Mexico Missouri message., 1910-09-08
THEODORE ROOSEVELT ON
OUR NATIONAL EFFICIENCY
In Address Before the Conservation Congress
at St. Paul He Says New Methods of De-
veIOping and Using Natural Resources
of Country Are Needed.

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 Is
that the farmers themselves should I'M
dertaSe to get for themselves better
knowledge along these lines, and then to
apply II. Sir Horace Plunkett, for many
years a wyoming cattleman. ana 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 a center where the
work and knowledge of the whole world
concerning country life may be brought
together for the use OF every nation.
am strongly IN sympathy with this idea,
and hope to see II carried out with the
cooperation and assistance OF our own
people. Last spring while visiung the
capital OF Hungary. Buda-Pesth 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 a people we have not yet learned to
economize One OF the virtues We Ameri-
cans most need Is thrift. It is a moro
truism to say that luxury and eXtraVa-
gsncc are not good for Nation. So far
as they affect character, the loss they
cause may be beyond computation. But
in the material sense there is q loss
greater than is caused by both extravs-
ganco and luxury put together. I mean
the needless, useless, and excessive loss
TO our people from premature death and
avoidablo diseases. Wholly apart from
the grief, the suffering, and the wretohed-
ness which they cause. the material loss
each year has been calculated at nearly
twice what II 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 tho gov
ernors in the white house in May, 1908,
to consider the conservation question. BY
the advice " the governors the meeting
was followed by the appointment OF
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
Sundry civil service bill was introduced
by q congressman from Minnesota with
the purpose of putting a stop TO the work
81. -G.-aI. ~ La1- Al T1ln
amendment It's object was to put an
end TO the work Of n number Of commits
sions which had been appointed ny tho
president. and whose contribution TO tho
public welfare had been simply incalcu-
liable. Among these were the commission
FOR reorganizing the business methods of
the government the public lands COM
mission, the country life commission,
and the National conservation commits
sion itself When signed the Sundry
civil service bill containing this amend
ment I transmitted with II as my last
official act a memorandum declaring that
the amendment was void. because It was
an unconstitutional Interference with the
rights of the executive, and that II were
to remain president I would pay to It no
attention whatever.
Tho National conservation commission
thereupon became dormant. The suspen-
sion Of its work came Mt most unfor
ger that the progress already made would
be lost ~ this critical moment tho Ne
tional conservation association was or
ganiZed. It took up ihe work which 9th
erwise would not have been done, end II
exercised a most uscSul influence n pre-
venting had leg'3lsuon, IN securing the
Introduction Of better conservation mems
ures at the past session OF congress. and
in promoting the passage OF wise laws. II
deserves fhc confidence and support 0t
every citizen Interested in the WISE de-
veiop7nent and preservation of our nat
urai resources, and in preventing them
from passing into tive hands Of unoon-
troIled manopolies. II Joins with Tho Ma
tiNnal conservation congress In holding
this meeting. I am here by the joint in
vltation Of both.
Pan-Amerlcan construetiony
When the government of the United
States awoke 10 the idea OF conservation
and saw that It was good. Il lost no time
in communicating the advantages OF the
new point OF view to its immediate neigh
boris among the nations. A North Ameri-
csn conservation conference was held in
Washington, and the cooperation Of
Canada and Mexico in the great problem
OF developing the resources OF the conti-
nent for the 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 moncpolization had not gone far
as they had with US. So II is With the
republics of Central and South America.
Obviously they are on the verge OF a
period OF great material progress The
development Of their natural resources
their forests. their mines. their water,
and their soils-will create enormous
wealth. It is 20 the mutual interest OF
the United States and our sister Ameri-
can republics that this development
should be wisely done. Our manufacture
ing industries offer a market for more
and. more OF their natural wealth and
raw material, while they viii increasingly
desire to meet that demand In CONNER
cial exchange. The more we buy from
them, the more we shall sell to them.
Their prosperity is inseparably involved
with our own. Thank heaven. we OF this
continent are now beginning to realise,
what IN the end the whole world will
realize. that normally It is a good thing
for a nation to have Its neighbor nations
prosper. We Of the United States are
genuinely and heartily pleased 10 see
srowth and prosperity in Canada, in