The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-07-15
CONSERVATION
PLAN PRAISED
Calls Ignite Coal Project Ap-
plication Of Fundamental
Conservation Principle"

Harry A. Slattery, whose tribute to
the essential %soundness Of the Non.
partisan Leagues policy with refer.
ence to state development of natural
resources is printed below, is n OF
the most potent individuals in Ameri.
can public life. For ten years and
more he has stood between the iland.
grabbers, the coal-grabbers and the
the people Of the United States on
they other, fighting a daily battle to
protect some $5O,O0O,OOO, 900 Of public
resources from the marauding attacks
Of these special privilege interests.
For ten years, as secretary Of the Ma.
tional Conservation association, OF
which Clifford Pinchot is president,
Mr.. Slattery has met the special-in.
terest senators and congressman and
cabinet officials and ordinary lobbyists
in Washington, and has, by pure moral
force and effective presentation Of the
facts, driven the robbers off.
During the past year, however, he
has seen the Wilson administration
silence the conservationists within its
own ranks, and unite with the Smoot.
Lodge-Warren element of despoilers
on the n hand and the Myers.
Thomas-King organization Of enemies
of the public domain on the Demo
cratic side Of congress, to vote away
to private lease the water powers, the.
mineral deposits and even partial con.
troll of the national forest resources.
In spite of a heroic resistance led by
Senator LaFollette, the chance for a
clean-cut program Of federal develop
ment of natural has passed.
Yet eve here, the fight of the
National Conservation association has
forced a compromise which enables
the people, when in the future they
win control of their Federal Govern.
ment. to apply conservation principles
such as the State of North Dakota H.
to apply to it's Ignite resources.
Mr.. Slattery writes:
'The conservation movement inaug.
urated a new viewpoint in America
relative to u natural resources. The
essence of that viewpoint was con.
tanned in the statement that the nat.
ural resources belong to all the people
and should be developed, protected,
and perpetuated directly for the bene.
ct of all the people and not for the
profit of a few. Conservation princi.
pies, voiced in glittering generalities.
without specifying who the resources
were to be conserved for, became stock
phrases. Every mOnOpolistic corpora.
ton in the country joined in the lip
service to the s%hibboleth conservation
Of Americans natural resources for
the American people.
Famine Draws Nearer.
But the truth is that few special In.
terests have practiced it, so that today
we are ten years nearer a famine in
lumber, Oil, potash, phosphates, and
other necessary resources. And the
remaining resources are largely in the
hands of a few large corporations.
who charge on their raw materials
what the traffic will bear-which, as
always, the ultimate consumer pays.
Out Of q fog of promises on conser.
walton, has come the clear-cut prac.
tical plan of the Nonpartisan League.
first In their state program, to develop
the Ignite fields of coal for and in
the interest of the consuming public.
And likewise with this plan goes hand
in hand the conservation of this re.
source from waste and destruction.
This is the use. of resources for, the
benefit Of all and not for the profit Of
q few-the fundamental conservation
principle"
HARRY A. SLATTERY,
of Washington, d. c.,
.5 b.: Secretary, National Con-
servation Association.