Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1920-02-12

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to be head of the interior department lor ahotnel
four years.
To be sure, Secretary Lane says that he mas not
sent in his resignation to the president, ana mas
not even talked to him about 1t, as he does not
wish to add to Mr.. Wilson's burdens and worries
ar this time. But he admits that it is his lnten-
ton to leave the cabinet. So it looks as II the ma
tional parks would lose their official head sooner
than anyone had reason to think-a prospect which
nleases none of the hundreds of thousands of ma
tional park enthusiasts.
Doubtless most good Americans think well of MI.
Lane. His public life has established his reputa-
ton for ability. His long service on the interstate
commerce commission and in the cabinet has made
him very we'll known. He has made for himself
an enviable name as a 100 per cent American, VINO
has had a vision of a Greater America and has
labored faithfully to bring that vision to his fellow
Americans.
The national park enthusiasts, however, have a
viewpoint all their own; individually and collec-
lively they think we'll Of Secretary Lane for his
attitude toward the national parks. They believe
that the phenomenal growth of the national park
movement in the last seven years is in no small
part due to his official cooperation and official
leadership.
1n.s LAtional park movement is believed by its
supporters to be the livest national cause which is
not primarily allied with reconstruction after the
great war. 1t stands, among other things, for the
outdoor life; for recreation amid scenic beauty;
for "See America First - for the development Of
the national parks as a great national economic
asset; for the keeping at home of hundreds of mil
lions of good American dollars; for the preserva-
ton of American fora and fauna for the estab-
lishment of magnificent public Fairgrounds for the
people forever; for increased and better Ameri-
canism.
When Secretary Lane assumed his seat in the
cabinet national park affairs were in an exceed
ingly bad way. The federal government regarded
the national parks as a liability rather than as an
asset. Their administration, such as 1t was, was
considered a nuisance. Though the department
of the interior was charged by law with their care,
they were managed by half-a-dozen clerks in vari-
Gus subdepartments, working on part time. No
body was responsible and nobody cared. Congress
granted haphazard appropriations under protest.
A new national park project was an adventure in
politics.
And the American people six years ago scarcely
knew there were any national parks. Yellowstone
and Yosemite were known as scenic beauty spots
rather than as national parks. Railroad folders
were the one source Of information. The public
still belieevd that the Swiss Alps were the only
mountains worth seeing, with the Canadian Rock
les second choice.
Secretary Lane had the vision to see that the
national parks were a great national economic as
set instead Of a financial liability; that the "See
America First movement was q live national
cause, and that the national parks had an educa-
tional and a recreatfonal mission for the Ameri-
can people.
He at once began to put order into the national
park chaos. Then the world war gave him his OPP
~p0rtunity by shutting off American tourist travel
abroad; before the war Americans were spending
something like S500,000,000 yearly in foreign sfgnr-