Big Creek Fire, Where Thirty Lives Were Lost 



should be enlarged and their duties ex- 

 tended to cover broader educational 

 fields of labor. 



Conservation of natural and national 

 resources is a national question of more 

 importance than any issue before the 

 American people. It forms the foun- 

 dation of present and future agricul- 

 tural and commercial prosperity. If 

 handled correctly it will make of the 

 State of Washington one of the great- 

 est commercial divisions in the world. 

 If neglected, or corrupted through po- 

 litical manipulation, it will result disas- 

 trously to the entire people. It is a 

 question in which the homeseekers and 

 investors of the entire nation should 

 have a common interest. 



654 



The forests should be held sacred for 

 use, now and in coming years, and not 

 wasted or destroyed by any forces, 

 either private or national. They con- 

 tain the sources of power for develop- 

 ing the country, and that should not 

 pass from the control of the whole peo- 

 ple. They hold the reservoirs for sup- 

 plying water for irrigation and domes- 

 tic purposes, in the valleys of industry, 

 and should be guarded by all the peo- 

 ple, for the benefit of all the people, and 

 not for the enriching of corporate inter- 

 ests in furnishing the necessities of the 

 people, in order to make money from 

 monopolies in things the people must 

 have to insure continued prosperity. 



