a common Master, and again, 

 because we have a common desire to uplift humanity, to put away those 

 things that degrade and enslave, and have the desire to condition our- 

 selves in the highest circumstances of Humanity, Comfort, Pro- 

 gress and Peace. 



Drouth is Common Enemy. 



"Next, because we have a common enemy to face, the enemy of 

 drouth, which tests our manhood, bars our progress, paralyses our ener- 

 gies and threatens to blight our future. And, further, we have other 

 common problems to face, that I may not enter oif here, for time does 

 not permit — problems racial, social, industrial — all of these reasons in- 

 spire our people to work together for the good of our common humanity. 



International Friendship. 



"The great fleet that recently visited our shores with its sixteen 

 battleships and sixteen thousand men, has inspired the warmest feelings 

 toward your country in the hearts of Australians. They came not to 

 destroy, but to help to fulfill, I believe, our united destiny; not to deal 

 death and destruction, but as Messenger of Peace. We received them 

 with open arms, and rendered such hospitality as their brief visit allowed. 

 We took them to our hearts and homes because we found them men and 

 gentlemen, who by their conduct, won our love and esteem. This week 

 we rejoice to know that they return in safety, after one of the most mem- 

 orable voyages in history, with their distinguished commander. Admiral 

 Sperry, who has proved himself a sailor, a diplomat and a friend. They 

 come sixteen thousand missionaires, to tell you of our land, and your 

 brethren in the South. And so we strike hands across the sea and hold 

 each other in a grip strong and true, to last while our nations endure. 



"We learn much from the United States. . It is the pace maker 

 of the world. The pace may be too hot for us, for you have traveled very 

 fast, but we are learning from you much to copy, some things to avoid. We 

 work on slower lines and, I suppose, have some of the John Bull 

 conservatism still in us, and perhaps it is as well and may save us some 

 mistakes. 



Dry Farming World Study. 



"The problem we have come to discuss and try to solve is not merely 

 local or state, or national, it is universal. It faces the people in nearly 

 every land and today the nations are looking to see what this Con- 

 gress can do to solve the common problem and fight the common enemy. 



Aridity a Common Enemy. 



"This American problem is the Australian one also, for aridity is 

 the greatest foe we have to subdue. With us it turns wealth into pov- 



