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Caption: Book - History of the University (Powell)
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56 History University of Illinois casion at the fair grounds on the subject of " T h e millennium of l a b o r / ' I t was a masterful and convincing address* A few significant paragraphs will indicate the trend of his thought. " A n d shall it not always be said that it was reserved for the laborers in this great valley of the far west to take under their charge the last great social and moral interest and necessity of man—THE CAUSE OF LIBERAL INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION—and thus prepare the way fully for the great triumph and millennium of labor; " I would covet for myself and for my children no higher earthly distinction than the capacity, the knowledge and science requisite to cultivate in the best possible manner 160 acres of our prairie land, and discharge thereon all the necessary duties of an American free laborer. And if I had it I should know more at this moment than all the professors and teachers and scholars, statesmen, lawyers and divines that have ever trod this continent since Columbus first bowed his knee upon its eastern sands. " B u t I have it not—and I see no certain causes in actual operation adequate to secure it to me or to you or to our children after u s ; and to urge you to create the means of ushering in this era of intelligence and power for your professions and for the world is the object of my present theme " B u t to work this transformation or rather to complete it we need more practical science and skill, and to get these we must apply the means and resources for creating them. "Doubtless you are aware that several conventions of farmers and mechanics have been held in our own state and in other states to secure this great end. You are also aware that the legislature of our own state had the high honor to be the first in this great confederation of republics to invoke our sister states to unite in a petition to the general government for an appropriation of $500,000 worth of our vacant lands for the endowment in each state in the Union of an Industrial University suited to their wants. "You are also aware that the same legislature chartered an Industrial League in this state, with a capital of $20,000 de-
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