68 



CONSERVATION 



The precedent was entirely established and 

 can be shown with documents on file. 



We do not want to put our trust in 

 princes. We want to put our trust in the 

 Lord God who made this earth and made 

 the land of it; Who has called us His chil- 

 dren and has set us to work in this business 

 of preserving these forests. He did not 

 set any king at that work, nor any queen, 

 but He set all His children everywhere to 

 preserving the means by which He fed his 

 children and gave them water for their 

 thirst. We had here a great meeting of 

 people who wanted to preserve the water 

 channels of America ; a most commendable 

 effort, but it reminds me of Mrs. Glass' 

 direction with regard to cooking a haie. 

 She said, "First catch your hare," which is 



a very good rule. If you have to cook a 

 hare, to have him ready for dinner, catclj 

 the hare first. I could not help thinking 

 when these gentlemen were conspiring or 

 agreeing with regard to water navigation, 

 that it would be a good thing first to catch 

 the water; and as long as the water is abun- 

 dant, as the Lord God in His omnipotence 

 has pleased to send us rain enough, it would 

 be as well to catch it and preserve it so 

 it may come down in streams which are 

 available, instead of letting it all rush of? 

 the hills in the spring and waste the lands 

 which are below. 



The two things to be said are, stop de- 

 nudation, plant trees, and make the people 

 who own funds in the future invest them 

 in the forests. 



The reading of the reports of the 

 Board cf Directors and the Treasurer, 

 followed. These reports, giving in 

 figures and in detail the work of the 

 Association during 1908, will be found 

 in another part of this issue, and every 

 member of the Association should 

 carefully read the information con- 

 tained in them. The report of the 

 Auditing Committee was also read, to- 

 gether with a supplemental report, and 

 the suggestion was made that a perma- 

 nent Auditing Board be provided for 

 in the By-laws of the Association, and 

 that such a board be created. It was 

 explained that the work of auditing the 

 accounts of the organization and those 

 of Conservation has grown to such 



volume that the few hours at the dis- 

 posal of a specially appointed com- 

 mittee is too short a time in which to 

 perform the work in a proper inanner. 

 On motion, the suggestion was adopted 

 and referred to the Committee on By- 

 laws, and a permanent Board of Audi- 

 tors will be named within a short time. 

 Following the transaction of this 

 routine business, the session was given 

 up to discussion and brief addresses 

 on a number of topics, J. H. Finney, 

 secretary of the Appalachian National 

 Forest Association ; Doctor Rothrock, 

 of Pennsylvania ; George Ward Cook, 

 of New Hampshire ; former Secretary 

 Will, and others taking part, and the 

 session closed at noon. 



THE AFTERNOON SESSION 



THE afternoon session opened with 

 an address by T. H. Hodge, of 

 Philadelphia, representing the 

 Pocono Protective Fire Association. 

 The general topic for the afternoon 

 being, "Forest Fires and Their Con- 

 trol," Mr. Hodge's address, detailing 

 the work of this organization, was 

 heard with interest. He said the Po- 

 cono Protective Fire Association was 

 incorporated in November, 1902, its 

 purpose being, as far as possible, to 

 prevent fires on Pocono Mountain, at 

 the headwaters of the Lehigh River. 

 The Lehigh is the principal tributary 



of the Delaware River, and as a result 

 of the almost complete denudation of 

 the Pocono Mountain some years ago, 

 and the consequent silting up of the 

 channel of the Lehigh, as well as the 

 Delaware below Philadelphia, the 

 United States Government is com- 

 pelled to spend millions of dollars for 

 dredging and deepening these channels. 

 The mountain is now, however, be- 

 coming covered again with timber, and 

 to protect and promote the growth of 

 this new timber cover is the work of the 

 association represented by Mr. Hodge. 

 He stated that the district in which the 



