The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-12-06


Conservation week will be inaugur-
ated with the meeting at the Belasco
theater the afternoon of December s
President Roosevelt, Judge Taft and
scores of other strong men interested
in the natural resouces Of the United
States will get together as the big end
OF the flying wedge that the president
will launch at congress soon after 1t
assemblies.
Information as to the natural re
sources of the country has been ac-
cumulated with view to preparedness
for the great meeting in the Belasco,
Hundreds Of special investigators in
the several branches of the govern
ment service have been gathering data
for months.
Inventory of Resources.
1t is really an inventory of the nat
ural resources of the nation, 1t is the
first time that such an inventory has
ever been made in this country.
The meat of the whole investigation
Will be embodied in the report to the
llC III LuIh Will lCll SolI-
gress what ought to be done about il.
What congress will do, if anything,
is question of the future. But the
commission and it's allies have put in
a lot of hard work collecting facts.
Consceneus Of opinion, however, is
that something will have to be done
to stop the waste of natural wealth.
IF tH,r hoI ha
states of the union have appointed
special commissions on the subject.
Through these the country as 4 whole
is pretty thoroughly keyed up for
action.
The opening of the campaign will be
in the Belasco theater. Mr.. Taft will
preside and introduce the president,
who will speak. Conferences of the
governors of the states will follow and
there will be also the meeting of TWEEN
ty-f1ve or thirty chairmen of state con-
servtaion commissions and others who
have been working in the conserva-
ton field
The chairmen of the state commits
sions will make their reports. These,
the e. rnments specialists, will be
cond into the final report Of the
chairman of the conservation commits
sion to President Roosevelt.
1t will be on this report that the
president will base his message to con-
gress.
Prominent Men Invited.
This mill ha Of
fair. Not only will all the governors
be present, but there will be guests of
national prominence.
James ]. Hill, Andrew Carnegie and
John Mitchell have already signified
their intention of attending. w. ].
Bryan has been invited, but has not
yet said whether he could attend;
chances are he will not.
+ The report of the conservation COM
mission has been an immense work.
Few reports of such magnitude has
the government ever undertaken. 1t
has been divided into heads, each I'm,
der an expert, and all the machinery
of government has been turned on to
sweep together data.
ooihC ioCd VI lis oCopC Sdu OS SlNcC
by its chief divisions. These are
waters, lands, forests and minerals.
Each section has been intruGted to
committee Of twelve, all experts in
the field to which they were assigned
Reed Smoot, w. ]. MCGEE. Overto,
Price, Knute Nelson and J. A. Holmes
are some of the chairmen and secre-
taries of the section.
i They have had at their disposal all
the machinery of the government, the
reclamation service, tho forest service
the land office, the geological survey
the department of agriculture and
kindred bureaus and departments
which could either furnish facts al
ready collected or had men to throw
into the field and dig up the new facts
and figures.
Other Meetings to Follow.
The meeting Of the joint conserva
ton conference will be followed by
other meetings Of the same trend, but
on special lines, that will be no less
important. They will be the rivers
and harbors congress, which will have
an attendance of between 1900 and
1000, and the southern commercial
| tween 1900 and 1000.
This last will be devoted especially
to southern interests. It is expected te
have an important effect in the mate
rial awakening that Is going on in tn.
south. There has been great pro.
gress made in the last few years In
southern manufactures and in com.
mercial life in general. Business mer
of the south and of the country al
large, however, feel that the south
has not begun to take full advantage
of its great natural resources.
Forests have been neglected or Ill
advisedly cut. Farm lands have no,
been developed to any thing like the
extent they might Waterways have
been almost totally neglected, instead
of being developed as they might vel
be to the great advantage Of the sec
ton.
That there is still trace of the sec
tional prejudice between the South
and the North, though this is fast dy
ing out, is believed, and it is hoped
tina the present meeting of Southern
/