The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1909-10-29

o. L. Whitelaw, presiding officer OF
the meeting, announced that Mr.. Taft
would speak three minutes. He asked
the audience to keep quiet, while the
President posed on the platform for q
picture.
Mr.. Whitelaw at HIPS introduced
Gov. Herbert S. Hadley, who received
another ovation when he stepped to
the front.
The Presidents Speech.
Gov. Hadley and Mr.. Chairman,
and Ladies and Gentlemen: If you
will give me a little time and a little
quiet | will bring that voice back from
Texas. 1t is a great pleasure to me
to meet people of st. Louis in this
magnificent structure.
II feel at home here because l at.
tempted to address an audience here
before the building had a roof on.
as glad to be here to meet you and the
distinguished chief executive OF the
State of Missouri and to congratulate
the State on having not only these
great qualities and which he
has described, but on also having such
a Governor.
"We are on the eve of a great Jour-
ney down the Mississippi river and
cursed be he who calls it a junket.
1t has reference, as the Governor says,
to the problem of transportation by
railway and waterway. But the prob
lem of transportation, of railway, of
waterway, is only a part OF a still
greater movement encouraged by
Theodore Roosevelt and called by him
properly the conservation of our ma
tiOnal
Refers to Waterway.
you in the Mississippi Valley are
especially interested in that part of
the conservation that looks to the in
land waterway; but you are not lack
ing in that broad national view that
takes in the necessities and the crying
necessities of other parts OF the I'm
ion.
THE conservation includes first, and
you are directly interested in it, the
preservation of our forests because
their relation to navigable streams
and unnavigable streams has been di-
rectIy traced by scientific men, the
prevention of flood, tue prevention OF
drouth, the prevention of the erosion
of the soil, and the transportation by
your Father of Waters, of the farm
products of the Ohio and Missouri and
Iowa to the Deita at the mouth of the
Mississippi River.
The part that the United States as
a government cal play in this con
ServatiOn of our resources has not been
definitely settled, and it is not likely
to be settled until all the phases OF
the problem are presented for solu-
ton.
Right to Deal With Land.
ut is certain that the United States
has the right to deal with the land
which it owns in such a way as to
cOnduce to the general welfare, and
therefore that it owes a duty to the
people with reference, the forest land
hat 1t owns to preserve them and
develop them as far as possible, to
make them useful with reference to
Jul NolCl supp kdppiouoC).
But the United States owns only
about o~ne-quarter of all the forest
lands of the United states. Those
other lands are in States, and we
must look to the State governments.
to follow the example of the Federal
Government and use all the power
possible to preserve these forests from
fire and such denudation as shall en-
rich their water equalizing qualities
throughout the country. (Applause.)
The United States has been most
obviously generous in the sale and
disposition of public lands, and we
could point out, if we were hypercrit-
ical, the waste and unGue generosity
with which these lands have been
parted with; but in doing SO we are
apt to forget the generous policy. and
we are apt to ignore the enormous
that has been made in the
country by the carrying out OF that
generous policy (applause.)
Time for New Policy.
Therefore, without any tears for
what has been done in the past, VIC
can take our stand now on the pres
emit conditions and say that a time has
come for the Inauguration of a new
with refernce to care in dis
posing of the lands that remain in the
States. Agricultural lands
there would seem to be NO reasons
why we should change the mode of
disposing Of. But there are certain
kinds of lands that modern progress
show have an element in them that
requires us in their future disposition
to be most careful.
There are the mineral lands, Of
which we have disposed of millions of
acres as agricultural lands, and yet
they have enriched their present own
ers by the treasures under the soil.
There is no asO why we should
not separate the surface of the land
and it's internal contents, it's mineral
contents, in the dispositions, SO that a
may settle land as agricultural
land and cultivate it as such, and not
the owner of the coal or min
eral which lies below the surface, and
Of which nc n has cognizance at
present.
"That applies to coal lands, applies
to phosphate lands, which contain the
elements by which other soil can be