Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-01-14
THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT.

crowned their vigilant and incessant
labors.
THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT.
II Means q New Leaf In the Nations
Life.
The American people found await
ing them when they established the
nation heritage richer by far than
that which any other nation has ever
known.
The late Professor N. 8. Shaler,
the country's foremost economic ge-
ologist and one Of its most profound
thinkers, said: "Of all the sinful
wasters Of mans inheritance In the
earth-and all are in this regard sin
ners-the very worst are the people
Of America"
There must be q realization on the
part Of many-a realization that now
Is shared only by the few-thet the
country as a whole will have to turn
over a new leaf" This leaf can not
be turned at once or without mighty
effort. We have "got the habit" of
spending, and 1t will be long time
before we can begin to save. In
fact. 1t is only the impending pinch
that makes us think of saving now.
We boast Of what we can do and Of
what we are doing, and with Justice,
for are we not taking the leading
part in the worlds work, and do we
not literally deliver the goods to
all the world? But at the same
time we do not reckon on what the
morrow will bring. and we will go
headlong to national decadence un-
less we stop to take an accounting.
We do furnish, in general figures, a
quarter Of the worlds wheat supply.
half Of its petroleum, three-quarters
of its entire supply Of cotton. and
nine-tenths of its corn. But we are
doing It at q terrible sacrifice.
Take the forest question as an ex-
ample. AS a matter Of fact we do
not know how much forest we have,
and we have been here, as nation.
a century or more. And yet we talk
blithely Of our "inexhaustible" for
ests and go drawing on the account
without much more than general
notion of what the forest capital h,
and with no notion Of IT'S cost ana
value. It Is no better business than
| It would be for bank to operate
without a balance sheet without any
notion Of its capitalization and
spending cost, trusting to luck that
accounts may not be overdrawn and
the surplus carried of. Government
supervision now protects the people
against this method Of finance; may
the time not come when It will be
recognized as quite as much within
the province Of the government to
take steps to so protect all of the ma
terial wealth Of the county Such
a step by no means connotes govern
ment or state ownership any more
than there is no government or state
ownership of the banks. All prudent
men welcome the security that the
national regulations give to national
banks, and, for the safety Of our
moneys, prefer the national banks.
The day will come. because It has
got to come, and because Americans
are an adaptable people, when there
will be a clear change In the Ameri-
can trend Of thought clear change
In the American habits Of life.
clear conception Of the moral issues
involved in a proper stewardship Of
the nations things that are ours only
as trustees for the future. The ma
ton will still keep its optimism, its
capacity for hard work, its inherent
buoyancy under the stress Of grave
problems, but 1t will take on a new
and serious purpose Of thrift.
To some, no doubt, the idea Of hav-
ing to save after such q long period
Of easy spending may be repugnant;
some may take the attitude OF
Madame de Pompadour, who said
court, latter us the deluge"-a de-
luge that began with the reign OF
terror and still threatens the only
nation Of Europe that has q decreas-
ing birth rate.
But the majority of thinking Amer
leans are going to take this question
Of the conservation OF our natural re-
sources home to themselves. They
are going to ask, How can I help!'
and when that question is asked 1t Is
already half answered. It must be
answered in the interests Of the ma
tion and Of humanity. Moreover,
these persons Of large public spirit
will understand that there Is dis
tinction between saving and scrimp-
ing, that the type demanded to apply
the principle of conservation Is not
the miser any more than 1t Is the
prodigal, but the man Of modera-
ton who enjoys without riot and who
spends without squandering the
patrimony which he is in duty bound
to hand on to new generation.
In 1868 Bismarck said that the
real test Of the American form Of
country's great resources began to be
exhausted, when the "limitless OPP
portunities' were no longer to be
had. The Imperative need, then, Is
the assurance that our governmental
institutions shall be flexible, and
maintained on a high plane Of unsel-
fishness. For "the only way in which
the need can be met Is by enforcing
through laws the principle, clearly
enough recognized in our codes, that
the wealth a man controls Is his to
use but not his to waste. A man may
not burn down his own house or play
the spendthrift with his fortune, be-
cause the state or his natural heirs
will suffer from his folly or his
malevolence. On the same ground
the commonwealth law should ar
rest his action, II 1t wastes the sub
stance Of the unborn. 1t Is an old
and well-affirmed concept, though too
little worked out, that our govern
ments exist in part that they may
guard and preserve the societies
which build them. II such Is their
purpose, their first duty should be
to see that the material foundatiins
Of mankind are not idly wrecked"
We must realize that we are not mere
monetary tenants Of our places in the
present-day civilization. but the Gus
todians and trustees Of all the pro-
gress to come after us; and in so far
as we can conserve instead Of de-
stroying, and save instead Of vast
ing. so we, no less than those who
laid the foundations Of the republic.
Ia rnssihla Tho fufnra 0f a nafiOn