Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-19
PINCHOT CHEERED
AT DENVER MEETING
CCoatinued from Page One,


own labor the vast tracts which other
wise would be lost
He promised the aid of the govern
ment in every meritorious enterprise
looking toward conservation.
John w. Noble, former secretary of
the interior, spoke on conservation of
forests and water rights. He said, in
part:
THE statutes relating to and author
izing forests reserves and the reserve
of reservoir sites either i'm letter or
spirit, confined them to the close limits
insisted upon by some, but used broad
terms suitable to the nature of the
subject matter in hand And the more
recent acts" he continued, did not
contemplate the REIMBURSEMENT of re-
serves and giving them back to private
settlement where they were needed or
useful for sufficient water supply as
contemplated by either original selec-
ton or segregation.
No Ground for Criticism
ut thus appears clearly that there is
no substantial ground to criticise the
reservations as made, i'm view OF the
letter of the law and none at all IN
view of the spirit of policy and the
well known and admitted facts relat-
ing to the growth of timber. its need
of suitable and sufficient surroundings
and that the soil kept in place and IN
itself a reservoir to be gradually ana
precipitately exhausted and swept
away by winds and floods"
General Noble pointed out that there
had grown up a public opinion almost
universal in the nation that showed
not only an intelligent, but deter
mined purpose that the country ma
tural resources. believed to be essen
tial to the nations vitality and prog
ress. should be protected from private
and particularly corporate greed and
monopoly and controlled for the public
welfare now and hereafter.
Whole Nation Aroused
The speaker showed the present
benefits and future prospect from Tor
est and water reservations. lie dls-
cussed the matter of protecting the
reservations from infringement and
their being gradually pared down by
the claims of individuals and small
local communities who asserted that
the reservations were too large and
that covered areas, which might be
of use for grazing, should be turned
back to the public domain and be sub
iect to settlement and private owner
ship.
General Noble said that the system
was national in it's character; that 1t
was matter relating to the public
welfare, and necessarily single COM
munities and individual citizens, how
ever meritorious and entitled to such
benefit as might otherwise be within
their reach, ought not to expect ana
could not be allowed to demand those
at the sacrifice of the common good,
Where there was a question of what
might or might not be allowed without
injury to the national system, the
lesser claim should be deemed subject
to and limited by that which was so
much greater,
Points Toward the Future
1t was apparent, the speaker con-
tinued, that these great benefits, II
hands of individuals and particularly
corporations, would be administered for
the greatest pecuniary gain possible to
the owners He said that, II the ma
tional government or the several state
governments where they had obtained
similar reserves, and were administer
ing them, and which were sources OF
life and homes of farms and profitable
industry, of power, and lightly allowed
them to become monopolized by IN
diViduals and combinations they would
be deemed to have abdicated the very
seat of government; that after having
for so long pretended to protect the
people, a last turned them over
cribbed and perned to their oppressors.
That the very least that could be ex-
pected of the government would pe 10