4^6 



CONSERVATION 



with this work under the Government, al- 

 though the commission itself continues in ex- 

 istence. — Bulletin No. 4, National Conserva- 

 tion Cominission, page i. 



In discussing the work of President 

 Roosevelt in promoting the conserva- 

 tion movement, Charles Richard Van 

 Hise, President of the University of 

 Wisconsin and member of the National 

 Conservation Commission, says : 



In amazing contrast with these great, 

 statesmanlike acts of the President is the 

 position of Congress. The House embodied 

 a section in the Sundry Civil Bill, which pro- 

 hibits the scientific corps of any of the de- 

 partments at Washington from doing work 

 for any commission, council or other similar 

 body appointed by the President. Since, not- 

 withstanding the strong favorable recom- 

 mendation of President Roosevelt, Congress 

 made no appropriation for the Conservation 

 Commission, this clause of the Sundry Civil 

 Bill, coupled with the refusal to furnish funds 

 for the Commission, makes without avail, so 

 far as lay in the power of Congress, the con- 

 servation movement. * * * 



Under the system in vogue in Congress, by 

 which it is difficult to fix responsibility, with 

 the exception of one man, we cannot cer- 

 tainly designate the individuals who are most 

 guilty of halting the conservation movement. 

 This exception is Mr. Tawney, of Minne- 

 sota, who introduced the objectionable sec- 

 tion, and advocated its adoption. We should 

 hold him responsible to the people for doing 

 all possible to render ineffective the conser- 

 vation movement. All good citizens who 

 know the facts should spread the truth 

 abroad as widely as possible in order that 

 he may receive the profound public con- 

 demnation which is his just due. — World's 

 Work, June, 1909, pages 11718-9. 



This is the economic paradox pre- 

 sion prepared its report, a three-volume 

 work, certainly one of the first in im- 

 portance of all documents ever pub- 

 lished by the Government of the United 

 States. Naturally, the demand for this 

 report was great. Of the work of the 

 House of Representatives in meeting 

 this demand. President Van Hise says : 



In this connection, there should also be 

 mentioned the Committee on Printing of the 

 House, consisting of Mr. Charles B. Landis 

 of Indiana, chairman; Mr. James Breck 

 Perkins of New York, and Mr. David E. 

 Finley of South Carolina. This committee 

 refused to repor-t favorably to the House a 

 resolution passed by the Senate providing for 

 printing 25,000 copies of the report of the 

 Conservation Commission, the President's 

 message concerning the same, the summaries 

 of the secretaries of the four sections, and 



the proceedings of the joint conservation 

 conference held in December, and thus pre- 

 vented the people from gaining information 

 which the Conservation Commission had al- 

 ready obtained. These men should be held re- 

 sponsible to the public for doing all that lay 

 in their power to block the conservation 

 movement, of such vital importance to the 

 Nation. — World's Work, June, 1909, page 

 11719. 



The Joint Committee on Conservation 

 in the bulletin above quoted says : 



The publication of the report for general 

 distribution has not been authorized by Con- 

 gress. A limited edition is to be printed as 

 a Senate document. — Bulletin No. 4, page 2. 



The report has at last appeared as a 

 Senate document. The number of 

 copies for distribution to the 90,000,000 

 people of the United States is 2,400 ! 



The facts in the above history seem 

 to be clear and conspicuous. The Pres- 

 ident created the Commission, Congress 

 having failed to do so. Congress fur- 

 thermore failed to appropriate any sum 

 whatever for the maintenance of the 

 work of the Commision. The House 

 did nothing toward making available the 

 results of the labors of the Commission, 

 embodied in its notable report. The 

 Senate published the report, but in an 

 edition so small as to be hopelessly in- 

 adequate for public needs. Further, by 

 means of the "Tawney resolution," Con- 

 gress did what it could to make the 

 prosecution of the conservation move- 

 ment impossible in the United States. 

 Of this action, taken at the very end of 

 his term. President Roosevelt said : 



The chief object of this provision, how- 

 ever, is to prevent the Executive repeating 

 what it has done within the last year m 

 connection with the Conservation Commis- 

 sion and the Country Life Commission. It 

 is for the people of this country to decide 

 whether or not they believe in the work 

 done by the Conservation Commission and 

 by the Country Life Commission. If the 

 people of this country do not believe in the 

 conservation of our natural resources; if 

 they do not believe in developing our water- 

 ways and protecting our forests ; if they do 

 not believe in the betterment of life on the 

 farm, and in upholding the interests of the 

 farmers; if they arc willing to go on in the 

 old course of squandering the effects of our 

 children's children ; then they will uphold the 

 action of those in Congress who are re- 

 sponsible for this provision. If they be- 

 lieve in improving our waterways, in pre- 



