Putnam patriot., 1908-05-15

resources, and it Is the plain duty oi lts who, for the moment, are responSi- bie, to take inventory Of the natural resources which haze been handed down To us, to forecast the needs of the future, and so handle the great sources of our prosperity as not to destroy in advance all hope of the prosperity oi our descendants.
 The need for such conference k H. lustfaled by few facts vouched for by investigators. Government ex- perts say that between 8o0,pI,poo and 4ea ,UoO. .Oo0 tons of coal were lost in lgn hy penny wise and pound foolish methods, and that the total so wasted since the beginning Of the industry is fifty billion tons. Millions upon mil lions of horsepower are going to waste Through faflnhe properly to utilize and conserve the walerpoWer of the | nited States.
 The construction of reservoirs at the sources Of streams in which flood wa. lefs may be stored te he released al periods of low water k expected not only to keep the waters at continu. oas level, hnt prevent the destruction of property hs floods, maintain con. stanl levels for navigation and to de. Selop water power.
 For instance, the plan of MT Leigh  ton, chief hydrographer of the Geologi- cal Survey, for the utilization of about one hundred natural basins near the headwaters of the streams forming the Ohio River k said to be the most gi- gantie and comprehensive scheme for internal improvement and conserNa- ;ten of present wasted resources winch ha> been definitely formulated in the history of the country.
 At the present rate ef timbeF con sumption Il k estimated that the price of every kind of lumber will he about double the present price only one de- eade from today.
 u k said that the total iron ore aN ailahle in the world today k twenty tiNe thousand million tons, of which thfee .fflhs k in the tnited States. should the rate of consumption con iinue to increase in the United States in the same ratio that il has in the course of the last seore of years, al the end of two centuries there would he no more to be mined.
 In the United States there k an area of isa. .aa,tsa acres of land susceptible ef reclamation by irrigation, and half a billion acres ot Western public range which may ee made available for in- creased production of meat by restricl- ing the grazing and reseeding portions which have been destroyed os unrc- stricted grazing. With this area made available once more, il Is estimated tha, it's meat producing capacity will tx nearly doubled.
 With view b promoting thN spir> il of good fellowship which ~ill make ss greatly kor the success of the eonfer- cnce, the President has asked to din- ner on the evening hstore the confer. encv the Governors, the nemhefs of the supreme Court, the Secretaries of the Interior and of Agriculture. and tiNe notable citizens of the nifed states. namely .eN-P President Cleveland, Miiilam ]. Bryan. ]. ] Hin. Andrew Carnegie, aud John Mitchell All have aesepted with The exception of Nr, Cleveland, ant he has indicated desire to attend fl his health will Der. mit. which Is aoah,iel.
 on the evening of May ls clifford fsneh01, national forester. Nia give a large reception sn honor ot The 1sover- nefs and other guests. and oaa al. tetuSaa of May lS Mrs. Roosevelt will give ganiss party for the members of