New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-01-23
>rur vopr nAuy TRIBUNE SATURDAY. JANUARY o. 1909

and greatest task is TO set our house III order
and begin live within means.
PERMANENT WELFARE FIRST CoNsID-
GRAFTON
The first of ell considerations is the perrna-
nent welfare Of our people; and true moral Wei
nanentiy exist save firm and lasting foun-
dalton OF material wellbeing. In this respect
our situation is far from Satisfactory %Ate5
every possible allowance has been MADE, ana
when every hopeful indication has been given It's
full weight, the facts still give reason Tor grave
concern. II would be unworthy Of our history
and our intelligence and disastrous to our future
TO shut eyes to these facts or attempt 70
laugh them out of court The people snouio ana
will rightly demand that the great fundamentdI
questions shall be given attention by their rep
resentatjves. / do not advise hasty or III CON
sidered action on disputed points oCt az g. s.
where the facts known. where the puonc m
terest is clear. that neither indifference ana III
ertia nor adverse private interests snali De al
lowed TO stand in the way OF the pupnc sood.
The great basic facts are already well known
We know that our population is now addlng
about one-ffth TO its numbers In ten years anu
that by the middle OF the present century per-
haps one hundred and fifty million Americans
and by its end very many millions more must
he fed and clothed from the products oi cur s1 SOL
With the steady growth in population anu ZIG
stiu more rapid Increase in consumption our
people will hereafter make greater and not less
demands per capita upon all the natural re
sources for their livelihood comfort and con-
venience II is high time to realize that our re-
sponsibility to the coming millions is IKE tilat
our resources we are wronging our DESCENDANTS
We know now that rivers can ana shouio
be MADE to people effectively IN trans
portation 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 10 asceF-
tain the reasons and to prepare and ADOPT a
comprehensive plan for inland waterway naEl-
cation that will result in giving the people the
benefits for which they have paid, but Wflch
they have not vet received. We know now that
our forests are fast disappearing, that less tnan
one-fifth of them are being conserved, ana mat
no good purpose can be met by falling 10 pro
vide the relatively small sums needed Tor the
protection, use and Improvement OF all forests
still owned by the government, and 20 enact
laws TO check the wasteful destruction OF the
forests in private hands. There are differences
Of opinion as 10 many public questions; put the
American people stand nearly as a unit Tor
waterway development and for forest protec-
ton
We know now that our mineral resources once
exhausted are gone forever, and that the nee0-
less waste Of them costs US hundreds or human
lives and nearly $500 10000 year. Therefore
ler us undertake without delay the invesusa-
lions necessary before our people VIII be In po-
sition through state action or otherwise, TO put
an end TO this huge loss and waste and conserve
both our mineral resources and the lives or the
men who take them from the earth