Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-07-23

4 " ll1O dSAafC "Oi II - -
on in every bureau of the government
| which can furnish material available
| for the commissions report.
A great amount of this material is
already available in the government
departments: other important parts
of it, however, will be collected
through special channels Among
these will be the State Conservation
Commissions, which the governors are
appointing, and some of the great
national organizations which were
represented at the White House Con-
ference and which have entered with
spirit into the general conservation
movement. In other words, the
machinery for making the first in
ventory ever attempted of the re-
sources of the nation has been set in
motion and is running smoothly.
Clifford Pinchott, chairman of the
commission, has changed his plans
and will shortly return to Washington
to continue personal supervision of the
work. By early fall the commission
expects to have in hand sufficient
material to begin the study of the
stock of the country's resources, and
by the middle of October it hopes to
have the great part of this material
in hand, This will be necessary in
order that the full commission, which
holds its first meeting Tuesday, Dec.
l, in Washington, may at once take
Se the study of the facts which the
summers work has brought together.
One week later the commission will
hold joint meeting in Washington
with the governors of the states, or
their representatives, with view of
securing further and closer co-opera
tiOn with the various state commits
sions.
The commission has devised a new
and interesting method by which to
collect this material. A schedule of
inquiries embracing the whole subject
Of waters, forests,
lands and minerals-has been ar
ranged and sent to each bureau chief
with a request for suggestions and
criticisms. This has resulted in OBJ
tanning the expert advice of the men
at the head of the different bureaus
who will have immediate charge of
the collection of the material. Presi-
dent Roosevelt, who is keeping in very
close touch with the commission, has
approved this method and has written
to each chief of bureau a. letter COM
mending the enthusiastic cooperation
shown by the bureau chiefs and en-
phasizing his belief in the great i'm
portance of the work the National
Conservation Commission has in hand
Among the government bureaus
which will furnish large part of the
important information the commits
sion is seeking are the bureau of COR
porations of the department of Com
merce and Labor, under Commissioner
Herbert Knox Smith; the bureau of
the census, under Director North; the
forest service, under the direct super
vision of the chairman of the commits
sion, and Overton w. Price, secretary
of the forest section of the commits
sion; the reclamation service, under
Director Newell; the geological survey,
under Director Smith: the corps of
engineers of the army, under it's new
chief, General William L. Marshall,
and almost every bureau under the
department of agriculture.
Cooperation among all the agencies
now engaged in this inventory taking
is a CONSPICUOUS feature. Taking the
membership of the National Commits
sion and the several memberships of
the state commissions together, the
number of persons engaged and in
tereSted in the work is very large
One of the most important require
ments is, therefore, to make sure that
every step Of the work is known to
all who are sharing in it, SO that there
may be the utmost amount of co-ordi-
nation and concentration, no misdi-
rected energy and no duplication.
Accordingly, bulletins of progress and
information are issued to the officers
of the commissions, the state COM
missions and others, and voluminous
correspondence is kept up. In this
way the work, complex and scattered
as it is, is effectively centralized and
simplifled.