Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-01-28
FOR CONSERVATION
President Approves Report
OF National Commission.
SENDS MESSAGE TO CONGRESS
Urges Measures to Conserve the Nat
ural Resources as a Legacy to Pos
terity~Should be Put in Effect
Without Delay.

&&A %A I
Without Delay.
President Roosevelt, Friday trans
united to Congress the following
bearing On the conservation Of u
natural resources.
! transmit herewith a report OF the |
nat1onal conservation commission. to- !
gether with the accompanying papers.
This report, which is the outgrowth |
OF the conference Of Governors last !
May, was unanimously approved by
the recent joint conference held in
this city between the national con-
servatlon commission and Governors
OF the States, State conservation COM
missions and conservation commit
tees OF great organizations Of citi-
zens. 1t is therefore in a peculiar
sense representative Of the whole ma
ton and all its parts.
The facts set forth in this report
constitute an imperative call to act
ion. The situation they disclose de-
mands that we, neglecting for a time.
It need be, smaller and less vital
questions, shall concentrate an effec-
tive part of our attention upon the
great material foundations Of nation
al existence, progress and prosperity.
The progress Of our knowledge Of
this country will continually lead to
more acurate information and better
use Of the sources Of national
strength. It is not necessary that
this knowledge should be exact in
every minute detail. It is essential
that it should correctly describe the
general situation. The conservation
J of u is the fundamental
question before this nation.
Our population is now adding about
one-ffth to it's numbers in ten years.
Many millions more, must be fed and
clothed from the products Of our soil.
With the steady growth in population
and the still more rapid increase in
consumption our people will here
after make greater and not less de-
mands per capita upon all the nat
ural resources for their livelihood.
comfort and convenience. It is high
time to realize that our responsible.
ity to the coming millions is like that
3 Of parents to their children, and that
In wasting our resources We art
wronging our descendants.
Our rivers can and should be mad'
t to n our people effectively il
transportation, but the vast expen
ditures for our waterways have no
resulted in maintaining, mach less il
promoting, inland navigation. There
fore, let us take immediate steps t
ascertain the reasons and to prepar
and adopt a comprehensive plan 70
= :, inland waterway navigation. Gu
l, forests are fast disappearing, an
i less than one-ffth Of them are bein
: conserved, and no good purpose ca
= be met by failing to provide the rela
lively small sums needed for the pr
= lection, use, and Improvement Of a
: forests still OWED by the govern
ment. Let us enact laws to chez
the wasteful destruction Of the fol
ests in private lands. The America
= people stand nearly as a unit f
waterway development and for fore:
n protection.
Mineral Resources Wasted.
a Our mineral resources once e.
n hausted are gone forever, and tt
ar needless waste of them costs us hui
dreds of human lives and near
$. $3O0,0O0,000 a year. Therefore, !
l. us undertake without delay the i
vestigations necessary before o.
people will be in position, throul
State action or otherwise, to put
end to this huge loss and waste, a,
er conserve both our mineral resourc
- and the lives of the men who tai
them from the earth.
The conservation of our natur
~ resources is Of first consideration.
in we Of this generation destroy the I
,st sources from which our childr
m would otherwise derive their liv
nd hood, we reduce the capacity Of O
nd land to support a population, and
to either degrade the standard Of livi
en- or deprive the coming generations
I'm theft rights to life on this continel
ed If we allow great industrial orga
he iaztions to exercise unregulated &C
he troll Of the means Of production a
1g, the necessaries Of life, we depri
l a the Americans Of to-day and Of t
try future Of industrial liberty, a rig
no less precious and vital than pc
teal freedom.
The administration which is il
: drawing to a close, has at least Sc
r clarly the fundamental need Of FIR
- dom of opportunity for every citiz