Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-05-14

their applause and general assent was
given the sentiment. The presidents
speech ended the morning session.
1t was at the afternoon session that
the real work of the conference be-
gan, and the session, which opened at
2:45 and lasted until sos o'clock, pro-
ceeded at a rate that broke all speed
regulations. 1t developed first that
the president finds it impossible to
devote his entire time to the confer
ence meetings. He will, as he did
today, call to order each session, and
then designate governor to preside.
This honor fell today on Gov. Noel of
Mississippi, with an intimation from
the president that tomorrow he should
call upon Gov. Johnson of Minnesota.
Then, after this announcement, as il
his political instinct had received a
shock, the president suddenly called
upon Mr.. Bryan to interrupt the pro
gram-and incidentally the prepared
speech of Andrew Carnegie ad-
dress the meeting Mr.. Bryan ac-
knowledged the enthusiasm his name
aroused by lifting his hands, and then
indicated desire to speak Friday
1t was from the utterances of Mr..
Carnegie and those who followed him
that the gravity Of the problems to be
considered were given weight
The climax of the afternoon session
was the speech of Secretary Root. Mr.
Root was received with great enthu-
siasm, and the remarks he made met
approval by demonstration equalsd
only by that accorded the president
Gov. Burke of North Dakota was
selected honorary secretary.
In greeting the governors and the
delegates, President Roosevelt spoke
in part as follows:
Governors of the Several States, and
Gentlemen:
welcome you to this conference at
the White House. You have come
hither at my request so that we may
join together to consider the question
of the conservation and use of the
great Fundamental sources of wealth
of this nation. So vital is this ques-
tion that for the first time in our his
tory the chief executive officers of the
states separately and of the states to-
gether forming the nation have met
to consider it,
With the governors come men from
each state chosen for their special ac-
quaintance with the terms of the
problem that is before us. Among
them are experts in natural resources
and representatives of national organ.
izations concerned in the development
and use of these resources; the sen.
| ators and Representatives in congress
the supreme court, the cabinet. and
| the inland water ways commission
have likewise been invited to the con
| ference, which is therefore national ir
a peculiar sense.
This conference on the conservation
of natural resources is in effect {
meeting of the representatives Of al
the people of the United States called
to consider the weightiest problem
now before the nation; and the occa
sion for the meeting lies in the fac
that the natural resources of our coun
| try are in danger of exhaustion If W,
permit the old wasteful methods O
exploiting them longer to continue.
With the rise of peoples from savage
ry to civilization, and with the conse
quent growth in the extent and va
riety Of the needs of the average man
there comes steadily increasing
growth of the amount demanded b,
this average man from the actual re
1 sources of the country. Yet, rathe
curiosuly, at the same time the av
erage man is apt to lose his realiza
tion of this dependence upon nature.
i Every step of the progress of man
kind is marked by the discovery ant
i use of natural resources previousl,
unused. Without such progressiv,
knowledge and utilization of natura
4 resources population could not grow
nor industries multiply, nor the hid
den wealth of the earth be develope,
for the benefit of mankind.
From the first beginnings of civiliza
tion, on the banks of the Nile and tn
Euphrates, the Industrial progress o
the world has gone on slowly, with oe
casional setbacks, but on the Who'll
j, steadily, through tens of centuries t
I the present day. But of late the ra
pidity of the process has increased a
{ such rate that more space has bee
actually covered during the centur
, and quarter occupied by our nation
{ al life than during the preceding ST
thousand years that take us back t
| the earliest monuments Of Egypt, t
the earliest cities of the Babylonia
plain.
, When the founders of this natio
met at independence hall in Philade
phia, the conditions of commerce ha
not fundamentally changed from whs
they were when the Phonecian keel
T first furrowed the lonely waters of tn
/ Mediterranean. The differences wer
! those of degree, not of kind, and the
/. were not in all cases even those {
: degree. Mining was carried on ful
!. damentally as it had been carried O
!. by the Pharaohs in the countries a,
jacent to the Red sea.
Since then our knowledge and us
of the resources of the present teri
!, tory of the United States have increa.
ed a hundredfold. Indeed, the growt
! Of this nation by leaps and bound
: !, makes it one Of the most strikin
). and important chapters in the histol
!. of the world.
Nature has supplied to us in IL
: United States, and still supplies to u
more kinds of resources in mo-
: lavish degree than has ever been tt
. case at any other time or with ar
: other people, Our position in I'll