FLOOD PREVENTION WORK 

 Sand Bags Used to Protect Weak Spots in Levees Built to Protect Low Farming Lands in the South 



iiection with the fact that the exhaus- 

 tion of the iron supply may be wit- 

 nessed by children now living, is noth- 

 ing else than a formal notice that the 

 people of this country must learn thrift 

 or suffer the prodigal's fate. 



Ten acres constitute a farm in some 

 parts of California, keeping a man busy 

 and yielding more profit than i6o acres 

 in the Middle West. Two acres in 

 France are made to yield more than 

 fifty in this country. The forests of 

 Germany are not only made self-renew- 

 ing, but are a source of profit. The 

 soil of England is undergoing a process 

 of refertilization that will make it more 

 productive than virgin American acres. 

 Japan leads off with a thrift in fisheries 

 and forestry that is a lesson to the 

 world. But the United States, in the 

 forefront of civilization in other re- 

 spects, riots through its ])atrimony like 

 a drunkard and a wastrel. 



The President's message, commenting 

 upon the report of the Conservation 

 Commission is the essence of stateman- 

 ship. It is in the line of state build- 

 ing, of planning for the future. His 

 words are in the nature of a farewell 

 message to the people, and they convey 

 a warning that cannot be ignored. The 

 people as a whole must shorten sail. 

 The carnival of extravagance must 

 come to an end. 



«? «« «r' 



The Conservation Commission 



CONSERVATION of natural re- 

 sources by the conscious and con- 

 certed action of national and State 

 authorities, probably the most brilliant 

 piece of constructive statesmanship in- 

 itiated by the Roosevelt administration, 

 is knocking at the doors of Congress 



109 



