The Prescott daily news., 1909-01-22
Lands.

Sreat, ana IL Will become necessary to obtain much larger crops from the land, as is now done in more densely settled countries. To do this we need | better farm practice and better strains Of wheat, corn and other crop plants, with reduction in losses from soil erosion and from insects, animals and other enemies of agriculture. The United States department of agricul- | ture is doing excellent work in these | directions, and it should be liberally | supported.
 The remaining public lands should | be classified and the arabic lands | disposed of to homemakers. In their interest the timber and stone act and the communication clause of the home stead act should be repealed, and the desert land law should be modified in | accordance with the recommendations of the public lands commission. 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 be- heath it. and these should be subject to separate disposal.
 The coal, oil, gas and phosphate rights still remaining with the govern ment should be withdrawn from entry and leased under conditions favorable for economic development.
 Minerals.
 The accompanying reports show that the consumption of nearly all of our | mineral products is increasing more rapidly than our population. Our min eral waste is about one-siXth of our product, or nearly $1,000,000 for each working day in the year. The loss of structural materials through fire is about another million day. The loss of life in the mines is appalling. The larger part of these losses of life and property can be avoided.
 Our mineral resources are limited in quantity and cannot be increased or reproduced. With the rapidly increas- ing rate of consumption the supply will be exhausted while yet the nation is in its infancy unless better methods are devised or substitutes are found. Fur ther investigation is urgently needed in order to improve methods and to de- velop and apply substitutes.
 It is of the utmost importance that bureau of mines be established in ac- cordance with the pending bill to re- duce the loss of life in mines and the waste of mineral resources and to in vestigate the methods and substitutes for prolonging the duration of our min eral supplies. Both the need and the public demand for such a bureau are rapidly becoming more urgent. It should cooperate with the states in supplying data to serve as basis for state mine regulations. The establish ment of this bureau will mean merely the transfer from other bureaus of work which it is agreed should be transferred and slightly enlarged and reorganized for these purposes. Conclusions.
 The joint conference already men, toned adopted two resolutions to which I call your special attention. The first was intended to promote CO., operation between the states and the nation upon all of the great questions here discussed. It is as follows: Resolved, That a joint committee be appointed by the chairman, to consist of six members of state conservation com missions and three members of the na- tional conservation commission, whose duty 1t shall be to prepare and present to the state and national commissions and through them to the governors and the president plan for united action by all organizations concerned with the con servation of natural resources. con mo- tion of Governor Noel of Mississippi the chairman and secretary of the conference were added to and constituted a part of this commttee.)
 The second resolution of the joint conference to which I refer calls upon the congress to provide the means for such cooperation. The principle of the community of interest among all our people in the great natural resources runs through the report of the national conservation commission and the pro ceedings of the joint conference. These resources, which form the common ba- sis of our welfare, can be wisely devel- oped, rightly used and prudently con- served only by the common action of all the people, acting through their rep resentatives in state and nation: hence the fundamental necessity for co-opera- tion. Without it we shall accomplish but little, and that little badly. The resolution follows:
 We also especially urge on the congress of the United States the high desirability of maintaining national commission on