Omaha daily bee., 1910-09-07

OF small means. against the interest Of
our children and our children's children;
and II is primarily In the interest OF the
great corporations which desire to escape
all government control
Conservation Fight.
zone Of the difficulties in putting into
practice the conservation idea is that the
field to which II applies is constantly
growing in the public mind. II has been
no slight task to bring before 9OOOO,OOo
people a great conception like that Of con-
servation. and convince them that II is
right. This much we have accomplished.
But there remains much to be cleared up,
and many msunderstandings TO he re-
moved These misunderstandings are due
i'm part. at least, to direct misrepresenta-
ton by the men to whose interest It is
that conservation should not prosper For
example, we find It constantly said by men
who should know better that temporary
Withdrawals. such as the Withdrawals of
coal lands. will permanently check develop
ment. Yet the fact is that these with
drawals have no purpose except TO prevent
the coal lands from passing into private
ownership until congress can pass laws to
open them to development under conditions
Just alike to the public and to the men
who will do the developing. II there is de-
lay, the responsibility for II rests. not on
the men who made the Withdrawals to pro-
tect the public interest, but on those who
prevent congress from passing wise legis-
lation, and so putting an end to the need
for Withdrawals .,- SCI.
Abuses committed in the name of a just
cause are familiar to ali Of us Many I'M
wise things are done and many unwise
measures are advocated in the name of
cor aft or
by those whose interest lies not in promot-
Ing the movement but in retarding 1t. For
example, to stop. water power development
by needless refusal to issue permits for
water power or private irrigation works
on the public lands inevitably leads many
men friendly to conservation and believers
in its general principles to assume that its
practical application is necessarily check
upon progress. Nothing could be more mis-
taken The idea widely circulated of late,
that conservation means locking up the
natural resources for the exclusive use Of
later generations is wholly mistaken. Our
purpose is to make full use of these re-
sources, but to consider our sons and
daughters as well as ourselves; just as a
farmer uses his farm in ways to preserve
its future usefulness Conservation is the
road to national efficiency, and it stands
for ample and wise development.
| What this country needs is what every
free country must set before it as the great
goal toward which it works-an equal OPP
portunity. for life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness for every one of It's citizens.
To achieve this end we mist put stop to
the improper political dominion no less
than to the improper ecnomoic dominion Of
the great special interests. This country,
/ its natural resources, it's, natural advant-
| ages, its opportunities, its institutions,
belong to all it's citizens They cannot be
enjoyed fully and freely under any govern
ment in which the special interests, as
such, have a voice. The supreme political
task of our day, the indispensable condition
OF national efficiency and national welfare,
! is to drive the special interests out of our
public life"