The Washington herald., 1910-01-02
TURNING A LEAF
In NATIONS LIFE
America Must Save Where
1t Has Spent Freely.
WHAT CONSERVATION MEANS
Need Exists to Stop Waste and to
study Economy I'm Use of Natural
Resources-Prof. shaIer'E Warming
and BismaFck's Prediction that
Trying Times Must Come.

The American people found awaiting
them when they established the nation a
heritage richer by rar than that which |
any other nation has ever known.
The late Prof N S. shaler. the coun- |
try's foremost economic geologist, and
one Of its most profound thinkers, said
"Of all the sinful MASTERS Of mans in
heritance In the earth-and all are in this
regard sInners-the very worst are the
people of America.
There must be a realization on the part
OF many-a realization that now is shared
only by the few-that the country as
whole win have TO turn over new
leaf" This leaf cannot be turned at
once or without mighty effort We have
got the habit" of spending. and 1t will
be a long time before we can begin TO
save In fact. Il is only the impending
pinch that makes US think OF saving now.
Boast of What We Do.
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 viii
go headlong TO national decadence unless
we stop 20 take an accounting. We do
furnish. I'm general figures. quarter OF
the worlds wheat supply, half Of it's pc
| troleum. shree-quarters Of Cts entire Sup
4 ply Of cotton. and nine-tenths Of its corn
But we are doing It at a terrible sacri-
/ flee
Take the forest question as an example.
As a matter Of fact we do not know how
much forest we have. and we have been
/ here. as a nation. a century or more. And
yet we talk blithely Of our ''inexhaust-
ible" forests and go drawing on the ac-
count without much more than general
notion Of what the forest capital Is. and
with no notion Of its cost and value. II
| is no better business than II would be for
a bank 10 operate without a balance
sheet. without any notion Of its capital
cation and spending cost, trusting 70 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 II will be
recognized as quite as much within the
province OF the government 20 take steps
TO so protect all Of the material wealth
Of the country? Such step by no means
oonnotes government or State ownership
of the banks. All prudent men welcome
the security that the national regulations
give TO national banks, and, for the safe
" OF our moneys, prefer the national
banks
America Must Change.
The day will come. because It has got
to come, and because Americans are an
adaptable people. when there will be
clear change In the American trend Of
thought, a clear change in the American
habits OF life. a clear conception OF the
moral issues involved IN a proper stew
ardship Of the nations things that are
ours only as trustees for the future
The nation viii still keep its optimism,
its capacity for hard work, its inherent
buoyancy under the stress Of grave prob
lens, but it win take on q new and seri-
Gus purpose OF thrift
To some, no doubt, the idea OF having
20 save after such a long period Of easy
spending may be repugnant; some may
take the attitude OF Nine. de Pompadour,
who said during the excuses Of the
French court. After Us the deluge"-a
deluge that began with the reign Of ter
ror and still threatens the only nation of
Europe that has a decreasing birth rate.
But the majority Of thinking Americans
are going 20 take this question Of the
conservation Of our natural resources
home to themselves. They are going 20
ask. How can I help?' and when that
question is asked 1t Is already half an
swered. It must be answered in the in
terests Of the nation and Of humanity.
Moreover. these persons Of large public
spirit will understand that there is a dis
tinction between saving and scrimping,
that the type demanded to apply the
principle Of conservation Is not the miser
any more than it is the prodigal, but the
man of moderation who enjoys without
riot and who spends without squandering
the patrimony which he is in duty bound
to hand on TO a new generation.
VIII Test Consultation.
In 1865 Bismarck said that the real test
, of the American form of government
, would come when that country's great re-
sources began to be exhausted. when the
'1imitless opportunities were no longer
TO be had The imperative need, then, is
the assurance that our governmental in
. stitutlons shall be flexible and maintained
on a high plane of unselfishness. 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 con-
trolls is his TO use but not his to waste.
A man may not burn down his house ol
play the spendthrift with his fortune, be-
cause the state or his natural heirs vii
suffer from his folly or his malevolence
on the same ground the Commonwealth
law should arrest his action if it waste:
the substance Of the unborn. It Is al
: old and well-affrmed concept. though to-
: little worked out. that our government!
: exist in part that they may guard ant
preserve the societies which build them
If such is their purpose, their first dut!
should be to see that the material foun
| dations of mankind are not idly wrecked
! We must realize that we are not mer'
: monetary tenants OF our places IN tn
present-day civilization. but the custo
dams and trustees of all the progress +
? come after us: and in so far as we cal
= conserve instead Of destroying. and saw
! instead of wasting, so we, no less thai
those who laid the foundations Of the re
public. make possible the future of q ma
ton glorious beyond our fondest dreams
JOHN II. FTNNEY,
Secretary Appalachian National Forest Association.
IS People who suffer from heat I'm hand
h and feet will obtain relief by putting in
# side their stockings and gloves sna