A WEIGHTY ADDRESS.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 61, 6 July 1908, Page 7

A WEIGHTY ADDRESS.

Fuller particulars of President i\ooseveit's auuress at Washington in May last to the conference composed of Governors and specially appointed experts of the dilferenb States of the Republic " oil the conservation of national resources show tha,t the cabled resume fairly expressed the President's warning as to tho rapid exhaustion of the wonderful gilts of nature vouchsafed to the United States. They had, lie said, began with an unapproachecl heritage of lorests. More than half of the timber was gone. They had begun with coal fields more extensive thaii those of any other nation, and with iron ores regarded as inexhaustible, and many experts now declared that the end of both iron and coal was in sight.The mere increase in their consumption of coal during 1907 over 1906 exceeded the total consumption iii 1876. Tho enormous store of mineral oil and gas was largely gone. Tlieir natural waterways were not gone, bat they had been "so injured by neglect unci other causes that there was less navigation on them now than there had been fifty years ago. Finally, they had begun with soils of unexampled fertility, and they 'had so impoverished them by injudicious use and by failure to check the erosion that their crop producing power was diminishing instead of improving. The natural resources enumerated could bo divided into two sharply distinguished classes, according as thoy were or were not capable of renewal. In dealing with coal, oil, gas, iron, and metals generally all that could be done was to try to see that" they were wisely used. The second class could not only be used so as to leave them undiminished, but they could actually be improved with wise use. The soil, tho forests and the waterways came into this category. It was unpardonable for the nation or the State to permit any further cutting of timber save on a system which would provide that the next generation should see the timber increased rather than diminished. Irrigation and drainage would add enormously to the extent and value of agricultural land, and transportation facilities could be enormously increased by the canalisation of the rivers so as to complete a great system of waterways. But all these various uses of natural resources were so closely connected that they should be co-ordinated, and should be treated as part of one coherent plan, and not in haphazard and piecemeal fashion. "Any right thinking father," said the President, in summing up, "earnestly desires and strives to leave his son both an untarnished name and a reasonable equipment for the struggle of life. So thi3 nation as a whole should earnestly desire and strive to leave to tho next generation the national honor untainted and the national resources unexhausted. There are signs that both the nation and the States are waking to tho realisation of this great truth. On 10th March, 1908, the Supremo Court of Maine rendered an exceedingly important judicial decision. This opinion was rendered in response to questions as to tho right of tho Legislature to restrict the cutting of trees on private land for the prevention of droughts and floods, the preservation of the natural wator supply, and the prevention of the erosion of such lands, and the consequent filling up of rivers, ponds, and lakes. The forests and the waterpower of Maine constitute the larger part of her wealth, and form the basis of her industrial life, and the question submitted by the Maine Senate to the Supreme Court and the answer of the Supreme Court alike bear testimony to the wisdom of the people of Maine, and clearly define a policy of conservation of natural resources, the adoption of which is of vital importance not merely to Maine, but to the whole country. Such a policy will preserve soil, forests, and water-power as a heritage for the children and the children's children of the men and women of this generation, for any enactment that provides for the wise utilisation of the forests, whother in public or private ownership, and for tho conservation of the water resources of this country must necessarily be legislation that will promote both public and private welfare; for flood prevention, water-power development, preservation of the soil, and improvement of navigable rivers are all promoted by such a policy of foTest Roosevelt said: "Finally, let us remember that the conservation of our natural resources, though the gravest problem of to-day, is yet but part of another and greater problem to which this nation is not yet awake, but to which it will awake in time, and with which it must hereafter grapple if it is to live—the problem of national efficiency, the patriotic duty of ensuring the safety and continuance of the nation. When the people of the United States consciously undertake to raise themselves as citizens, and tho nation and tho States in their several spheres to the highest pitch of excellence in private, State, and national life, and to do this because it is the first of all the duties of true patriotism, then, and not till then, the future of the nation in quality and in time, will be assured." With due allowance for proportion, the weighty words of President Roosevelt are equally applicable here. Particularly is this the case with regard to the wastage of timber and the spread of noxious we§ds. In one case there is the settlement to be urged in palliation but in the other no reasonable excuse can be offered, and the danger to tho common weal is still going on apace. We have made a start in a small way to replace our forests, but the weed question will be one of the big problems of the future, besides which the rabbit pest pales into insignificance. In other directions we are showing more appreciation of our resources than used to be the case. Flax is more carefully conserved, the fertility of our lands is

barely scratched so far, and our iron industry is merely a dream of the future, so that we have nothing to reproach ourselves with in this regard. While not wasting time on useless regrets for our sins of omission and commission in various directions in the past, it should be our endeavor to so regulate the conduct of business in regard to these : and other of our natural gifts that our successors shall have no cause to complain of selfishness or lack of foresight on our part.