i66 



CONSERVATION 



poses, entails duties to the public, and 

 that such lands should be protected 

 with equal effectiveness, whether under 

 public or private ownership. 



Forests are necessary to protect the 

 sources of streams, moderate floods and 

 equalize the flow of waters, temper the 

 climate and protect the soil ; and we 

 agree that all forests necessary for 

 these purposes should be amply safe- 

 guarded. We affirm the absolute need 

 of holding for forests, or reforesting, 

 all lands supplying the headwaters of 

 streams, and we therefore favor the 

 control or acquisition of such lands for 

 the public. 



The private owners of lands unsuited 

 to agriculture, once forested and now 

 impoverished or denuded, should be en- 

 couraged by practical instruction, ad- 

 justment of taxation and in other 

 proper ways, to undertake the reforest- 

 ing thereof. 



Notwithstanding an increasing pub- 

 lic interest in forestry, the calamitous 

 and far-reaching destruction of forests 

 by fire still continues, and demands im- 

 mediate and decisive action. We be- 

 lieve that systems of fire guardianship 

 and patrol afford the best means of 

 dealing adequately with fires which oc- 

 cur, whether from natural causes, such 

 as lightning, or in other ways ; but we 

 affirm that in addition thereto effective 

 laws are urgently needed to reduce the 

 vast damage from preventable causes. 



Apart from fire, the principal cause 

 of forest destruction is unwise and im- 

 provident cutting, which, in many 

 cases, has resulted in widespread in- 

 jury to the climate and the streams. It 

 is therefore of the first importance that 

 all lumbering operations should be car- 

 ried on under a system of rigid regu- 

 lation. 



WATERS 



We recognize the waters as a primary 

 resource, and we regard their use for 

 domestic and municipal supply, irriga- 

 tion, navigation and power, as inter- 

 related public uses, and properly sub- 

 ject to public control. We therefore 

 favor the complete and concurrent de- 



velopment of the streams and their 

 sources for every useful purpose to 

 which they may be put. 



The highest and most necessary use 

 of water is for domestic and municipal 

 purposes. We therefore favor the rec- 

 ognition of this principle in legislation, 

 and, where necessary, the subordina- 

 tion of other uses of water thereto. 



The superior economy of water 

 transportation over land transportation, 

 as well as its advantages in limiting 

 the consumption of the non-renewable 

 resources, coal and iron, and its effect- 

 iveness in the promotion of commerce, 

 are generaly acknowledged. We there- 

 fore favor the development of inland 

 navigation under general plans adapted 

 to secure the uniform progress of the 

 work and the fullest use of the streams 

 for all purposes. We further express 

 our belief that all waterways so devel- 

 oped should be retained under exclusive 

 ]niblic ownership and control. 



We regard the monopoly of waters, 

 and especially the monopoly of water 

 power, as peculiarly threatening. No 

 rights to the use of water powers in 

 streams should hereafter be granted in 

 perpetuity. Each grant should be con- 

 ditioned upon prompt development, 

 continued beneficial use and the pay- 

 ment of proper compensation to the 

 public for the rights enjoyed ; and 

 should be for a definite period only. 

 Such period should be no longer than 

 is required for reasonable safety in in- 

 vestment. The public authority should 

 retain the right to readjust at stated 

 periods the compensation to the public 

 and to regulate the rates charged, to 

 the end that undue profit or extortion 

 may be prevented. 



Where the construction of works to 

 utilize water has been authorized by 

 public authority and such utilization is 

 necessary for the public welfare, pro- 

 vision should be made for the expro- 

 priation of any privately owned land 

 and water rights required for such con- 

 struction. 



The interest of the public in the in- 

 crease of the productiveness of arid 



