Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

can citizen, whatever his creed. race or
| birthplace. whether he be rich or poor,
educated or ignorant, provided only that
he Is good citizen, recognizing his opIf-
cations to the nation for the rights and
| opportunities which he owes. to the ma
| ton.
"obligations Increase With Power"
The obligations, and not the rights of
citizenship. increase i'm proportion to the
increase of mans wealth or power. The
| time is coming when man will be judged
| not by what he has succeeded in getting
| for himself from the common store, but
| by how we'll he has done his duty as
| citizen, and by what the ordinary citizen
| has gained in freedom of opportunity be-
| cause of his service for the common good
THE highest value We know is that of
| the individual citizen. and the highest
| justice is to give him fair play in the eff
| fort to realize the best there is in him.
| The tasks this nation has to do are
| all by our citizens acting together. and
| they can be done best of all by the d.
rect and simple application of homely
common sense. The application of COM
| mon sense to common problems for the
| common good. under the guidance of the
principles upon which this republic was
| based, and by virtue of which it exists,
spells perpetuity for the nation civil and
| freedom of opportunity In the pursuit of
happiness for the plain American. for
| whom this nation was founded. by whom
| 1t was preserved, and through whom alone
| it can be perpetuated.
Upon this platform-larger than party
| differences. higher than class prejudice,
broader than any question Of profit and
loss-there Is room for every American
who realizes that the common good stands
first
! The President concludes his message
with a number of specific recommended
lions, and In each case quotes the portion
| of the commission report upon which his
action is based. His recommendations are
| as follows:
81 urge that the broad plan for the de-
velOpment Of our waterways recommend
| ed by the inland waterways commission
| be put In effect without delay.
at provides for comprehensive system
| of waterway improvement extending to
! all the uses of the waters and benefits
| to be derived from their control includ-
| ing navigation the development of power,
the extension of irrigation. the drainage
Of swamp and overflow lands. the proven
ton of soil wash and the publication of
streams for water supply. 1t proposes to
carry out the work by co-ordinating agen-
cies in the federal departments through
the medium of an administrative commits
sion or board. acting in cooperation with
the states and other organizations and in
diVidual citizens.
Immediate Waterway Development.
THE work of waterway development
should be undertaken without delay.
Meritorious projects in known conformity
with the general outlines of any compre-
hensive plan should proceed at once. The
cost of the whole work should be met by
direct appropriation If possible, but if
necessary by the issue of bonds In small
denominations.
velopment of water power should be
guarded with the utmost care both by the
national government and by the states
in order to protect the people against the
upgrowth Of monopoly and to insure to
them fair share in the benefits which
will follow the development of this great
asset which belongs to the people and
should be controlled by them
Regarding forests he says:
Il urge that provision be made for both
protection and more rapid development of
the national forests Otherwise. either
the increasing use of these forests by the
people must be checked or their protection
against fire must be dangerously weak
ened. If we compare the actual fire dam
age on similar areas on private and ma
tional forest lands during the past year.
the government fire patrol saved COM
me-cial timber worth as much as the
total cost of caring for all national forests
at the present rate for about ten years.
81 especially commend to the Congress
the facts presented by the commission
to the relation between forests and
stream flow in its bearing upon the i'm
portance Of the forest lands in national
ownership. Without an understanding of
this intimate relation the conservation of
both these natural resources must largely
fail.
THE time has fully arrived for recog
nizing in the law the responsibility to the
community, the state and the nation
which rests. upon the private owners OF
T1n HsvN nf oct
land is public trust The man who
would so handle his forest as to cause
erosion and to injure stream flow must
be not only educated but he must be
controlled
On the subject OF fire protection OF Tor
ests he says:
Il hold as first among the tasks before
the states and the nation in their re-
| spective shares in forest conservation the
organization of efficient fire patrols and
the enactment of good fire laws on the
part of the states"
Another recommendation is for the en-
actment of TAX laws which will permit
the perpetuation of existing forests by
use"
Treatment of Land Problem.
On the subject of land he says:
with our increasing population the
time is not far distant when the problem
of supplying our people with food will
become pressing. The possible additions
to our arabic area are not great land it
will become necessary to obtain much
larger crops from the land as is now
done in more densely settled countries.
ITO do this we need better farm prac-
| tice and better strains of wheat. corn
and other crop plants. with reduction
| in losses from soil erosion and from in
sects, animals and other enemies of agri-
culture The United States Department
| of Agriculture is doing excellent work in
| these directions and it should be literally
| supported.
| 1.-THE remaining public lands should be
| classified and the arabic lands disposed
| of to home makers In their interest the
timber and stone act and the commute
| ton clause of the homestead act should
| be repealed. and the desert-land law
should be modified in accordance with the
| recommendation of the public lands COM
mission.
THE use of the public grazing lands
should be regulated in such ways as TO
| improve and conserve their value.
| Rights to the surface Of the public
| land should be separated from rights to
| forests upon it and to minerals beneath
| it, and these should be subject to separate
| disposal.
The COAL oil. gas and phosphate rights
| still remaining with the government
| should be withdrawn from entry and
| leased under conditions favorable for
| economic development"
|