Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1922-02-22
WARNS AGAINST
USELESS WASTE
OF RESOURCES
Director of Conservation
Pleads Saving of States
Wealth.
MORE LAWS NEEDED
Special to The Times.


TERRE HAUTE, Ind, Feb. 22--Rean-
cation that natural wealth Of the cOun-
try is the foundation and mainsty Of oul
prosperity, that care and caution must BE-
exercised in the spending, lest these
bOuntifuI gifts of nature be exhausted
and posterity denied a heritage that was
ours. conservation departments to help
guard these resources, have been or
ganized all over the Nation in the last
fifteen years, Richard Lieber, director
Of conservation in Indiana, told members
Of the Exchange Club at noon luncheon
here today.
1t is purely and simply business mat
ter, the proper use, propagation and con-
servation of these riches and that In
diana has made so much Roadway In
this direction since 1919 when the State
conservation department was created, Is
entirely due to it's being operated in Is
nOn-partisan and political way, and
the splendid support of the press and the
people generally, he said.
THREE STAGES IN
COUNTRY'S GROWTH.
The speaker told Of three noteworthy
stages in the growth Of the country and
the gradual development Of it's natural
resources. The fBt stage, he said, was
that Of individual enterprise for per
SOual anu IdUully dement,. IL leu 10 the
conquest of the wilderness.
The next stage, he declared, was that
of collective enterprise, either for the
benefit of communists or for the profit
of individual forming the communities.
It led to the development of cities and
States, and the people generally.
In the first stage, the resources re.
ceived little thought. In the second, they
Fy1II In In zfQ xub iqh
we are entering, wise and beneficial uses
are ESSENTIAL, and tn checking Of waste
is absolutely demanded.
Mr. Lieber said wastes which most ur-
gently require checking vary widely IN
character and amount. The most repre-
hensible waste is destruction by forest
fires, uncontrolled flow Of gas and oil,
soil wash, and abandonment of coal in
mines. This is attributed, for the most
part, to ignorance, Indifference. or false
notions of economy, to rectify which is
the business Of the people collectively.
YATES FROM
MISUSE.
Almost as reprehensible, he contended,
is waste arising from misuse as in the
consum ption Of fuel in furnaces and en-
gines of low efficiency. loss of water in
floods, the employment of ill-adapted
structural materials, growing ill-chosen
crops and the perpetuation Of inferior
stocks of plants and animals, all of
which may be remedied.
He contended that for the prevention
Of waste the most effective means will
be found in increase and diffusion Of
knowledge, from which is sure to result
an aroused public sentiment demanding
prevention. The people have the matter
in their own hands. They may prevent
or limit the destruction Of resources and
restrain misuse through the enactment
and enforcement Of appropriate State
and Federal laws"
The speaker pointed out that waste re
duced and resources saved are the first.
not the last object of his department.
The material resources have an addition
al value when their preservation adds
to the beauty and habitabnity Of the
Iou6