Evening star., 1937-06-01
FLOOD BILL URGED
IN FORUM SPEECH
Senator SChWe||enbach
Warns Nation of Loss
in Fertile lands.

An appeal to the Nation to battle
for flood control, water conservation
and reclamation, in order that Amer
icas national destiny will not end in
disaster was voiced last nigh by
Senator Schwellenbach, Democrat, of
Washington.
He spoke on the National Radio Fo-
rum, sponsored by The Star and
broadcast over Nationwide net
work Of the National Broadcasting
Co.
Citing statistics compiled by the
National Resources Board, Senator
SchTenenbach painted a grim pic
ture Of broad eXpanSes of fertile land
which will be transformed into desert
unless the scourge of wind and food is
checked.
Contendlng conservation of natural
resources is national problem which
must be met by the Federal Gov
ernment, Senator Schwellenbach said:
We have come to know that Amer
lea cannot long remain prosperous or
happy when any portion of the popu-
latlon is neglected by the rest of the
population"
The text of Senator SchWellenbach's
address follows:
Az the outset, may I express to Mr..
Kuhn and The Washington Star nv
appreciation for this opportunity to
discuss this important question with
you.
The term, "cOnSerVation of natural
resources" despite its dramatization
by President Theodore Roosevelt. has
always had a rather vague and far
away sort of meaning to most of us.
We have thought of it as consisting
OF the withdrawal of acreage, of forest
lands. or the creation Of oil reserves.
1t was something of which everv one
approved but about which no one did
anything. Were We not the richest
Nation in the world? Did not we pos
sess limitless resources? Our attitude
vas that, while our great-grandchil-
fren might possibly suffer from our
lack OF attention to conservation,
probably they would have such greater
knowledge than we that there was
no need for worry
Quotes From Report.
1t has been only the last few wears.
ence the revelations by the studies of
the National Resources Board, that
the American people have been
brought to the realization that a
proper use. development and preserva-
fINn Nf L
and telling problem which faces us
today and which must be solved today.
Let me read to you from the recent
report of the National Resources
Committee I quote:
The fact is that most of the terri
tory occupied by the United States is
not naturally suited for permanent
civilization. 1t is like the land of
the Mayas of Yucatan or the land of
baoylon-a rich country where its
civilization would flash into a blaze
OF glory and then collapse in a few
generations into ruin. Our soil is not
enriched by the usual methods of cuI-
tlvation, but Impoverished. BY the
normal processes of our farming, our
mining and our numbering, we are
creating desert. The Americans
need to realize that all their national
hopes and aspirations are secondary
to the question whether We can con-
tinue to eat. Without fertile soil and
self-renewing forests, the problem of
our bankrupt cities Will become a
ghastly joke. Armies and navies can
not defend a nation against the
kcourge of wind and flood; constitu-
f1ons and courts have no authority
over natural law. Any nation whose
Iand naturally tends to turn into des-
ert must take measures to preserve
the land or it will surely die" End
OF quotation.
In ADDITION, we in this country have
viewed the problem of conservation
from a purely local viewpoint. We
IN the West have read of the floods
IN the East. We have shuddered at
them. We have sympathized with
their victims. But it was not until
recently that We have appreciated the
Tact that our own prosperity was af
lected by them.
Drought's Affect on East.
In the past We have had a similar
ATTITUDE toward the droughts and the
duststorms of the Middle West. You
people in the East have never appre-
clated the fact that your prosperity
and your future might be affected bv
the destruction of the purchasing
power of the people of the Middle
West through the failure of their
crops or by our failure in the West
70 make the proper use of the re-
sources with which We were endowed,
Inc last few years have brought to