RESOLUTIONS OF THE CONSERVATION 



CONGRESS 



The Second National Conservation Congress, made up of delegates from 

 all sections and nearly every state and territory of the United States, met at 

 the call of a great moral issue, now in session assembled in the City of St. Paul 

 and State of Minnesota, does hereby adopt and solemnly declare the following 

 platform of opinion and conclusion concerning the inherent rights of the people 

 of the United States : 



Heartily accepting the spirit and intent of the Constitution and adhering 

 to the principles laid down by Washington and Lincoln, we declare our con- 

 viction that we live under a government of the people, by the people, for the 

 people ; and we repudiate any and all special or local interests or platforms or 

 policies in conflict with the inherent rights and sovereign will of our people. 



Recognizing the natural resources of the country as the prime bases of 

 property and opportunity, we hold the rights of the people in these resources 

 to be natural and inherent, and justly inalienable and indefeasible; and we insist 

 that the resources should and shall be developed, used and conserved in ways 

 consistent both with current welfare and with the perpetuity of our people. 



Waters of Country Should Be Administered in Interest of All the People 



Recognizing the waters of the country as a great national resource, we 

 approve and endorse the opinion that all the waters belong to all the people, and 

 hold that they should be administered in the interest of all the people. 



Realizing that all parts of each drainage basin are related and interdepend- 

 ent, we hold that each stream should be regarded and treated as a unit from its 

 source to its mouth ; and since the waters are essentially mobile and transitory 

 and are generally interstate, we hold that in all cases of divided or doubtful 

 jurisdiction the waters should be administered by co-operation between state 

 and federal agencies. 



Each Use of Waters Should Be with Reference to All Other Uses 



Recognizing the interdependence of the various uses of the waters of the 

 country, we hold that the primary uses are for domestic supply and for agri- 

 culture through irrigation or otherwise, and that the uses for navigation and 

 for power, in which water is not consumed, are secondary ; and we commend 

 the modern view that each use of the waters -should be made with reference to 

 all other uses for the public welfare in accordance with the principle of the 

 greatest good to the greatest number for the longest time. 



Viewing purity of water supply as essential to the public health and gen- 

 eral welfare, we urge upon all municipal, state, and federal authorities and on 

 individuals and corporations, requisite action toward purifying and preventing 



contamination of the waters. 



597 



