Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-11
JOHN DIS
EULOGIZED
BYORATOR
Oil Magnate Is Lauded by
Expert IrrigatiOnist
PETROLEUM KING SAID TO BE
GREAT PHILANTHR0PIST
CONSERVATION OF WATER IN
THREE PARTICULARS
Clifford Pinchot, U. S. Forestry Chief,
penounces the Activities of Water
Power Trust, Declaring It
Has Big Influence
q POKANE, Wash, Aug. 10.-John D.

~ f't''A's
Rockefeller as a philanthropst,
~ and as an example eor the nation
to copy was held up to the kindly con-
sideration of the national irrigation
congress this afternoon with the ad-
vice that the life of the oil magnate
be studied as a business ideal.
The newest exponent of Rockefeller
was DR.. w j. E-cGee, secretary of the
inland waterways commission of Wash
ington, d. G.
DR.. MCGEE frankly said he admired
John d. Rockefeller. He said though
much sneered at, the president of the
Standard Oil is a man among millions,
and yet though blllionaire' he be,
there is no reason why a million other
men cannot be as successful as he"
DR.. McGee was speaking of water
as a thing which in value to the hui
man race in proportion to all other
necessaries is as 100 to 1. He urged
the conservation of water in three par
ticulars-power, irrigation and trans
portation
"And yet" said he. with water thus
valuable and necessary to the human
race, John D. Rockefeller charges less
for a gallon of oil after it has passed
through many processes, than a spring
water concern does for a gallon of min
eral water which has not been treated
in any way.
Il regard Mr. Rockefeller as at once
| a generous public benefactor and wise
and careful business man. He has had
all the opportunity in the world to ex-
| act an exorbitant toll from the pub
| lie and yet he charges less for oil than
| is paid every day for common water.
Frankly, I admire the man, and
say the United States government
could do no better than profit by the
example of a business man so astute
and who so well conserves natural re-
| sources"
Nc Applause ELECTED
However, this portion of Dr. McGee's
! speech did not elicit the applause which
| followed his address in general con-
cerning the conservation of natural
! energy.
Clifford Pinchot, chief forester of the
| United States, caused perhaps the chlef
sensation of the day, beginning with a
! fve-minute ovation given MIN When
he took the rostrum and ending with a
similar cheering and three cheers and
tiger when he ended.
He took occasion to denounce the
! activities of the water power trust
which, he said, though still In it's in
| Ception, bids fair to overshadow all
| other trusts.
He charged that the irrigation con-
gress was being made the tool of the
! corporate interests whose agents are
being made members of important
/ committees for the purpose of dom1n-
ating the activities of the congress.
And" he said. II believe L could
point out one genial and urbane gem
! tleman, an attorney for those inter-
ests, who is here now"
Mr. Pinchot spoke in part as follows:
Home Building for Nation
'',The most valuable citizen of this or
/ - iG fbn who owns
the land from which he makes his liv-
| ing No other man has such stake IN
/ the country, No other man lends such
steadiness and stability to our national
| life Therefore, no other question con-
| Germs us more intimately than the
! question Of homes. Permanent homes
| for ourselves, our children and our ma
tion-that is the central problem. The.
policy of national irrigation is of value
to the United States in very many
ways, but the greatest of all is THIS
| that national irrigation multiplies the
men who own the land from which they
make their living. The old saying
who ever heard of man shouldering
his gun to fight for his boarding
house?' reflects this great truth, that
no man is so ready to defend his coun-
try, not only with arms, but with his
vote, and his contribution to public
Ouinion, as the man with permanent
stake in it, as the man who owns the
land from which he makes his living.
"Our country began as a nation of
farmers. During the periods that gave
il its character, when our Independence
was won and when our Union was pre-
served, we were pre-eminently a ma
tion of farmers We cannot, and we
ought not to continue exclusively, or
even chiefly, an agricultural country,
because one man can raise food enough
for many. But the farmer who owns
his land is still the backbone of this
nation; and one of the things we want
most is more Of him.
Farmer Is Valuable
mThe man on the farm is valuable to
the nation, like any other citizen, just
in proportion to his intelligence, char
acter, ability and patriotism, but un-
like the other citizens, also in propor-
tion to his attachment to the soil. That
is the principal spring of his stead
mess, his sanity, his simplicity and d.
rectness, and many of his other desira-
BILE qualities He is the first OF home
makers.
"The nation that will lead the world
will be a nation of homes, The object
of the great conservation movement Is
hiust this, to make our country per-
manent and prosperous homo for our
selves and for our children, and Tor
our children S cnllureI, ana u ~ d TASK
that is worth the best thought ana ef-
fort of any and all of us.
"To achieve this or any other great
result. straight thinking and strong ac-
ton are necessary, and the straight
thinking comes first. To make this
country what we need to have 1t, we
must think clearly and directly about
our problems, and above all we must
understand what the real problems are.
I'M. few and gimnIp.
sontlGued on Page Two