Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1909-01-28

Washington. the transmission Of
the report Of the national conservation
commission and accompanying papers
President Roosevelt also sent a message
TO congress. The following IL com
prehensive synopsis OF the document:
The president declares his entire con-
currenee with the statements and con-
ciusfons OF the report and proceeds:
III u one Of the most fundamentally
important documents ever laid before the
American people. II contains the first In
ventory Of its natural resources ever
made by any nation. In condensed form
II presents a statement of our available
capital In material resources. which are
the means Of progress. and calls atten-
uon to the essential conditions upon
which the perpetuity. safety and welfare
OF this nation now rest and must always
continue to rest
The facts set forth in this report CON-
stitt ., an imperative call to action. The
situation they disclose demands that We,
negiecting for time. II need be. smaller
and less vital questions. shall concentrate
an effective part OF our attention upon
the great material foundations Of ma
uonai existence. progress. and prosperity
The first of all considerations is the
permanent welfare of our people: and
true moral welfare. the highest form of
welfare. can not permanently exist save
rial weli-being. In this respect our situ-
alton is far from satisfactory. Aaer
every possible allowance has been made
and when every hopeful Indication has
been given Its full weight. the facts still
give reason for grave concern 1t.would
be unworthy Of our history and our In
teiliEence. and disastrous TO our future
10 shut our eyes TO these facts or at
tempt to laugh them out of court The
people should and will rightly demand
that the great fundamental questions
shall be given attention by their rep
resentatives- I DO not advise hasty or ILL.,
considered action on disputed points, but
! do urge. where the facts are known,
where the public interest is clear. that
neither Indifference and inertia. nor ad-
verse private interests. shall be allowed
TO stand In the way OF the public good
The great basic facts are already well
known. We know that our population is
now adding about one NTH to Its numbers
In ten years. and that by the middI. of
Americans. and by its end very many
millions more. must be fed and clothed
from the products Of our soil.
We know now that c.ss rivers can and
should be made to serve our people ef-
fectiveiy In transportation. but that the
vast expenditures for our waterways
have not resulted In maintaining much
less IN promoting. inland navigation
Therefore. let us take Immediate steps to
ascertain the reasons and to prepare and
adopt . comprehensive plan for inland
waterway navigation that will result in
giving the people the benefits fer which
they have paid but which they have not
yet received We know now that our for
ests are fast disappearing. that less than
one-nfth Of them are being conserved.
and that no good purpose can be met by
failing to provide the relatively small
sums needed for the protection. use. and
Improvement Of all forests still owned by
the government. and to enact laws to
check the wasteful destruction Of the for
exfs In private hands.
we know now that our mineral re-
sources once exhausted are gone for
ever. and that the needless waste of
them costs rs hundreds OF human lives
and nearly 500 900 a year. Therefore.
let us undertake without delay the in
vsstieations necessary before our people
will be In position. through state action
- otherwise. to put an end 20 this huge
loss and waste, and conserve both our
miusrai resources and the lives Of the
men who take them from the earth.
This administration has achieved
some things: II has sought. but has
not been able. to achieve. others: 1t
has doubtless made mistakes: but all
~ has done or attempted has been In
the single. consistent effort to Sc
cure and enlarge the rights and oppor-
tunlties of the men and women Of the
United States. We are trying to con-
serve what Is good in cur social sys-
tenn. and we are striving toward this
end when we endeavor to do away with
!, what is bad. Success may be made too
hard. for some IL IL is made too easy
for others. The rewards Of common
industry and thrift may be too small
II the rewards for others. and on the
whole less valuable. qualities. are
made too large. and especially IL the
rewards for qualities which are really.
from the puslic standpoint. undesir-
able. are permitted to become too
large. Our aim is SO far as possible
to provide such conditions that there
shall be equality of opportunity where
there is equality of energy. fidelity and
intelligence: when there Is a reason
able equality of opportunity the dis
trtbution Of rewards will take care
of itself.
The unchecked existence of monop-
oly 10 Incompatible with equality OF
opportunity. The reason for the ex-
ercise of government control over great
monopolies Is to eaualixe opportunity.
We are hghting against privilege. II
~ made unlawful for corporations
to contribute money for election ex-
penses In order to abridge the power
of special privilege at the polls. Rail-
road rate control is an s-ttcmpt to Sc
cure an equality Of opportunity for all
men affected by rail transportation
and that means all of us. The great
anthracite coal strike was settled. and
the pressing danger of . coal famine
averted. because we recognized that
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