The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-16


 which Is known to exist and respect fully submit that 1t Is worth while to ask ourselves whether we can afford to offer bounty to those who are en- gagged in exhaustine the supply of raw materials which. when gone. can not pc replaced. Surely if there Is any imposition which we can properly en- courage by q free list 1t is the tmpor- tation of those raw materials of which our own supply is limited. And what I say in regard to coal and iron ore Is equally applicable to timber. It is hardly consistent to discourage the im- portation of lumber, while wc worry about the devastation of our forests.
 Few of us. probably. are conscious of the impairment of the crop value of our soil. I am sure that a clear under standing of this subject will lead to q still further enlargement of the work of the Department of Agriculture and to still closer cooperation between the Department of Agriculture and the States in teaching economical meth ods of agriculture.
 Irrigation has justified the argu- ments which led to the Inauguration of the work. No one who has witnessed the transformation of the desert into field and garden can doubt the wisdom of the steps that have been taken. Here. as elsewhere. both the nation and the State can find field for legiti- mate activity and am surethat there will be a continuation of this work un- til all of the waters which can be util' ized for that purpose have been ap- preached.
 The same principal which was in- voked in support of irrigation can be invoked in support of drainage. The question Is not whether the water should be brought upon the land or taken of the land; 1t Is whether the land shall be made tillable and its wealth producing qualities utilized. Drainage of the swamps is. therefore. as legitimate a work as the reclama- ton of arid wastes.
 Preservation of Forests.
 NO subject has been brought out more prominently at this Conference than the subject of forestry. Our use of lumber Is enough. but as immense as would be the inconveniences and loss caused by the absence of lumber. the consequences of the destruction of our forests would be still more disastrous to the nation.
 "As has been shown, the timber on our mountain protects our water sup ply not to speak of changes in climate which might follow the denuding of our mountains, the loss to the irrigated country could not be remedied and the damage to the streams could not be calculated, and If this Is not enough to arouse the interest of all, 1 may add that the destruction of the forests on the mountain range would in time im- pair the underfiow upon which We rely for our well water.
 The good effects of this conference are already apparent in the determtn- ation expressed by several governors to at once appoint forestry commissions and begin such work as the state can do Tn this case action is so urgent that both the nation and the several states can exercise themselves to the full. without danger of doing too much.
 Lastly, I come to our interior water ways. I shall not defend the improve ment of these waterways on the ground that such improvement would help to regulate the railroad rates. although 1t would aid regulation, whenever the people are ready to exercise the power which they have. But water trafic is less expensive than traflc by railroad and there are many commodities which can be transported much cheaper by water than they possibly could be car ried on land.
 q believe 1t has been estimated that an expenditure of s50o,000.000 on tn- terior water ways would result In saving of nearly &200, 100000 annually. If this saving were equally divided be- tween the producers and the consumers it would be an enormous profit to both and Mir Carnegie has pointed out that water transported by requiring less iron and less coal in proportion for the carriers would enable us to postpone the exhausting of our iron mines and our coal beds.
 "The development of water transpor- tation is essentially a national pro- feet because the water courses run by and through many states
 Tt has been pointed out that 1t would be possible for the states to do A certain amount of developing along Fthis line if they were permitted to avail themselves of the use of the water power that could be developed"
 Just a word in conclusion about an investment in permanent improve ments. Money spent in care for the | life and health of the people. in pro-