Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-08
Woman Leads Pinchot Demonstration

over for nothing to special interests.
This was done under the plea of en-
couraging individual enterprise ana
Fastening of local development.
"And so forests which once be-
longed to all the people have been
ruthlessly felled and upon their ruins
have risen the empires of our lumber
kings. Priceless deposits of coal, iron
ore and copper which once belonged
to all the people have been surren-
dered freely to special interests; and
these sources of the peoples revenue
which should have flowed into the peo-
pies treasury to pay the expense of
the peoples government have been d.
verted, by the ditch dug by the provin-
cial idea, into the treasury of multi
millionaires until the peril of their
swollen fortunes is one Of the prob
lens confronting American statesman
ship"
Mr.. Hill said in part:
WANT COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM
"Belief in a comprehensive system
oP conservation of all resources has
now taken possession of the pubic
mind. What remains to be done IS
that most difficult of all the tasks OF
statesmanship-the application OF an
accepted principle and making 1t con-
common good.
"To pack the fact into a single
statement, the need of the hour ana
the end to which this congress should
devote itself is to conserve conserva-
ton. It has come into that peru
which no great truth escapes-the
danger that turks in the house of lts
friends. It has been used to forward
that serious error of policy, the eX-
bn
of the national government at the eX-
pense of those of the states. The
time is ripe and this occasion is most
fitting for distinguishing between real
and fanciful conservation, and for es-
tablishing a sound relation of means
to ends.
1--WE should first exclude certain ac-
tivities that come only indirectly
under the term conservation The
reclamation service is one. It's work
is not preservation, but utilization.
The arid lands of this country have
been where they now are, the streams
have flowed past them uselessly ever
since Adam and Eve were In the
Garden of Eden. Irrigation was prac-
ticed in prehistoric time. what we
have to do is to bring modern meth
DDS to the aid of one of the Oldest ag-
ricultural arts. 1t is mentioned here
dangers that beset conservation pro-
jects proper.
DANGERS ARE FREQUENT
"They are dangers inseparable from
national control and conduct of af-
fairs. The machine Is too big and TOO
distant; it's operation is slow, cum
brous and costly. So slow is 1t that
settlers are waiting in distress for
water promised long ago. So faulty
has been the adjustment of time ana
money that congress has had to au-
thorize the issue of 100000 900 of ma
tional obligations to complete projects
still hanging in the air. So eXpen-
sive is it that estimates have been eX-
ceeded again and again. The settler
has had either to pay more than the
cost figure he relied on or seek cheap
er land in Canada. 1t costs the gov
ernment from 80 per cent more to
twice as much as 1t would private en-
terprise to put water on the land.
Under the Lower Yellowstone project
the charge is $42.50 per acre, and 81
per acre annually for maintenance
"The Sunnyside project carries a
charge of $52 per acre, and 80 Genus
maintenance. Under the North Platte
project the charge is $45 per acre, plus
a maintenance charge not announced.
These projects, in widely separated
localities, entail a land charge pro-
hibitive to the frontier settlers to pro-
vide homes for those for whom this
work was believed to have been
undertaken. The pioneer settler VINO
can pay, even in ten annual Install
ments, from $500 to $4,000 for eighty
acres of land, in addition to the year
lv fee per acre, must have some other
resources to aid him. The work of 1r-
rigation would have been more cheap
ly done If turned over to private en-
terprise or committed to the several
states within which lie the lands to
be reclaimed. This is not criticism
upon any individual. 1t is merely one
more proof of the excessive cost of
government work."
LEADERS NIISUNDERSTOOD
Mr.. White said the true leaders of
conservation have been misunderstood
by press and people.
Gwen in Alaska" he continued,
"the best known teachers Of conserva-
ton urge the development of all the
resources for the benefit of the people.
They wish to encourage pioneering
both on a small and on a large scale.
1t is not the purpose Of conservation
to preserve from exploration and dis
coVery unknown resources, If there
can be found for new fields men brave
and fearless enough to take the risks
of life and capital For instance,
when in the prospecting of country s
possibilities, and in the risks of life
and capital incident thereto, there is
called into action every bit of physical
or mental energy to meet conditions
that seem insurmountable, it is not our
purpose to hamper or retard, and say
that this risk and cost shall be left
entirely to future generations. We
are willing to encourage the cutting
out of the way and doing all we can
in this generation, believing that the
next generation will find new duties
suited to their advanced condition and
change Of needful requirements.
''Wise conservation with use means
the maximum of efficiency and profit,
with the minimum of waste and cost.
We do not wish the few to have un-
fair advantage. We desire each and
all to have opportunity according to
his talents and his physical or finan-
cial ability, that the known and un-
known resources of a country shall not
be gobbled up by a few without an
equal opportunity to others who can
furnish the same needed measure of
requirements to insure success. We
realize that corporations are neces-
sary to develop a country; that ag-
gregations of capital made up from
large and small stockholders of the
people can accomplish more with less
waste than can individuals. They can
nut in extensive and saving devices