THE CONFERENCE PROPER 



43 



they were Scotch, and second, they were our 

 great neighbors, and they were going to 

 record their history as they made it — they are 

 up to date. Then I said that I always figured 

 that Canada occupies with reference to the 

 United States the proud position that Scot- 

 land occupies with regard to her southern 

 neighbor, England. Scotland, through its 

 King, annexed England and has ruled it ever 

 since for England's good. 



Now, that is the destiny that I predict for 

 North America. Canada will play the part 

 of Scotland ; she will annex her southern 

 neighbor and do incalculable good to us in 

 giving us more of the strain of that invalu- 



able element which has made North Carolina 

 and South Carolina so great, the Scotch. 



Gentlemen, that is all I wish to say to you, 

 but remember one thing — and it is an audi- 

 ence like this that will promote it. You are 

 State people; but, thank God for this, even 

 above your love for your State you have the 

 greatest empire that ever the sun shone upon, 

 and you are progressing splendidly, you are 

 marching forward rapidly ! You people here, 

 you performers, and you, my dear friend, Mr. 

 Pinchot, think we are not driving fast enough. 

 We are driving pretty fast, gentlemen, we are 

 driving well, and there is no limit to what 

 this great continent is to be in the future. 



Following the speech of Mr. Carne- 

 gie, the chairman called on former Gov- 

 ernor George C. Pardee, of California. 

 Doctor Pardee, in his remarks, placed 

 President Roosevelt among the three 

 American Presidents who stand head 

 and shoulders above the others — Wash- 

 ington, who created the Nation, Lin- 

 coln, who saved the Nation, and Roose- 

 velt, who has done more to perpetuate 

 the comfort and assist the progress 

 of the Nation than any other Chief 

 Executive. 



Doctor Pardee spoke of the effects 

 of deforestation, and cited for examples 

 the Holy Land, China, Spain, and other 

 Old World countries. The fate that 

 has befallen these countries, he said, 

 through destruction of the forests, is 

 the fate that will befall our own coun- 

 try if we fail to heed the warnings we 

 have had, and if we do not profit by 

 the experiences of the countries that 

 are now suffering because of the disap- 

 pearance of their wooded areas. 



"We put on the uniform ; we shoulder 

 the musket, we follow the flag in time 

 of war, and we do not hesitate to suf- 

 fer for the good of our country. But 

 there are greater crises than those of 

 war. There are problems of peace ; 

 and it is one of these problems that 

 confronts this country now, as we of 

 the West know better, perhaps, than 

 you of the East and the South. One 

 of the problems that confronts us — one 

 of the greatest importance in its bear- 

 ing upon the present and the future — 

 is the salvation of the country through 

 the salvation of its forests. The per- 



petuation of those gi^eat natural re- 

 sources which have made, which are 

 now making, and which will, if we save 

 them, continue to make us great — this 

 is what the salvation of the forests 

 means. And that can only be done 

 when the people of the States remember 

 that, while the States are great, the 

 American Republic is greater than 

 them all." 



President Evans, of the American Au- 

 tomobile Association, and a member of 

 the Pennsylvania State Conservation} 

 Commission, followed Doctor Pardee 

 with a talk on good roads, in which he 

 referred to the work that is being done 

 along the line of permanent highway 

 improvement by the various States, 

 with particular reference to the East- 

 ern States. He urged the need of uni- 

 form legislation in regard to roads and 

 their maintenance. He referred to a 

 remark made by a Pennsylvania farmer, 

 who said that he did not object to using 

 four horses to haul a load uphill, but 

 thought it was going too far to be com- 

 pelled to use four horses to pull it 

 downhill, and said that that condition 

 of affairs was typical of much of the 

 highway system of the United States. 

 The speaker concluded with the remark 

 that he hoped soon to see the National 

 Conservation Commission in touch with 

 the practical, everyday necessities of 

 the people in many phases of economic 

 work and thrift which do not lie strictly 

 within the borders of the great, broad 

 subject of forest preservation, mining 

 or the other branches of conservation 

 work. 



