New-York tribune., 1908-12-10
WASTING RESOURCES
BIG FIGURES GIVEN.
ReDorts on Metals and Lands TO
Conservation Commission.

Washington. Dec. s-The National Conservation
Commission to-day began conference with the
Governors of states with the probable result tha'
some concrete plan viii be mapped out for the con-
servation Of the nations natural resources NhOre
than thirty states were represented The con-
ference was called to order by Clifford Pfnchot-
Senator Flint of California, presented the report
Of the mineral section. The main features Of the
report follow:
The mineral production of the United states now
exceeds s. OOOO0UOV0 in value every year ana Is sC
ond only to- agriculture a contribution to our
The in the mining and treatment OF N TSga
substances during the year Is equlvaIehI 10 iioi9
The available and easily accessible supplies OF
coal in the United States aggregate app , - -
1853 800 900 tons At the present increasing rae u
proach exhaustion before the middle OF the next
The known supplies of high grade iron ores in the
United States approximate 3S4o o5S09 tons "cG M n
not be expected to last beyond the middle OF the
The known supplies Of petroleum. natural gas
and high grade phosphate rock cannot be expected
according TO The the esa @ IR l {e resHt Century
The waste OF natural mineral resources gseI IN "a
building and engineering construction Is oI 'lFee
That due to improper and wasteful methods OF
mining and preparing for market
That due to excessive Of structural materials
because Of ignorance of their strength duraolhty'
That due to destruetion by fire on account OF the
inadequate building laws. and the non-enforceHent
thereof. ., -.
ras and of money values is that due TO tres and IS
one which can be most readily reduced by the suo-
stitution of fire resisting building materials for the
infammable construction now so prevalent Inc
ass 500 in 1907 or about 80 per cent the total value
of the new building construction in that year
Senator Knute Nelson presented the report Of the
section on lands The most interesting point in the
report was that the inventory OF natural resources
has demonstrated that soil Of the United States
as a whole is not falling Off. but rather in most
parts Of the country, II not actually gaining, Is at
ieast holding its own. The report declares. how
ever that AGRICULTURAL lands viii soon be required
"a produce at least twice much as they do at
present IN order to meet the nations demand for
food Such an increase in crop production is pos
sibIe II is said. with proper methods. There are
In the United States proper, according to- the re-
mort triie less than 100000 square miles Of land
surface OF which a little more than -one-ffth is
under cultivation. About quarter Is covered with
forests With the exception OF waste lands and a
relatively small amount OF mineral lands all the
rest is grazing land
Ex-Governor Blanchard. of Louisiana, in submit
ting the commissions report, deprecated the lack
of cooperation among states and between the
federal and state governments ascrioing to that
the failure Of conservation. He urged the ap-
noiutnent Of Il permanent conservation commission
with certain powers delegated by Congress and
with appropriations TO carry out its work He
added that the investigation Of the countrys nat
1raI resources had not yet been thorough enough
to afford an adequate knowledge OF how to con-
serve them National efficiency he declared. de-
pends on natural resources, and private ownership
OF them should be regarded as a public trust Sen
ator NewIands, OF Nevada, spoke OF the Importance
OF the commissions work and the need for suitable
appropriations, and on his motion a committee Will
be appointed to present the question TO Congress
Governor Johnson Of Minnesota brought en-
tbuslazic message OF accord from the Middle West
IN the scheme OF conservation. and declared that
the paramount problem OF the hour is the develop
ms nt OF inland waterways.
II believe that the greatest investment this nation
can make to-day is TO construct canal from Lake
superIor to the Gulf OF Mexico" he said 1T will
solve the problem of rate regulation in the interior
and will make unnecessary further discussions be
tween sections or political parties TO whether
,aderal control absolutely. OF state control ot
better because competition itself would solve IN,
problem"
There was an informal discussion in which Sen
stors Newlands and Smoot and Governors NOEL
Rroward Ansel. Lea and Smith. Ex-Governor
blanchard and others took part