The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1910-09-09
THEODORE ROOSEVELT ON
OUR NATIONAL EFFICIENCY
II Address Before the Conservation Congress
at St. Paul He Says New Methods Of De- .
~veloping and Using Natural Resources
of Country Are Needed.

communities of every other kind, are not
beyond Improvement, while much needs
to be done in some other sections to i'm
prove country life. AS yet we know COM
paratively little of the basic facts of rural
civilization. The means for better farm
ing we have studied with care, but to bet
ter living on the farm and to better bust
ness on the farm the farmers themselves
have given scant attention. One Of the
most urgent needs of our civilization 10
hat tho farmers themselves should I'M
dertake to get for themselves q better
knowledge along these lines, and then to
apply 1t. Sir Horace Plunkett, for many
years q Wyoming cattleman, and now de-
voting himself in Ireland to the country
life problem there, has suggested in his
recent book on the Country Life Prob
lem in America" the creation Of a Coun-
try Life institute as a center where the
work and knowledge Of the whole world
concerning country life may be brought
together for the use of every nation. I
am strongly in sympathy with this idea,
and I hope to see 1t carried out with the
cooperation and assistance Of our own
people. Last spring, while visiting the
capital Of Hungary, Buda-Pesth. I was
immensely impressed by the Museum OF
Country Life, containing an extraordinary
series of studies in agriculture, in stock
raising, in forestry, in mining; the ex-
hibits were of the utmost practical I'M
portance and were also intensely inter-
esting and instructive.
AS q people we have not yet learned to
economize. One Of the virtues we Ameri-
cans most need Is thrift. 1t is a mere
truism to say that luxury ard extrava-
gsnco are not good for q Nation. So far
as they affect character, the loss they
cause may be beyond computation. But
in the material sense there is a loss
greater than is caused by both extrava-
sancs and luxury put together. I mean
the needless, useless, and excessive loss
to our people from premature death and
avoidable diseases. Wholly apart from
the grief, the suffering. and the wretched-
ness which they cause, the material loss
each year has been calculated at nearly
twice what 1t costs to run the Federal
government. In addition to the state and
city health officers and organizations,
there is urgently needed a Federal bu-
reau Of health, to act, so far as the Ma
tional government properly may to re-
lieve our people from this dreadful bur-
den.
National Conservation Commission.
One of the most important meetings in
our recent history was that Of the gov
ernors in the white house in May, 1903,
to consider the conservation question. By
the advice Of the governors the meeting
was followed by the appointment OF a
National conservation commission. The
meeting Of the governors directed the
attention Of the country to conservation
as nothing else could have done, while
the work Of the commission gave the
movement dehniteness and supplied It
with a practical program. But at the
moment when the commission was ready
to begin the campaign for putting its pro-
gram into effect an amendment to the
~
by a congressman from Minnesota with
the purpose of putting a stop TO the work
SO admirably begun. Congress passed the
amendment. It's object was to put ar
end to the work Of a number Of commits
sions. which had been appointed by the
president. and who's. contribution 70 tho
public welfare had been simply incalcu-
liable. Among these were the commission
for reorganizins the business methods CT
the government, the public lands rom
mission, the country life commission,
and the National conservation commits
sion itself. When I signed the Sundry
civil service bill containing this amend
ment, I transmitted with 1t as my last
official act a memorandum declaring that
the amendment was void. because 1t was
an unconstitutional interference with the
rights Of the executive, and that If I were
to remain president I would pay to 1t no
attention whatever.
The National conservation commission
thereupon became dorm nj The suspen-
sion of its work came at a most unfor-
tunate time, and there was serious dan
ger hat the rogress already made would
be lost. - this critical moment The NJ
ttonal conservation association was or
ganiZed. 1t took UP the work which 9TH
erwts~ would not have been done. end 1t
exercised q most usstul influence n pre-
venting had leg'3I1tion, in securing the
- 1890
ures at the past session of congress ard
in promoting the passage Of wise laws. 1t
deserves the confidence and sur port of
every citizen Interested IN the r's. de-
velopTnent and preservation Of our nat
ural resources, and in preventing them
from, Passing into tie hands of uncon-
t~olled monopoles. II joins with he Ma
ti~nal conservation congress ir holding
this meeting. I am here by the joint in
v~itation Of both.
Pan-Amerlcan Construction.
When the government Of the United
States awoke to the idea Of conservation
and saw that It was good. 1t lost no time
in communicating the advantages of the
new point Of view to it's immediate neigh
bors among the nations. A North Ameri-
can conservation conference was held In
Washington, and the cooperation of
Canada and Mexico in the great problem
OF OSV0lOptn8 inc EcbOuTCcb Oh INC CSHti-
rent for tho benefit Of its people was
asked and promised. The nations upon
our northern and southern boundaries
wisely realized that their opportunity to
conserve the natural resources was better
than ours. because with them destruction
and monepoIixation had not gone so far
as they had with N. 80 1t II with the
republics Of Central and South America.
Obviously they are on the verge of q
period Of great material progress. The
development Of their natural resources
their forests. their mines, their water,
and their soils-wn create enormous
wealth. It 10 to the mutual interest Of
the United States and our sister Amerf-
can republics that this development
should be wisely done. Our manufactur-
ing industries sfer q market for more
and more Of their natural wealth and
raw material. while they viii increasingly
desire to meet that demand In CONNER
ciai exchange. The more We buy from
them, the more va shall sell to them.
Their prosperity 10 i~nseparably involved
with our own. Thank heaven, we OF this
continent are now beginning to realize,
what In the end the whole world will
realise. that normally it IL q good thing
for a nauen to have its neighbor nations