The Republican journal., 1908-11-26
The Nations Resources.

WASHINGTON, D. c., November %
The much talked-of inventory of the
| Nations resources is now practically
completed. To consider the material it
as brought together the National Con
servation Commission has just announced
it's first full meeting for Tuesday, De-
cember LIST, in Washington. At that
meeting the first steps will be taker
toward putting into tangible shape the
results of the six months hard work on
taking stock Of the country's waters,
forests, lands and minerals. One week
later, after the Commission has gone
over the inventory, it will hold joint
meeting in Washington with the Gov
ernors of the States and Territories, or
their representatives. At this meeting
the inventory will be further discussed
and the report which the President has
requested the Commission to make to
him by January LIST, will be formulated.
With less than six months in which to
make the inventory, the four branches
into which the Commission is divided,
aided by the cooperation of the Govern
ment departments, have brought togeth-
er what is probably the most useful col
lection of facts about the material things
on which national industry and progress
are based that has ever been assembled
at one time. Reports presenting these
facts and pointing out their significance
have been prepared. These reports,
summarized and indeXed, will be sub
mitted to the Commission at its coming
meeting.
All through the summer general inter-
est in the work and object of the Con-
The public is now we'll posted on a sub
ject of which only few specialists had
knowledge at the time of the Conference
of Governors and experts at the White
House, in May.
The Governors carried the spirit Of the
conference home with them to their own
people, and have kept things moving
ever since by appointing State Commits
sions to study local problems, by writing
and speaking upon the subject of con-
servation, and by keeping in close and
helpful touch with the National Commits
sion. They are ready to take part in the
approaching joint meeting. The bare
announcement that it had been set for
December 9th, resulted in number of
acceptances before the formal invitation
of the Commission had even got into the
mails.
When the conservation movement was
started, specific information about the
actual state of our resources was partly
wanting, partly inaccessible. Certain
facts were broadly known. 1t was at
least unquestionable that our resources
had been wastefully used, and that some
of them, notably the mines, were sure in
time to be completely exhausted, while
others, for example the forests, could
still be kept perpetually useful by right
management. The first work was to get
the facts, to show exactly what the
situation was and how it could be improv-
ed by measures that would work. With
out an inventory of the resources which
would show the present condition of the
resources and the way to develop them
to the best advantage, conservation was
in danger of staying up in the air.
But the work is now practically done.
The facts are there, in dollars and cents,
tons of coal, board feet of timber, acre
feet and horsepower of water, acres of
land And the possible reform measures
have been weighed. The final report to
the President will be the Necessary sup
plement to the addresses at the White
House Conference. The note of those
addresses was note of warning. The
report is expected to show that the warn
ing must be needed if the exhaustion of
natural resources is not, one day, to i'm
poverish the nation, and it will also I'M
doubtedly bring out how the country's
resources can be developed so as to last
the longest possible time and serve the
greatest good of the people.