Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-20
Subtraction From Happiness.

Subtraction From Happiness.
Every. water power site unused. locked
up in idleness and inactivity when there
are communities to serve is a subtrac
ton from the sum of human happiness
and prosperity" he continued Every
piece of land which will produce the nee
essaries of life dedicated by law to nom
use, incorporated in a reserve and denied
to settlement is an extra burden upon
every man who buys the necessaries of
life.
Every year in which thousands of feet
of ripened lumber are permitted to rot
and fall in the reserves you are stealing
something from the human race that be-
longs to it, and every year that the great
coal beds of the Pacific slope go unde-
veloped 1t costs this government its ex-
ira millions to send coal around to the
Pacific. burdens every citizen in that
part of the country with exorbitant
freight charges, and puts extra millions
into the hands of eastern coal companies
who are delighted to see this go on.
Economic use and development should
be the basis and fundamental principle
of any conservation policy agreed upon
or incorporated into law, said Senator
Borah.
These resources are not to lie idle.
imprisoned and unusable." he urged.
IF you join with us In that proposition
We will glagly JOIN you in formulating a
will avoid waste. extravaganza and mo-
nopOly as far as possible. But upon
policy OF non-use, of strangulation OF the
great west. we stop at the first call for
legislation. If strangulatiOn Is to he had
it will first be tried upon some of the
| measures in this body.
Declares It Libel.
I'VE have reached, it seems. that pitia-
BILE, indefensible position, according to
| those who would tie up our resources.
| where we are willing to confess before
the world that as lawmakers we are in
efficient, as administrators worthless, and
| that our citizenship is so brazen and cor
rupt that we can no longer do business.
| but out of sheer impotency must shut
up shop. l denounce such theory as
| libel upon our citizenship, a manufactured
| and we'll distributed libel upon the west,
and for Interior and selfish motives"
Senator Borah declared that any legis-
lation upon the subject of conservation
must be upon the basis that western cit
izenship was no aest. law-abiding and in
| telligent; that western people appreciated
the value of their resources and proposed
to protect theln. and that they were
loyal to their tates and to the nation
as whole
| 1.-The conservation policy which teaches
the farmer the science Of farming. how
| TO vary his croI s. protect them from in
| Sects and his stock from disease. how to
make thirty-fv., bushels of wheat grow
| where only tw ,Hty grew before. which
reforests those timber lands which will
produce nothin; but timber, which will
| adopt a policy of regulation and control
admitting of u:ae and development every
where. is a tr, conservation policy" he
| asserted
| But the policy which withholds the
| agricultural land from production and
| binders Industrial life, which forces the
citizen into city or foreign CLINE for
| lands. is not only short-sighted and I'M
| wise. but il Is blunder which, in legis-
lation is even worse than crime.
prophesy that such a policy will be re-
jected in the end What We want is
more farr ers and better farms. more
homes and better homes he added.
State Has Fight to Make.
THE west has her fight to make in
the industrial world" said Mr.. Borah In
conclusion '.She has to take care of her
people and furnish prosperity for those
who come among us. Taxes must be
raised to Sustain county and state gov
ernments. With one-thira of our state
| i'm a forest reserve, With our settlers be-
| ing driven from our state into Canada
| with our power sites tied up, with the
resources which belong to those who are
willing to take hold OF them and develop
| them taken from us, the outlook is not
encouraging
IF you say to us that conservation
means the holding of those lands and
| power sites indefinitely with view of
securing permanently the highest posi-
BILE revenue to the government we will
oppose that policy to the end. But If ii
means an honest effort to protect those
resources TO an economic and safe use by
the people, free of extravaganza and
waste. we will join you. But we have
grown weary of this universal and sense
less outcry against whole community"