Evening star., 1941-01-20
People Must Use
What Is Needed
Without Waste,
Ickes Says
BY Harold l.. Ickes.

which the world finds itself. 1t will undOubt-
edly be essential for as Nation to reap
praise and revalue our resources; to inventory
what is left of the stocks of materials in the
Nations natural storehouses above and below
the ground We are confronted with the gi
gantic task of discovering our full capabillty
from the point of view of our natural resources
and then of trying to fit ourselves into the new
scheme of thngS-a pattern completely diff
ferent from anything We now know.
In this new pattern the conservation of our
natural resources will be of paramount con-
Germ That is to say We must use what is
needful but must not waste: must learn
to know what We have to extract from our
stocks, to find new uses for those which are
plentiful so to husband those with which
less adequately supplied. nation
without natural resources is confronted with
physical as well as industrial bankruptcy
This Nation is abundantly supplied with
many, if not most, of those ingredients which
are necessary for the maintenance and i'm
prOyement of our way of life.
Under a democratic form of government,
in which the people, as whole, seek not
merely to improve their lot at the moment but
to conserve what they have SO that through
prudent use there may be the expectation and
hope of continuing and enhanced ability to
meet the future it is necessary to plan well
ahead
The Department of the Interior ever since
its inception in 1849, has been the land de-
partment of the Government charged with
the development of our natural resources 1t
is one major branch of the Government in
which there are concentrated a substantial
number of the units whose function and re-
SponSbity it is to manage the Federal
estate Through the course of the years as
the Nation grew in area and in population
various policies were followed but always
the central theme of a democraticaly
evolved homeland for democratically minded
people In this the Nation was not frugal On
the contrary. the Nation was lavish in per-
mtting its citizens to exploit the resources
that available. For long time, the
number of the people was relatively few COM
pared to the vast StorehouSeS of land, min
erals forests and water which were here to be
used But as the number of our people in
creased and the agricultural economy gave
way to an industrial one that made ever
larger demands upon our resources it became
matter of concern. not merely to the Gov
ernment. but to industry and the people at
large, that steps be taken to protect both the
present and the future against fruitless ex-
travagance and wae'n
ID APID as has been the acceptance of this
conservation philosophy, especially of late
years, nonetheesS the program has ad-
vanced too slowly Firm steps have already
been taken: but am sure that there are few,
if any, who will say that as many steps have
been taken as need to be before we are pre-
pared to meet the impact of foreign economic
theories and foreign action upon our security
at the conclusion of his war abroad.
The bureaus of the Department of the In
terror. therefore, are principal among those
agencies of the Government engaged in the
task of helping to point the way, by research
and by practice. in the attainment of that
very delicate balance between saving for the
future and present use which will assure
the continuation of that standard of life
which we as people. have set for ourselves.
1t is appropriate at this point merely by an
enumeration of the agencies which comprise
this department. to point out the breadth
and the scope of the activities upon which
are engaged. The following are the principal
conservation units in the Department of the
Interior which are devoted to national con-
servation program:
General Land Office Fish and Widlife
Service Geological Survey, Bureau of Recla-
nation Bureau of Mines, National Park
Service Grazing Service Petroleum Conser-
vation Division, Bonneville Power AdminiS-
tration Btuminous Coal Division. Director
ship of Forests.
In addition there are in the Department
of the Interior the Office of Indian Affairs,
the Division of Territories and Island Pos
sr9Siot,s and the Puerto Rico Reconstruction