88 



CONSERVATION 



under its constitutional power over naviga- 

 tion, the Federal Government may appro 

 pHate for the purchase of lands and forests 

 reserves in the States, provided it is made 

 clearly to appear that such lands and forest 

 reserves have a direct and substantial con- 

 nection with the conservation and improve- 

 ment of the navigability of a river, actually 

 navigable in whole or in part; and any 

 appropriation made therefore is limited to 

 that purpose. 



"Resolved, That the bills referred to 

 in the resolutions of the House, H. R. 10,456 

 and H. R. 10,457, are not confined to such 

 last-mentioned purpose and are therefore 

 unconstitutional." 



To meet the requirements of these reso- 

 lutions the following bills were promptly 

 introduced in the House ; The Pollard Bill, 

 H. R. 21,220; the Weeks Bill H. R. 22,221, 

 and the Lever Bill, H. R. 21,357. None of 

 these was passed. On May 16, the Senate 

 passed the Brandgee Bill, S. 4,825. On 

 May 21, the House passed the Scott Bill. 

 H. R. 21,936, providing for State coopera- 

 tion and the appointment of a Commission 

 to investigate still further, during the re- 

 cess, the conditions existing in the Southern 

 Appalachian and White Mountain regions. 

 Neither of these bills, however, became a 

 law. On December 9, another hearing was 

 had before the Committee on Agriculture 

 of the House. One of the most important 

 features of the work now before the friends 

 of forest conservation in the United States 

 is the aggressive pressing of the Bill 4,825, 

 already passed by the Senate, that it may 

 become a law before the exppiration of the 

 life of the present Congress on March 4, 

 next. 



In June, the office of the Association was 

 removed from 131 1 G Street N. W., to 1417 

 G Street N. W., where much larger and 

 more commodious quarters were secured at 

 a slight decrease in rental. 



Mention might well be made of the 

 splendid work now in progress in the in- 

 creasing number of forest schools and 

 forestry departments in colleges and uni- 



versities, in the forestry offices in the vari- 

 ous states and, notably, in the great and 

 rapidly growing Forest Service. The wide 

 publicity, however, which, happily, the 

 general work of forestry is now receiving, 

 has already made this progress reasonably 

 familiar; and in the interest of brevity, 

 detailed review is here omitted. It may 

 however, be said that never before in our 

 Iiistory has there been such an earnest senti- 

 ment favoring forestry and conservation, 

 and never before has such effective work 

 been done. Most noteworthy of all is the 

 great conservation movement inaugurated 

 by the White House Conference of last 

 May. 



Inland navigation, deeper waterways, water- 

 powers, and economical manufacturing 

 therewith, floods, soils, irrigation, drainage, 

 and the public health, as shown in detail 

 by one of our folders, are all fundamentally 

 dependent upon and related to Forestry. 

 This larger field of conservation and utili- 

 zation of all our natural resources plainly 

 places upon our Association duties which 

 should be heartily assumed, and diligently 

 discharged. 



In closing, it should be said that, in com- 

 parison with the work remaining to be done, 

 the work already accomplished by all the 

 forestry forces combined is slight. Destruc- 

 tion of resources proceeds without abate- 

 ment. Sentiment now developing should be 

 intensified, and focused upon local, state and 

 National governments, that legislation and 

 administration may accomplish the ends 

 without which all our efforts are vain. 



The American Forestry Association is a 

 leading agency for general propagania in 

 this field. Its efforts are strictly limited by 

 its means. Where it receives hundreds, it 

 should receive thousands of dollars for the 

 prosecution of the great work before it. 

 For this arm of power it looks to its mem- 

 bers. Their dues are practically its only 

 resource. Each member may, however, en- 

 list other members, and by so doing, render 

 to his country a patriotic economic service 

 of great value. 



Following the adoption of the resolu- 

 tions, the chairman read a telegram 

 from the newly elected President of 

 the Association. The messags follows : 



"I accept with pleasure the Presi- 

 dency of the Association. I only wish I 

 better deserved such a high compli- 

 ment. Please express my apprecir 



tion and earnest desire to cooperate in 

 the work." 



Prof. W. N. Clifford, of the Southern 

 High School, of Philadelphia, then ad- 

 dressed the meeting, his subject being, 

 "Forestry and the Schools." An ab- 

 stract of Professor Clifford's address 

 is given below. 



ADDRESS OF PROF. W. N. CLIFFORD 



IT IS my purpose to speak to you upon 

 what can be done in educating the coming 

 generations in the care of our National 

 Forests. It is a true saying that "it is hard 

 to teach an old dog new tricks," and never, 



up to the present time, has very much been 

 said to the young people of this country 

 about the necessity of preserving our forests. 

 Man is greedy, and ever since America was 

 discovered he has felt free to absorb for his 



