New-York tribune., 1908-05-10
Il UNIQUE CONFERENCES
First Held an WMte House to Con-
serUe Nations Resources.
lFrom The Tribune Bureau ]

national capital on May l3 one of the mos, -
| markabIe assemblages ever brought Together q,
the United States. The Governors OF aIn,o.,
every state and territory, each with three Es,
| tenants the National Inland Waterways CON-
| mission the Supreme Court of the United sta,o.
and representatives of both houses Of Cony,.
will gather in the East Room of the W.T..
House to share in a conference presided over h
the President Of the United States and du-i
| the six sessions on the 18th 18th and 18th Win
endeavor TO formulate a practical programme.
for the cooperative conservation of the natural
resources of the nation. The preservation ana
promotion of the navigability of inland streams
the conservation of the nations mineral wealth
the protection of the soil from erosion ana
cities and farms from floods. the application a,
water 10 arid lands and the removal Of suruf,s
moisture from swamps, the utilization Of power
generated by streams and waterfalls The eco-
nornic promotion of sanitation and the establish
ment OF hygienic water systems will be n,
topics discussed
Never has such a conference been held in the
White House But with that keen observatio,
and broad discernnnent which are notable char
acteristics of President Roosevelt he has become
IMPRESSED with the necessity Of q comprehensive
national movement to conserve the irnportan,
natural resources of the country. that the in
| creasine demands Of modern civilization NAV
not exhaust nor individuals monOpOlize those
sources of wealth which he regards the God
given heritage the inherent property OF everv
citizen and Of future generations An sxaTnina-
ton of the opera tons of the federal and state
governments has revealed not only absence Of
cooperation but even conflicting effort. while
lack OF economic knowledge results in almost in
finite waste OF wealth and forces Untold units
| of power are evaporated in smoke. in gases. in
1 I1L- and
fncaIcuIable value is daily washed from the sur
/ face of the earth into the streams and rivers
only to be dredged out again at infinite expense
| and dumped into the sea or used 10 construct
| Ievees, while the farms grow poorer and asri-
cultural production suffers
Restrictions imposed by the Constitution on
| the federal government render many otherwise
| proper remedies impractcable, but The President
| is convinced that through thorough understand
| ing Of the problems and cordial Cooperation by
| state and national authorities many evils be
rernedied and giant stride taken 10 promote
the national welfare
To this end the President has invited the Gov
! ernors. and with them three heutenants to Be
| selected by each. the members OF the Supreme
Court, whose interest and advice are expected to
avert the danger of constitutional pitfalls; the
| members of the Waterways Commission. the
lawmakers OF the national legislature. and rep
resentatives of nearly fifty professional. indus
trial and other national and quasi-Public organ
/ tzations to this great White House conference
| In his letter OF invitation TO the conference
President Roosevelt said
| There is no other question now before u.
nation of equal gravity With the question q
conservation of our natural resources, and il s
the plain duty of US who. for the moment
responsible to take inventory Of the natural
resources which have been handed down 10 Us
to forecast the needs Of the future. and so handle
the great sources Of our prosperity as not 10 de-
stroy in advance all hope OF the prosperity o,
our descendants
The need for such conference is ILLUSTRATED
by a few facts vouched for by investigators
Government experts say that between 3000ts-
900 and 4ooO0o0oo tons of coal We're lost IN
1906 by penny wise and pound foolish methOds
and that the total 50 wasted since the beginning
of the industry is fifty billion tons Millions
upon millions of horsepower are going to waste
through failure properly 10 utilize and conserve
| the waterpOWer Of the United States
The construction of reservoirs at the sources
of streams in which flood waters may be stored
10 be released at periods OF low water is ex-
pected not only to keep the waters at a contnu-
Gus level. but prevent the destruction of prop
erty by foods. maintain constant levels for
navigation and to develop water power
For instance. the plan Of Mr.. Leighton, chi4
hydrographer Of the Geological Survey, for the
utilization OF about one hundred natural storage
basins near the headwaters OF the streams form