Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-08-29


the land IL part ICr the next genera
ton and not exclusively for our own
selfish enjoyment
Just as the farmer is a good citizen
if he leaves his farm improved and
not impaired for his children and
bad citizen if he skins the land in his
own selfish interest, so the nation be-
HAYES well if it treats the natural re-
sources as assets which it must turn
over to the next generation increased
and not impaired in value and behaves
badly If it leaves the land poorer to
| those who come after us.
Must Be Developed.
In the second place, the natural re-
sources must be developed promptly,
completely and in orderly fashion. 1t
is not conservation to leave the natural
resources undeveloped. Development
is an Indispensable part of the conser-
walton plan. The forests. the mines,
the water powers and the land itself
must all be put to USE
Those who assert that conservation
proposes to tie them up, depriving this
generation of their benefits in order to
hand them on untouched to the next
miss the whole point of the conserva-
ton idea. Conservation does not mean
depriving the men Of today Of their
natural rights in the natural resources
of the land.
All it means is that we of this gen
Grafton shall so use our rights as not
to deprive those who come after US of
their natural rights in their turn.
In the third place. so far as possible
these resources must be kept for the
whole people and not handed over for
exploitation to single individuals. We
do not intend to discourage individual
enterprise by unwisely diminishing the
reward for that enterprise. On the
contrary. we believe that the men of
exceptional abilities should have ex-
ceptional rewards up to a point where
the reward becomes disproportionate
to the service, up to the point where
the abilities are used TO the detriment
of the people as n whole.
We are for the liberty of the indi-
vidual up to and not beyond the point
where it becomes inconsistent with
the welfare of the community. Thus
our consistent aim is to favor the
actual settler-the man who takes as
much of the public domain as he him
self can cultivate and there makes q
permanent home for his children who
come after him. But we are against
the man, no matter what his ability,
who tries to monopolize large masses
of public land.
State and Federal Control.
Now, to preserve the general well
fare. to see to it that the rights of the
public are protected and the liberty of
the individual secured and encouraged
as long as consistent with this welfare
and curbed when it becomes incon-
sistent Herewith. it is necessary TO in
woke the aid of the government. There
are points in which this governmental
aid can best be rendered by the states;
that is, where the exercise of state
rights helps to secure popular rights.
and as to these / believe in state
rights.
But there are large classes of cases
OHty lut VI ALC ma
tional government will secure the
rights of the people, and where this is
the case l am convinced and thor
oughgoing believer in the rights of the
national government. Big business,
for instance, is no longer an affair of
any one state. Big business has be-
come nationalized. and the only eff
fective way of controlling and direct
ing it AID preventing abuses in con-
nection with it is by having the people
nationalize this control in order to
prevent their being exploited by the
individuals who have nationalized the
business. All commerce on scale suf-
ficiently large to warrant any control
over it by the government is nova
days interstate or foreign commerce,
and until this fact is heartily acknowl-
edged and acted upon by both courts
and legislative bodies, national and
state alike. the interest of the people
will suffer.
In the matter of conservation, ]
heartily approve of state action where
under our form of government the
state, and the state only. has the
power to act. 1 cordially join with |
those who desire to see the state, |
within its own sphere. take the most |