The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-05-13
Welcome
t1 White | !
House
Plan to Preserve e
The h!e' Nations Re
s ources.
BysUnIted Press.)

..Es .tIlS tByg United Press-)
ss.yrASHINGTON.sD.5C c.. May IA
transformed East Room greeted the
sthronE or State Governors, Federal
soMcers5 scienttsts and public men at
the White House today when assem-.
sled6 for the first session of the con:
ference called by the President to con.
slider the subject OF the conservation
of natural resources In
the center was desk upon which,
Rooseyelt5personally welded the gar-
sel5 all during the session. The Con-
ference was summoned to consider
the questions of forestry. land reclan-
8ation, irrigation. mining and santa
Htlnn: These questions. are to be ham
adletl3 solely in their relation to the
whole and no specific projects or To-
! scalLtiesswill be discussed. The Con-
ference includes addresses by recog-
snized authorities after (which discus
sion will be. invited on each paper.
From now. until May. 16 the White
House will be closed to the public.
Admission to the Conference is limit.
ed solely to the delegates. who must
present ailmlttance cards. Such 2
gathering is unprecedented In the
eountry's history.
u Only seven governors were absent
when the mornings session was call
Eed4 to order. Immediately after open
I Ing, the Organization was projected by
the selection of Thomas r. Ship.
general secretary and DR.. ]. w. McGee
as recording secretary.
President Roosevelt addressed the
Conference es follows:
Governors of the Several States; anil
Gentlemen:
81 welcome you to this conference at
I the White House. You have come
+ hfther at my request SO that we may
sjoln together to consider the question
sof the conservation and use of the
great fundamental sources OF wealth
sofi this Nation. So vital is this ques-
I ton, that for the first time in our his
tory the. chief executive officers of
the States separately. and. of iaie
States together forming the Nation,
have met to consider 1t.
81 With the governors come men from
each State chosen for their special
acquaintance with the terms of the
5problem TINT Is before us. Among
them are experts in natural resources
4and Representatives OF national organ
concerned In the development
and use OF these resources: the SEN
5ators and Representatives In Con-
gress; the Supreme Court. the Cab.
iiet, nnd gthe Inland Waterways Com
mission, have likewise been invited
.to5the conference. which is therefore
national in peculiar sense.
This conference on the conserva-
stion of natural resources is in effect
"a meeting of the representatives OF
tall the people of the United States
lem now before the Nation; and ths
occasion for the meeting lies in the
sfact .that the natural resources OF our
country are in danger of exhaustion
Tive permit the old wasteful methods
of exploiting them longer to con.
tlnue:
With the rise of peoples from say.
agery yto:cirilization. and with the con-
ssenuent growth in the extent AMI va
riety. of the needs OF the average man.
there comes stendily increasing
:Erowth OF the amount demanded by
! this average man from the actual re.
sources of the country. Yet. rather
scuriously. ut the same time the aver
age man Is apt to lose his raaliza-
stion OF this dependence upon nature.
VS. Sapages, and very primitive peoples
generally. concern themselves only
with superficial natural resources:
with those which they obtain from the
actual surface OF the ground. AS peo-
sples become a little less primitive,
their Industries. although in a rude
9nnannei, ], are extended to resources be-
low the surface; then. with what We
5calla civ illsations and the extension Of