The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-05-15

THE BILLINGS GAZETT
resources are sc cioseAy connected
! that they should be coordinated, and
should be treated as part OF one co
herent plan and not in ~haphazard and
piecemeal fashion,.
Waterways Commission.
1t is largely because OF this that ]
appointed the waterways commission
last year and that I have sought to
perpetuate It's work. / wish to take
this opportunity to express in heart
lest fashion my acknowledgment to all
the members OF the commission. Al
great personal sacrifice Of time and
effort they have rendered q service to
the public for which we can not be
too grateful. Especial credit is due to
the initiative, the energy, the devo-
ton to duty and the farsightedness OF
Clifford Pinchot, to whom we owe, so
much OF the progress we have already
made in handling this matter of the
coordination and conservation of nat
ural resources. If it had not been for
him this convention neither would
nor could have been called.
We are coming to recognize as never
before the right of the nation to guard
its own future in the essential matter
of natural resources. In the past we
have admitted the right of the indi-
vidual to injure the future of the re-
public for his own present profit.
People Have Right Of Protection.
The time has come for q change. AS
a people we have the right and the
duty, second to none other but the
right and duty of obeying the moral
law, of requiring and doing justice, to
protect ourselves and our children
against the wasteful development Of
our natural resources, whether that
waste is caused by the actual destruc-
ton of such or by making
them impossible of development here
after. rs
Any right thinking father earnestly
desires and strives to leave his son
both an untarnished name and a rea-
sonable equipment for the struggle Of
life. So this nation as a whole should
earnestly desire and strive to leave to
the next generation the national hon
or unstained and the national re-
sources unexhausted. There are
signs that both the nation and the
states are waking to a realization, Of
this great truth. On March 10, 1908,
the supreme court Of Maine rendered
an exceedingly important judicial de-
cision. This opinion was rendered in
response to questions as to the right
of the legislature to restrict the cut
ting Of trees on private land for the
prevention of droughts and floods,
the preservation of the natural water
supply, and the prevention of the
erosion of such lands, and the conse-
quent filling up of rivers, ponds, and
lakes. The forests and water power
of Maine constitute the larger part of
her wealth and form the basis of her
industrial life, and the question SUBJ
mitted by the Maine senate to the SUI
preme 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 conser-
walton Of natural resources, the adop-
ton Of which is of vital Importance
not merely to Maine but to the whole
country.
Policy Will Preserve Large Territory.
Such a policy will preserve soil, for
ests, water power as a heritage for
the children and the children's chill
dren of the men and women of this
generation; for any enactment that
provides for the wise utilization or
the forests, whether in public or pri-
vate ownership, and for the conserva-
ton Of the water resources of the
country, must necessarily be legisla-
ton that will promote both private
and public welfare; for flood proven
ton, water power development, pres
ervation of the sail, and improvement
of navigable rivers are all promoted
by such a policy of forest conserve
ton.
The opinion Of the Maine supreme
bench sets forth unequivocally the
principle that the property rights Of
the individual are subordinate to the
rights Of the community, and espe-
cially that the waste of wild timber
land derived originally from the state,
involving as it would the impoverish-
ment Of the state and its people and
thereby defeating one great purpose of
government, may properly be prevent
ed by state restrictions.
State Original Owner.
The court says that there are two
reasons why the right Of the. public to
control and limit the use of private
property is peculiarly applicable to
property in land: First, such prop
erty is not the result of productive la