The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1907-12-12

laws evils such as child labor as the !
over-worktng OF women. as the fail |
nre 70 protect employees from loss Of |
hfe or limb, can be effectively reached /
any more than the evils OF rebates and |
toek-watering can be reached without
good laws. To fail TO stop these prae-
tlces by legislation means TO force
honest men into them. because other
wise the dishonest who surely will
take advantage of them will have
everything their own way. IL the states
VIII correct these evils, well and good.
but the nation must stand ready to aid
them.
When the department of agriculture
was founded there was much sneering as
70 It's usefulness No department of the
government. however. has more em
pnaucally indicated Its usefulness and
none save the post Office department
comes so continually and intimately into
touch with the people The two citizens
whose welfare Is In the aggregate most
vital to the welfare Of the nation, and
therefore TO the welfare of all other ciri>
zens. are the wageworker who does
manual labor and the tiiier OF the soil.
the farmer, There are, of course. kinds
OF labor where the work must be purely
mental. and there are other kinds of
labor where, under existing conditions,
very little demand indeed is made upon
the mind, though l am glad to say that
the proportion of men engaged in this
KIND OF work Is diminishing But In any
community with the solid. healthy quail
ties which make up really great nation
| the bulk of the people should do work
which calls for the exercise Of both body
| and mind, Progress can not permanently
1 exist In the abandonment OF physical
iahor, but in the development OF physical
labor so that II shall represent more and
| more the work of the trained mind In the
trained body. Our school system is
gravely defective in so far as it IL puts a
| premium upon mere literary training and
| tends therefore TO train the boy away
/ from the farm and the workshop. Moth
4 Ing is more needed than the best type OF
industrial school. the school for me-
chanical industries In the city, the school
for practically teaching agriculture In the
4 country The calling OF the skilled tiller
of the soil, the calling of the skilled me-
chanic. should alike be recognized as
| professions, just as emphatically ms the
| caiiings of lawyer. doctor, merchant, or
! clerk. The schools should recognize this
| fact and ii should be equally recognized
In popular opinion. The young man who
has the farsightedness and courage to
recognize 1t and get over the idea that
| II makes difference whether what he
| earns is called salary or wages, and who
refuses to enter the crowded field of the
so-cailed professions, and takes to con-
structive industry instead. IL reasonably
health. in opportunity TO marry early,
and to establish home with a fair
amount of freedom from worry. IL
| should be one of our prime sobiects To put
| both the farmer and the mechanic ON a
higher plane of efficiency and reward, so
as to increase their effectiveness In the
economic world. and therefore the dig
nifty the remuneration, and the power of
their positions in the social world.
Inland Waterway systems
should De Developed.
The conservation of our national re-
sources and their proper use constitute
the fundamental problem which under
lies almost every other problem OF our
national life. We must maintain for
our civilization the adequate material
basis without which that civilization
cannot exist. We must show foresight
we must look ahead As a nation we
not only enjoy a wonderful measure oil
present prosperity but IL this prosper
ity is used Alright IL Is an earnest OF
future success such as no other nation
} will have. The reward of foresight fol-
this nation Is great and easily foretold
But there must be the look ahead
there must be a realization of the fac
that to waste, to destroy. our natura
resources. to skin and exhaust the lane
instead of using II so as to increase i'll
usefulness VIII result In undermining
in the days OF our children the yer,
prosperity which we ought by right [,
hand down to them amplified and devel
oped1 For the last few years. through
several agencies, the government hal
been endeavoring to get our people t
! look ahead and to substitute planned
and orderly development of our re
. sources In place of n haphazard striv
ing for immediate profit. Our grea
! river systems should be developed a.
sippi, with its tributaries. standing firs
in Importance. and the Columbia SEQ
ond, although there are many others o
Importance on the Pacific and Atlantis
and the gulf slopes. The national gov
eminent should undertake this work
and / hope a beginning will be mad
In the present congress; and the great
est of all our rivers. the Mississippi
should receive especial attention. From
, the Great Lakes to the mouth of tn
Mississippi there should be a deep wa
terway. with deep waterways LEADING
from it to the east and the west. Sucl
waterway would practically meal
the extension of our coast line into tn
very heart of our country 1t would b.
/, of incalculable berYefit to our people. I
begun at once It can be carried through
in time appreclably to relieve the con
, gestion of our great freight -carryini
lines of railroads. The work should b
systema tteally and continuously carrie,
. forward in accordance with some well
conceived plan. The main stream
should be improved to the highes
point of efficiency before the improve
ment of the branches Is attempted; an,
the work should be kept free from
every faint of recklessness or jobberyi
Attention is called to the work OF ir
rigation and reclamation OF govern
, ment lands. In the same connection h
asks for a revision of the public Ian,
laws along the lines proposed by tn
, public lands commission. Believes tn
. government should increase its effort
, to conserve our forests and should In
preserves. on the subject Of the natura
resources of the nation he says.
In the eastern United States tn
mineral fuels have already passed int
the hands of large private owners, an,
> those of the west are rapidly following
II is obvious that these fuels should b
conserved and not wasted. and IL woul,
be wen to protect the people aRains
unjust and extortionate prices. 40 IA
as that can still be done. What ha
been accomplished in the great oi
fields of the Indian Territory by IN
action of fhe administration offers
striking example Of the good result
Of such policy. In my judgment tn
government should have the right I,
keep the fee of the coal oil and ga
fields in its own possession and TO leas
the rights to develop them unde
proper regulations: or else. IL the con
gress will not adopt this method. tn,
coal deposits should be sold under lin
| itations. to conserve them as pubIt