Semi-weekly herald., 1907-10-07

us. Shall we continue the waste and
destruction OF our natural resources.
or shall we conserve them? Tis+re is
no other question of equal gravity low
before the nation.
It is the pam duty Of those OF us
wLo for the moment are responsible
to make inventory of the natural re-
sources which have been handed down
to us, to forecast as well as we may
the needs of the future, and so 10 han
ole the great sources of our prosperity
as not to destroy in advance all hope
Tor the prosperity of our descendants.
AS | have said elsewhere, the con-
servation of natural resources is the
fundamental problem. Unless we solve
that problem it will avail us little to
solve all others. To solve it, the
whole nation must undertake the task
through their organizations and as
soclations. through the men whom
they have made specially responsible
ioi tht Ntiiait vi tHc StstIdl SttttS.
and finally through congress and the
executive. AS a preliminary step, the
inland waterways commission has de
cided with my full approval. to call
conference on the conservation OF
natural resources, including, OF course
the streams. to meet in Washington
during the coming winter. This con
ference ought to be among the most
important gatherings in our history
for none have had a more vital ques-
lion to consider.
There is great national project al
ready under way which renders the
improvement of the Mississippi river
and its tributaries specially ueedful.
| mean the Panama canal The dig
ging of that canal will be of benefit
to the whole country, but most OF all
to the states of the Pacific slope and
the gulf; and If the Mississippi is
properly improved, to the states
through which 1t flows. The digging
of the Panama canal is the greatest
engineering feat which has yet been
attempted on this globe. The work
has been going on most successfully
and with fewer drawbacks and diff
culties than | had dared hope. When
under our treaty with Panama we
took possession of the canal zone
was confident that we should be able
to build the canal, but | took 1t for
granted that we should meet many
unexpected difficulties, not only in the
actual work, but through, and because
OF, the diseases which had made tie
isthmus byword of unhealthfrlness
The work done in making the condi-
ent the death rate among the thou
sands of Americans engaged in the
canal work is lower than in most To-
calities in the United States. The or
sanization has been perfected. the
tions on the isthmus healthy. however,
has been so successful that at pres
machinery installed, and the actual
work. of the dredges, the steam shov-
els, and the dirt trains, is going on
with constantly increasing rapidity
and effectiveness. In the month of
August over twelve hundred thousand
cubic yards of material were removed.
chiefly from the Culebra cut-the rec
ord removal-and If this rate can be
kept up. as ] believe it will be kept
up, the work of digging will be
through in half dozen years. The
finishing of the locks of the great
dam may take little longer; but it
begins to look as though the work will
be completed even sooner than we
had estimated.
Remember. gentlemen, that any
work like this entails grave RESPONSE
bilities. The one intolerable position
for self-respecting nation, as for a
self-respecting man, is to bluff and
then not be able to make good. We
have accepted the Munroe doctrine
as cardinal feature of our foreign
policy. We have undertaken not only
to build but to police and to guard
the Panama canal, This means, un,
less we are willing to accept the hui
initiation of being treated some time
by some strong nation as a vain and
weak braggart. that we must build and
maintain our navy at the highest
point OF efficiency. When the canal
is finished our navy can move from
one ocean to the other at will; for, re-
member that our doors open on both
oceans. Until then our battle fleet
which should always be kept and
Unanswered as a unit. ought now to
appear in our home waters in one
ocean and now to appear in our home
waters in the other. And oh my
friends and fellow-Americans | most
earnestly hope all our people will re-
member that in the fundamental ques.
tions most deeply affecting the life of
the nation there can be no proper di-
vision on party lines. Matters of such
grave moment should he dealt with