The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-23


 erosion and to injure stream flow must be not only educated, but he must be controlled.
 Lands.
 With our increasing population the time is not far distant when the problem of supplying our people with food will be- come pressing. The possible additions to cur arable area are not great, and it will become necessary to obtain much larger crops from the land, as is now done in more densely settled countries. To do this, we need better farm practice and better strains of wheat, corn and other crop plants, with a reduction in losses from soil erosion and from insects, animals, and other enemies of agricul- ture. The United States department of agriculture is doing excellent work in these directions and 1t should be liber- ally supported.
 The remaining public lands should be classified and the arable lands disposed of to home makers. In their interest the timber and stone act and the com mutation clause of the homestead act should be repealed, and the desert-land with the recommendations of the public lands commission.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 beneath it. and these should be subject to sep arate disposal.
 The coal oil, gas and phosphate rights still remaining with the government shoul dbe withdrawn from entry and leased under conditions favorable for eco- homie development
 Minerals.
 The accompanying reports show that the consumption of nearly all of our mineral products is increasing more rap idly than our population. Our mineral waste Is about one-sixth of our product or nearly T,00000O for each working day in the year. The loss of structural ma terials through fire Is about another mill ion day. The loss of life in the mines is appalling. The larger part of these losses of life and property can be avoided Our mineral resources are limited in quantity and cannot be increased or re- produced. With the rapidly increasing rate O. consumption the supply will be exhausted while yet the nation Is in it's infancy, unless better methods are de- vised or substitutes are found. Further investigation is urgently needed in order to improve methods and to develop and apply substitutes.
 It is of the utmost importance that a bureau of mines be established in ac- cordance with the pending bill to reduce the loss of life in mines and the waste ol mineral resources and to investigate the methods and substitutes for prolong- ing the duration of our mineral supplies. Both the need and the public demand for such bureau are rapidly becoming more urgent. It should cooperate with the states in supplying data to serve as a I1er1 fz.. s-%a to r,aAVa .Inft fts.Y,r establishment of this bureau will mean merely the transfer from other bureaus of work which it is agreed should be transferred and slightly enlarged and re- organized for these purposes.
 Conclusions.
 The joint conference already mentioned adopted two resolutions to which I call your special attention. The first was in- tended to promote cooperation between the states and the nation upon all of the great questions here discussed. It is as fonows:
 Resolved, That a joint committee be appointed by the chairman to consist of six members of state conservation com missions and three members of the na- tional conservation commission, whose duty 1t shall be to prepare and present to the state and national commissions and through them to the governors and the President, a plan for united action by all organizations concerned with the conservation of natural resources" (On motion of dovernor Noel of Mississippi the chairman and secretary of the con- ference were added to and constituted a part of this committee.)
 The second resolution of the joint con- ference to which I refer calls upon the Congress to provide the means for such cooperation The principle of the com- 1F ;r,fn on n1rr Ia in the great natural resources runs through the report of the national con- servation commission and the proceed ings of the joint conference. These re- sources, which form the common basis of our welfare, can be wisely developed, rightly used and prudently conserved only by the common action of all the people. acting through their representatives in state and nation. Hence the fundamen- tai necessity for cooperation. Without it we shall accomplish but little, and that little badly. The resolution follows:
 We also especially urge on the Congress of the United States the high desirability of maintaining a national commission on the conservation of the resources of the country empowered to cooperate with state commissions to the end that every sovereign commonwealth and every sec tion of the country may attain the high degree of prosperity and the sureness of perpetuity naturally arising in the abund- ant resources and the vigor, intelligence and patriotism of our people"
 In this recommendation I most heartily concur and I urge that an appropriation of at least $5O,00O be made to cover the expenses of the national conservation commission for necessary rent, assistance and travelling expenses. This is a very small sum. I know of no other way in which the appropriation of so small a sum would result in so large a benefit to the whole nation.
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
 The White House, January 22, 1909.