The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-11-23
ROOSEVELT WRITES.
Sends Letter to the Irrigation Con-
Rraaa in ChicaCn

Chicago Nov 23-The Auditorium the
called last nights session of the Irrigation
congress to order. A letter from Cover
nor roosevelt was read, in which he said:
i believe to the last point in the vital
necessity of storing the floods and pre-
serving the forests, especially throughout
The problems of the development of the
greater west Is in large part a problem
national government giving generous aid
70 the movement, for 1t is not possible
that If it were possible it would not be
wise to have this storage work done mere
" through private ownership, and owing
much of the work must be done by the
national and not by any state govern
to establish a greater system of storage
reservoirs to prevent the flood waste of
serve the forests on the mountains ana
among the foothills. This means that
extension of the existing system of for
est reserves, and, in the second place,
aged Alright. They can not be SO managed
while there Is the present division among
tne Iedera1 departments OF the duties and
therefore OF the responsibilities of their
I'VE are just getting to understand what
is involved in the preservation of our for
eSts. Not only is industry at stake
which employs more than half a million
OF men, the lumber industry, but the
whole prosperity and development of the
west, and, indeed ultimately of the en-
ervatfon Of the forests. Right l- use Sc Of the
forests means the perpetuation of our
fore, we can not afford to be satisfied with
anything short of expert and responsible
serves and other national forest inter
estS. The forest reserves must be cared
for by the best trained foresters to be
had, just as the storage reservoirs must
be built and maintained by the best
gineers. There is the same need of train
ed skill in handling the forests in your
best interests there is in building the
great dams which viii some day bring
q hOIIn0ina tn
vast stretches OF so-cailed desert in the
Amy man who has ever dwelt on the
great plains knows what a serious matter
not only the water supply but the wood
supply is to the farmer, and of course
every miner knows the same thing. Not
S oHiy d ICES the farmer 1eed the water
also preserves. but he needs the wood,
80 does the miner, so does the manu-
facturer and so does the railway man.
The reservoirs can not last, if they fill
fuII OF silt, and the only way to prevent
ests themselves.
sorbing and disti1ling water. 1t is the
great preventer of erosion and erosion
Is always the danger point in any irriga-
without pretending to outline definitely
without the attainment Of the following
OBJECTS your plans must measurably fail:
."Frst-Governments study of the streams
upon which your plans depend.
Second-G Government construction and
'Third-The preservation of forests by
the extension of the forests reserve sys-
tenn and hence of government control of
Fourth-National protection and use Of
the forests under expert supervision.
'F9fth-I urge you to see to it that pri-
yate owners of forests in the. west and
east alike understand that timber can
be cut without forest destruction (the de-
partment of agriculture will tell them
howl and that the ownership of water
rights IN the arid country and of forest
lands everywhere entails public well
as private duties and responsibilities.
THE east is interested in the CONNER
cia1 development of the arid lands of the
west, just as the west is interested in the
proper development OF our harbor system
and of our commerce on the high seas,
No part Of this country can be perma-
nentiy benefited without a reflex benefit
to the other part
Clifford Pinchot, the government forester
forestry in Business
A letter was read by President Mead
he said:
4 am not optimistic enough to believe
that the ingenuity of man can encon1-
pass the redemption of the millions Of
acres. which comprise the nations vacant
Is water enough for the Irrigation of one
supply is economically used 7 can easiIE5
imagine ten millions Of good citizens ind
porting whether this great work is 70
be left to corporate or private enterprise
whether 1t shall be turned over to the
states In which the land is situated for
such treatment as is thought best by
thost most interested, or whether the
national government, the owner of this
vast arid region, should perform the duty
of reclamation. are ques tons which you
are no doubt ably discussing. It appears
that private or corporate enterprise can
not be trusted to control the improve
ment with Justice and equality for all
concerned The states themselves are as
yet not financially strong enough to un-
dertake the task It seems to me, that
that plan proposed by one of the mem
bers of your association is the most feas-
ible and just. It is: Let the government
build the storage reservoirs and the main
line canals, and the settlers DPovide the
smaller distributing system by banding
themselves together in cooperative or
Senator Addison G. Foster, of Washing
to ton, then addressed the congress on
The session closed with an address on
The Mountain Fam by Prof Willis II
Moore, chief of the weather bureau.