22 



CONSERVATION 



means the private development and privMe 

 exploitation of the industry much along the 

 Ime suggested by Mr. Walsh. 



We say it is kindred to or inter-related v^rith 

 the matter of transportation, and because of 

 the fact that it is so in the middle West, the 

 matter is very important, because with us it 

 is a problem of distribution, rather than a 

 problem of mining, or the value of the thing 

 itself. For that reason, because we are the 

 greatest mining district in the world, because 

 of the fact that we are interested as a mining 

 district, we are interested in this work of an 

 inland waterway and believe that forestry and 

 the inland waterways are kindred and can- 

 not be separated from each other. 



I believe the great problem for this confer- 

 ence, and the great problem for the country 

 in the future, is the development of inland 

 waterways. I believe the greatest investment 

 this Nation can make today, bonded or other- 

 wise, is to construct a canal from Lake Su- 

 perior to the Gulf of Mexico. It may cost 

 $500,000000. Estimates have been made at 

 $400,000 a mile. A thousand miles would 

 cost $400,000,000, practically the capitalization 

 of a private enterprise such as the Milwaukee 

 or the Northern Pacific, and much less than 

 the capitalization of some of the larger rail- 

 way systems. This would solve the matter of 

 rate regulation in the interior of the country 

 and would make unnecessary future discus- 

 sions between sections or political parties as 

 to whether Federal control or State control 

 is best, because then the matter of competi- 

 tion and the matter of reform or better sys- 

 tem of transportation would solve that ques- 

 tion of itself; and because then, too, we would 

 have a great route of transportation which 

 belonged, not to private enterprises, but which 

 would always be the heritage of the people of 

 this country, not only today, but in the future ; 

 and such a canal as I have spoken of, with 

 lateral and spur canals, would have much to 

 do with the conservation, in my judgment, of 

 the fuel. I believe it would pay for itself 

 every fifty years in the matter of the saving 

 of fuel alone, and would pay for itself every 

 ten or twenty years in the reduced cost of 

 transportation to the people. 



Minnesota is practically the water shed of 

 the continent. Some of you people who are 

 further South must remember that we start 

 the Mississippi River down your way. We 

 have our streams and our forests and our 

 mines, and all those things up in Minnesota, 

 and we are interested in the conservation of 



the resources of this country — forests, waters, 

 mines, and so forth. 



My own opinion is that proper conserva- 

 tion consists in proper exploitation and proper 

 development, rather than a discontinuation 

 of use, as, for instance, in Sweden, where I 

 believe the amount of iron ore that may be 

 mined is limited to five million tons per year. 

 We want all these things to use as we need 

 them, but we must properly exploit them and 

 properly develop them. If the work is to be 

 done, it must be done scientifically. It has 

 always been my opinion that this problem was 

 not a politician's problem at all. but that it 

 was, after all, an engineer's problem. I real- 

 ized this morning, as I looked at this confer- 

 ence and as I have watched it from the time 

 I came into this room, that the politician is 

 going to eliminate himself from this conser- 

 vation work, and that the plodder, the man 

 of whom the President spoke yesterda}', us- 

 ing him as a type of man who sits at his 

 typewriter desk and works overtime without 

 any pay or hope of ever getting any, is the 

 man who will have to take the work up . 



I remember at the conference last May at 

 the White House all the Governors of the 

 States were there who could be present. Many 

 of their conferees, having met in the White 

 House, were satisfied, and then the politician, 

 having satisfied the public as to himself, and 

 having satisfied himself as to the public, left 

 the work to go to someone else, and there is 

 not that manifestation of interest which was 

 displayed a little while ago; but it is going 

 to grow, just the same. This movement, if I 

 understand it, is bigger than the Government ; 

 it is bigger than the conferees ; it is bigger 

 than the conference ; it is bigger than the Na- 

 tion itself; and I am of opinion that we will 

 all live to see the day when history will write 

 into its pages the greatest achievement in the 

 record of this Nation's present chief, who 

 made possible the conference last May, and 

 who made possible this conference, because 

 out of it and because of the activity of the 

 scientific men of this country, will come great 

 good for the future of our country. 



As I said at the outset, I am not a pessi- 

 mist, neither am I unduly an optimist. I want 

 to say to you, however, that if you will give 

 us, by canal or otherwise, as good a mode of 

 transportation as Germany has, for instance, 

 we will guarantee to furnish you all the iron 

 that this country wants for at least two hun- 

 dred years, and you can husband the re- 

 sources of every other section. 



Governor Johnson having finished, eluded the morning session. The Geor- 

 the chairman called on Gov. Hoke gia exectitive addressed the Conference 

 Smith, of Georgia, whose speech con- as follows: 



ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR HOKE SMITH 



I HAVE felt a deep interest in the purposes 

 of this gathering, and agree with Govern- 

 or Johnson that among the many good 

 things our President has suggested, perhaps 



none will last longer or include more broad 

 benefit to the entire country than the organi- 

 zation which is here today. 



T can express very strongly my sympathy 



