196 



CONSERVATION 



of the business of life is carried on in 

 that way, too. Directors consult, and 

 name a bank cashier, or a mill-boss, or 

 a division superintendent. They can- 

 not possibly leave it to the vote of the 

 depositors, or the mill-hands, or the 

 railroad laborers. There is no other 

 way, so far as we can see at present, 

 than to have the forests of America run 

 from year to year under a business sys- 

 tem, which puts men at the head, holds 

 them responsible, and gives their rules 

 and regulations an authoritative force." 

 I hear some reader saying just here: 

 "This is too simple : no one objects to 

 the system." But I assure you that I 

 have known many persons who had to 

 be talked to in just this way about 

 "rules and regulations." Where condi- 

 tions are primitive, thinking, too, re- 

 mains primitive, and I have found a lot 

 of comparisons very useful. The peo- 

 ple want a battleship, but appointive 

 officers must plan, build, and operate it 

 under "rules and regulations." Whar 

 happens to a man who walks into a 

 Government navy yard, and tries to 

 carry off some lumber ? Very much 

 what happens to a fellow who goes into 

 a Government forest and tries to get 



what does not belong to him. And 

 everybody knows that all this protec- 

 tion and this enforcement of "rules and 

 regulations" is necessary. 



I began these notes by saying that we 

 warred continually with the spirits of 

 doubt and chaos. But ever the empire 

 of old Night diminishes ; the light 

 pours through. As in those tremendous 

 cosmogonies of Dante and Milton, Hell, 

 and all that is yet formless or sheer evil, 

 lies below, shaken by great waves, win- 

 nowed by mighty winds, but neverthe- 

 less, already marked out for new 

 worlds by the golden compasses of the 

 Almighty. All that we need to see 

 these things more clearly is to have 

 more life, more vitality, more fighting 

 power, a more absolute and invincible 

 courage of our convictions. Then, 

 though without diplomas, we shall 

 teach the people, and though without 

 batons, we shall lead them to victories 

 of which they do not yet dream. Then 

 we shall not be injured in mind, body 

 or soul by any one's misinterpretations 

 of us, or of our work. That work will 

 move on as the stars of heaven move — 

 a part of Universal Order. 





Shooting the Rapids of the Grand Canyon of the Gunnison in a Canvas Boat 



