164 



CONSERVATION 



of nations must depend, they realize the 

 vital need of arresting the inroads improvi- 

 dently or unnecessarily made upon them. 

 They comprehend also that, as to many of 

 their national resources, more than a mere- 

 ly conservative treatment is required; that 

 reparatory agency should be invoked to aid 

 the processes of beneficent nature, and that 

 the means of restoration and increase should 

 be sought whenever practicable. They see 

 that, to the task of devising economical ex- 

 penditures of resources which, once gone, 

 are lost forever, there should be superposed 

 the duty of restoring and maintaining pro- 

 ductiveness wherever impaired or menaced 

 bv wastefulness. In the northern part of 

 the American hemisphere, destruction and 

 waste brought other evils in their train. 

 The removal of forests, for instance, results 

 in the aridity of vast tracts, torrential rain- 

 falls break down and carry away the unpro- 

 tected soil, and regions once abundant in 

 vegetable and animal life become barren. 

 This is a lesson almost as old as the human 

 race. The older countries of Europe, Africa 

 and the Orient, teach a lesson in this regard 

 which has been too little heeded. 



Anticipating the wide interest which would 

 naturally be aroused in other countries by 

 the present North American Conference, the 

 Presid.ent foresaw the probability that it 

 would be the precursor of a world congress. 

 By an aide-memoire in January last, the 

 principal governments were informally 

 sounded to ascertain whether they would 

 look with favor upon an invitation to send 

 delegates to such a conference. The 

 responses have so far been uniformly fav- 

 orable, and the conference of Washington 

 has suggested to the President that a similar 

 general conference be called by him. The 

 President feels, therefore, that it is timely 

 to initiate the suggested world conference 

 for the conservation of natural resources, 

 by a formal invitation. 



Such a conference might well consider a 

 general plan for an inventory of the natural 

 resources of the world, and devising a uni- 

 form scheme for the expression of the re- 

 sults of such inventory to the end that there 

 may be a general understanding and appre- 

 ciation of the world's supply of the material 

 elements which underlie the development of 

 civilization and the welfare of the peoples of 

 the earth. It would be appropriate also for 



the conference to consider the general phases 

 of the correlated problem of checking and, 

 when possible, repairing the injuries caused 

 by the waste and destruction of natural re- 

 sources and utilities, and make recommenda- 

 tions in the interest of their conservation, 

 development, and replenishment. 



With such a world-inventory, and such re- 

 commendation, the various producing coun- 

 tries of the whole world would be in a better 

 position to cooperate, each for his own good 

 and all for the good of all, toward the safe- 

 guarding and betterment of their common 

 means of support. As was said in the prelimi- 

 nary aide-memoire, "the people of the whole 

 world are interested in the natural resources 

 of the whole world, benefited by their con- 

 servation, and injured by their destruction. 

 The people of every country are interested 

 in the supply of food and of material for 

 the manufacture in every other country, not 

 only because these are interchangeable 

 through processes of trade but because a 

 knowledge of the total supply is necessary 

 to the intelligent treatment of each nation 's 

 share of the supply. Nor is this all. A 

 knowledge of the continuance and stability 

 of perennial and renewable resources is no 

 less important to the world than a knowl- 

 edge of the quantity or the term remaining 

 for the enjoyment of those resources which 

 when consumed are irreplaceable. As to all 

 the great natural sources of national welfare 

 the peoples of to-day hold the earth in trust 

 for the peoples to come after them. Read- 

 ing the lessons of the past aright it would 

 be for such a conference to look beyond the 

 present to the future. 



The conference continued its closed 

 sessions on Friday and Saturday. The 

 work before it was not, however, dis- 

 posed of by Saturday evening, and ad- 

 ditional sessions were held during Mori- 

 day, February 22, at the residence of 

 the Chairman of the United States dele- 

 gation, 161 5 Rhode Island Avenue, and 

 during Tuesday and part of Wednes- 

 day at the Department of State. The 

 conference then finished its work by 

 signing the following Declaration of 

 Principles, and adjourned sine die. 



DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES 



We recognize the mutual interests of 

 the Nations which occupy the Continent 

 of North America and the dependence 

 of the welfare of each upon its natural 

 resources. We agree that the conser- 

 vation of these resources is indispensa- 



ble for the continued prosperity of each 

 Nation. 



We recognize that the protection of 

 mutual interests related to natural 

 resources by concerted action, with- 

 out in any way interfering with the 



