\.\ rioXAi. i()XSi-:R\A'ri()N congress 



575 



polic\- supported, he said, l)y the Na- 

 tional Conservation Association, "an 

 organization which is ah^eady quarrehng 

 within itself over the orthodoxy of its 

 own members." 



Governor Brooks, of Wyoming, spoke 

 alone: the same line and read the reso- 

 Intions of the conference of governors 

 of the Pacific Coast and Rocky Moun- 

 tain states at Salt Lake Citv. August 

 18-19. 



At this point Governor Stubbs, rising 

 to introduce Governor Vessey, of South 

 Dakota, broke into a passionate reply 

 to the northwestern men. Governor 

 Vessey took a moderate position recom- 

 mending a national commission to settle 

 conservation questions. 



Thus the gauntlet was thrown into 

 the ring and this old political issue, re- 

 vamped for a new purpose, became a 

 subject of discussion in the the cong- 

 ress. The gauge was taken up at dif- 

 ferent times by Colonel Roosevelt, Sen- 

 ator Beveridge, ex-Governor Pardee, 

 ex-Governor Blanchard, and others. 



There was no question as to how the 

 congress, by a large majoriry, stood 

 upon it ; it was for national control by 

 an overwhelming majority, and it be- 

 lieved, rightly or wrongly, that the 

 strong sentiment in certain western 

 states has been worked up by interescs 

 that believe they can control the state 

 governments more easily than they can 

 the national government. The Oregon 

 delegates did not join their neighbors 

 on this issue, but voted to stand by the 

 principle of national control. There 

 was also a revolt among the members 

 of the Washington delegation who were 

 not appointees of Governor Hay. Two 

 or three of them when opportunity 

 offered denied on the floor of the cong- 

 ress that Governor Hay and his dele- 

 gates fairly represented their own state. 

 At a later session ex-Governor Pardee 

 aimounced that he had messages stating 

 that the state granges of Washington 

 and the labor unions did not endorse 

 Governor Hay's position. 



MR. ROOSEVELT'S ADDRESS 



Tuesday morning was all Roosevelt. 

 The ex-president took St. Paul by 

 storm. The Auditorium, seating ordi- 

 narily seven thousand people, was 

 packed to the doors. There were prob- 

 ably ten thousand people in the hall 

 when the great leader arrived, escorted 

 by the uniformed Roosevelt Club and 

 the reception committee. His recep- 

 tion, the culmination of hours of ex- 

 pectancy, was one of tremendous and 

 unqualified enthusiasm, demonstrating 

 anew his personal hold upon the hearts 

 of the people of the whole country, who 

 were so well represented in that notable 

 assembly. 



The address of Mr, Roosevelt com- 

 plemented that of the President on the 

 preceding day in a way most gratifying 

 to those who wish to see accord between 

 these two men who have been so inti- 

 mately associated in the leadership of 

 the nation. There was this difference, 

 due to the difference both of tempera- 



ment and circumstance. President Taft 

 had placed himself definitely upon a 

 national conservation platform, but he 

 spoke with the judicial reserve charac- 

 teristic of the man and fitting his heavy 

 responsibility as the nation's chief exe- 

 cutive. Colonel Roosevelt, always un- 

 conventional and forceful in his public 

 utterances, plunged into his subject with 

 the sledge-hammer force natural to him 

 and with the fredom of a popular leader, 

 untrammeled by official position. For 

 the most part the opinions of the two 

 distinguished speakers were in harmony. 

 The keenest critic could find no funda- 

 mental difference. Colonel Roosevelt 

 set forth as of right his convictions 

 upon the, great national issue which he 

 as president had created and to which 

 President Taft had with modest pride 

 acknowledged his heirship and his 

 steadfast adhesion. 



Noting in his opening sentences the 

 high efficiency of America under the old- 



