The Benson signal., 1920-02-07

TN be head of the interior department for another
fOur. years.
To be SURE Secretary Lane says that he has not
sens in his resignation to the president and has
no; even talked to him about it, as he does not
wish, 10 add to Mr. Wilson's burdens and worries
a, Ft,ls time But he admits that it is his lnten-
ton to leave the cabinet. SO it looks as II the ma
r.naai parks would lose their official head sooner
than anyone had reason to think-a prospect which
,4elses nom, of the hundreds of thousands OF ma
t0nal park enthusiasts.
Doubtless most good Americans think we'll OF Mr.
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 100 per cent American, who
has had d vision of Greater America and has
labored faithfully to bring that vision to his fellow
Americans.
The national park enthusiasts, however, have
,-.~-->on+ OIL their own individually and colec-
lively they think well of Secretary Lane for his
attitude toward the national parks. They believe
that the phenomenal growth of the national park
movement in the last years is in no small
part due to his official cooperation and official
leadership
l.., 49, lonal park movement is believed by its
supporters be the livest national which is
not primarily allied with reconstruction after the
great war. It stands, among other things, for the
outdoor life: for recreation amid scenic beauty;
VI
the national parks 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 flora and fauna for the estab
lshment of magnificent public Fairgrounds for the
people forever; for increased and better Amer-
cansm
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 liability rather than as an
asset Their administration. such it was,
considerei 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
hody was responsible and nobody cared. Congress
granted haphazard appropriations under protest
new national park project adventure in
politics.
And the American people six years ago scarcely
knew there were any national parks. Yellowstone
and Yosemite were known 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
fes second choice.
Secretary Lane had the vision to see that the
national parks q great national economic as
set instead of financial liability; that the "See
America First movement was a live national
cause and that the national parks had an educa-
tjonal and a recreational mission for the Ameri-
can people.
He at once began to put order into the national
mark chaos Then the world gave him his Op
portunity by shutting off American tourist travel
abroad: before the war Americans were spending
something like $5OO00o,0o0 yearly in foreign sight