The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1909-01-28

forest insersnen, and ~ practicable and
certain II Ia far better that forest land
should pay a moderate ,aa permanently
Z than that II should pay an excessive rev.
enue temporarily ard then cease TO Yield
! at all
second only 10 importance 10 good
Z Are laws well enforced Is the enact.
ment of tax laws which win permit
the perpctuation Of existing forests by
use.
! lsrds
With our Increasing population the
/ time is not far distant when the prob
lem Of supplying our people with food
win become pressing The possible
additions TO our arabic area are not
great, and II win become necessary 60
obtain much larger crops from the
land. as Ia now done In more denscly
settled countries To DO this we need
better farm practice and better strains
~ wheat. corn and other crop plants,
with a reduction In losses from soil
erosion and from insects, animals and
other enemies Of agriculture. The
United States department Of ngricul.
ture IL doing excellent work In these
directions. and II should be literally
supported.
The remaining public lands should
be classified and the arabic lands
disposed OF 10 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stead act should be repealed.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 recommendation
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.
meath II, 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ment should be withdrawn from entry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
| TOR economic uevetopintnt
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 $l000.000 for each
working day In the year The loss Of
structural materials through fire Is
about another million a day. The loss
Of life In the mines Is appalling. The
larger part Of these losses OF life and
property ,an 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
lts 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.
II is Of the utmost Importance that
bureau of mines be established In ae-
cordance with the pending bill to re-
duce the loss Of life In mines and the
waste OF mineral resources and to In
yestigate 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 II
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 II IL 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. II is as follows:
| Resolved, 1nht JoiHt eoihHhitVo w
appointed by the chairman. TO consist or
six members Of state conservation com
missions and three members OF the ma
tional conservation commission. whose
duty II shall be TO prepare and present to
the state and national commissions and
through them to the governors and the
| president q plan for united action by all
organizations concerned with the con-
seryation Of natural resources. ION mo-
tion of Governor Noel OF Mississippi the
chairman and secretary Of the conference
| were added to and constituted q part OF
this committee)
The second resolution OF the Joint
conference to which 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
reedIngs Of the Joint conference. These
resources, which form the common bn-
sis Of our welfare, can be wisely deyel.
oped, rightly used and prudently con.
served only by the common action Of
all the people, acting through their rep.
resentatIyes In state and nation; hence
the fundamental necessity for co-opera-
ton. without II we shall accomplish
but little. and that little badly. The
resolution follows:
We also especially urge on the congress
Of tho United States the high desirsbillty
OF maintaining a national commission on
the conservation OF the resources OF the