The Newark journal., 1909-01-29

the report of the national conservation commission and accompanying papers President Roosevelt also sent q message to congress. The following is q com prehensive synopsis of the document:
 The president declares his entire con currenee with the statements and con clusions of the report and proceeds
 It is one of the most fundamentally important documents ever laid before the American people It contains the first in ventory of it's natural resources ever made by any nation. In condensed form 1t presents a statement of our available capital in material resources, which are the means of progress, and calls atten- ton 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 stitute an imperative call to action. The situation they disclose demands that we negleeting for time. If need be, smaller and less vital questions, shall concentrate an effective part of our attention upon the great material foundations of na- uonal 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 on a firm and lasting foundation of mate- rial well-being. In this respect our situ- dtlon IS TAT lTOIH= SdIlSIdGI0fB. Alter 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. It would be unworthy of our history and our in tellfgence and disastrous to our future to 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. 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-ffth to it's numbers In ten years and that by the middle of the present century perhaps 150 .000 Americans, and by its end very many millions more, must be fed and clothed from the products of our soil.
 We know now that our rivers can and should be made to serve our people ef- fectively 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 for 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-ffth 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 pQVprnmapf and laws check the wasteful destruction of the for ests in private hands.
 We know now that our mineral re- sources once exhausted are gone for ever, and that the needless waste of I them costs us hundreds Of human lives f and nearly $500 600. 900 a year Therefore { iet tIs undertake without delay tine iu- vnstigations necessary before our people will be in position. through state action or otherwise, to put an end to this huge loss and waste. and conserve both our mineral resources and the lives ef the men who take them from the earth.
 This administration has achieved some things 1t has sought but has not been able, to achieve, others; it has doubtless made mistakes; but all 1t has done or attempted has been in the single consistent effort to se- cure and enlarge the rights and oppor- tunities of the men and women of the United States We are trying to con- serve what is good in our 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 f it is made too easy for others The rewards of common and thrift may be too small If the rewards for others, and on the whole less valuable. qualities. are made too lnrge, and especially if the rewards for qualities which are really, | from the public standpoint. undesir- able are permitted to become too l 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 | when there is a reason | able equality of opportunity the dis trihution of rewards will take care | of itself.
 "'Fhe unchecked existence of monop- | oly Is incompatible with equality Of l opportunity. The reason for the ex- ercise of government control over great 1 monopolies Is to equalize opportunity. We are fighting against privilege. It was 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 attempt to se 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