The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-12-17


unreplenished and ever depleted
must eventually come to an end
that the end of some of the great
resources of the State is not ever
now so far away but that it can BIZ
seen; and that the natural wealth
of water, and fuel and Forest lands
was created for public use, and is
by divine right the heritage not OF
privileged few for their enrich.
ment, but of the whole people not
only of this generation but for ali
time to come. Our systems oil
business, Our manufacturing con.
Germs, our commerce, and even il
it please you, Our institutions fol
the upbuilding of the race, schools,
the home-all these things stand
upon an economic system which
rests upon the great natural wealth
of our country. They have grown
into being nourished by such natur-
al wealth as the world never knew
before, and if our National structure
has grown tall and has spread
broad branches upon which have
bloomed flowers of the most superb
achievement it has been largely
because it was and is rooted deep
in soil of natural resources al
most too rich for the imagination
to grasp. But what of the magni,
cent plant when its growth has
sucked barren its rich sources?
That is time which must never
come.
There is no imagination in
what the result would be. The
rise and fall of many lumber towns
is a miniature warning of it. We
have seen towns in these timber
regions spring into being, flourish
build churches and schools, develop
a social life, form loves and friend
ships, establish many homes, all
prosperous, thriving. But swiftly
back over the surrounding hills the
forests retreated before the saw and
the axe. The mills ate greedily at
the heart of the wealth of timber.
Fires added to the destruction OF
the woods: There comes a time
within a comparatively few years
when the available supply oftimber
tributary to the towns grew short.
Mills finished their cut and moved
away. Families followed. Trade
dropped off. Bustle and energy
were at an end. Some few re-
manned, living from the cleaning
up of the remnants of timber, from
the infant agricultural development
of the cnt over lands; working out
a sleepy, precarious existence sup
plying the needs of one another.
So long as the natural supply has
been great in other places the mills
have moved on and the workers
with them. The sleepy towns with
empty houses remained only as
warnings of the result of exhaust
ing the resources upon which a
community has been nourished
Such things have. caused the ques-
ton to be asked as to whether the
exhausting of the resources of a
nation would not bring just a period
of distress, coming not so gradually
either that the economic system
could be reconstructed to meet il
without difficulty"
with these truths in mind, and
the situation so plain, it may seem
strange that it has been necessary
to form such organizations as this,
to call conservation congresses, to
struggle for needed legislation, to
answer the charge that no such a
danger as the exhaustion of Our
resources exists, that the idea OF
conservation for a future time is
sentiment, but it is not so strange
as it may seem. State of mind and
tendency of thought are matters
very largely indeed of habit, and il
can be easily understood how the
people of a young nation, surround
ed and nourished through all by
such seemingly exeaustless re-
sources as those of this country,
should have acquired an attitude OF
security of mind, of taking little
enough thought of the morrow,
since the resources of today were
more than ample for its needs.
The founders of our Republic found
upon the eastern
sea board, on the threshold
of vast store of forest and mineral
wealth, wide reaches of grass lands
mile upon mile of water ways fol