Morgan County republican., 1909-10-28

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 resources which he
has described, but on also having such
Governor.
1--WE are on the eve of a great jour.
ney down the Mississippi river and
cursed be he who calls II a junket
II 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 stih
greater movement encouraged BY
Theodore Roosevelt and called by him
properly the conservation of our ma.
tiOnal resources.
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 1t, the
of our forests because
their relation to navigable streams
and unnavigable streams has been di.
rectly traced by scientific men, the
prevention of food, the 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 Della at the mouth OF the
Mississippi River.
"The part that the United States as
go, ernmeLt can play In this con.
servation of our resources has not been
settled, and 1t is not likely
to be settled until all the phases OF
the problem are presented for solu.
tion.
Right to Deal With Land.
1T Is certain that the United States
has the right to deal with the land
which 1t owns In such way as to
conduce to the general welfare, and
therefore that 1t owes a duty to the
people with reference, the forest land
that 1t owns to preserve them and
develop them as far as possible, to
make them useful with reference to
our water supply (applause).
But the United States owns only
about One-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 y
THE United States has been most
obviously generous in the sale and
disposition OF public lands, and we
could point out, II we were hypercrit.
ical the waste and unuue 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
progress that has been made In the
country by the carrying out of that
generous pollcy Iapplause.)
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
ent conditions and say that time has
come for the Inauguration of a new
policy. with refernce to care In dis.
posing OF the lands that remain In the
United 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 vet
they have enriched their present own.
ers by the treasures under the soil.
There is no reason why we should
not separate the surface OF the land
and its internal contents, it's mineral
contents, in the dispositions, SO that a
man may settle land as agricultural
land and cultivate 1t as such, and not
become the owner OF the coal or min
eral which lies below the surface, and
OF which no one has cognizance at
present.
THAT applies to coal lands, APPLIES
to phosphate lands, which contain the
clements by which other soil can he
made productive.
"Tnen there has developed In the
last decade an enormous power avail
able for all sorts OF manufacturers and
for transportation as well in elec.
tricity. That electricity can be most
cheaply produced by water power.
"A great many sites have been die.
posed Of to private corporations, that
are now pursuing . course with refer.
ence to the development OF this powe,
that ought to ha encoIlraped and a. a.