The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1908-09-24
RUNNING DOWN TIE WASTE.
The RGrk ct the National Conservation
Commission.
ARE MAKING NUMEROUS INQUIRIES.
(Ccr. to The Commonwealth

Washington. u. c., Sept. 15.-
The National Conservation Commits
sion has just made public the first
of its schedules on which the inven-
tory Of the country's natural re-
sources is being conducted. Only a
few Of the schedules have, as yet,
,. been given cut. bat between the lines
Of these it is plainly evident the
National Conservation Commission
intends to hunt down svaste in all its
varied forms and to devise some
means to prevent it. This is appar-
enc in the general schedules as to
each of the four sections Of the Com
raission-waters, forests, lands, and
minerals.
| For instance. the schedule relating
to lands inquiries into waste Of soil
by erosion, which is the washing
away Of the land. That schedule al
so suggests waste through Bad ag-
ricultural methods" The lands
schedule likewise goes into waste in
the carrying csracity of the publlc
range in the West. The section Of
waters is inouiring into how much
land capable Of irrigation is wasted
by not being irrigated. More inn
portant still is its suggestive inqur-
les tending to show that we are vast
ling our waterways to an alarming
extent by not using them as we
should. Perhaps the greatest form
Of waste brought oLt in the entire
schedule is that relating to water
power. Two of the oficia! Inquiries
are as follows:
Are existing developed water
powers put to thtir fa!l use?"
''To what extent can coal be
saved by the substitution Of wa
ter power?'
Under the head Of food waters,
the Commission inquiries, TO what
extent are food waters wasted?"
The minerals section of the Com
mission is seeking to ind cut "the
nature and extent of waste in the
mining. extraction ard use Of min
eral products" and methods of pre-
venting or lessening this waste"
That forest conservation must
largely take the form of saving
; wastes in manufacture seems to be
the conviction Of the Conservation
| Commission. The Commission is
busy conducting a census By cores
pondence to find the common wastes
in wood d-using Industries. Queries
have been sent to eight hundred
manufacturers Of cocperage stock
Cor the purpose cf getting line on
the waste of wood in the making of
barrels and casks.
Similar wastes occur iii turning
The logs into headings and in the
manufacture Of barrel hoops. The
Forest Service is trying to find how
important such wastes are, with the
object OF suggesting, If possible,
some way of cutting down the drains
upon the forests which means no
gain to any one, but loss to all. The
returns from the inquiries will form
part of the report Of the Conserva-
ton Commission, when the work of
taking the preliminary inventory of
our natural resources is completed.
The National Conservation Com
mission is to take up reports of the
various Government bureaus which
are now at work on this inventory
for general discussion at its meeting.
in this city, Tuesday. December l.
One week later-Tueslay, December
3-the Commissioners viii discuss
the same subject with the Governors
Of the States and Territories. or
their representatives.
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SHIRT REi to the PuI1s,