EDITORIAL 



671 



ministration is building, as its succes- 

 sors will continue to do, upon these 

 foundations, and no responsible public 

 official will ever undertake to undo this 

 great and statesmanlike work. 



When later history is written there 

 will be found no record of more sagac- 

 ious administration than this steady up- 

 building of the national forest policy. 



iH ^ Vi 



The Southern Conservation Congress 



THE Southern Conservation Congress 

 at Atlanta was not great in point of 

 numbers or in accomplishment, but as 

 an indication of the general awakening 

 of the country on the great questions 

 that lie at the root of American pros- 

 perity it was significant and will sow 

 good seed. It was worth holding for 

 the excellent declaration of principles 

 it produced if for nothing else. In 

 many ways this statement is one of the 

 most clear, well-balanced, and dignified 

 documents that has come from any of 

 these gatherings. 



From the opening sentences in which 

 we find emphasis laid on the fact that 

 "such conservation of our natural re- 

 sources as is consistent with their 

 proper and wise utilization is a deep 

 moral obligation," this declaration 

 abounds in telling phrases and clear- 

 cut definitions. Another statement 

 worth noting, in which we shall find a 

 text for later comment, is the affirm- 

 ation that "the federal government has 

 the constitutional right amounting to a 

 national duty to acquire lands for for- 

 est purposes in the interest of a future 

 timber supply, watershed protection, 

 navigation, power, and the general wel- 

 fare of the people." 



Incidentally in this connection the 

 question may be raised whether this 

 business of holding big congresses is not 

 being somewhat overdone. They have 

 come too closely together in the last 

 few weeks for any one of them to leave 

 a clear impression. They are so fre- 

 quent that it is becoming difficult to 

 secure the attendance of delegates, for 

 busy men cannot devote themselves 



wholly to conventions, and a few who 

 are favorably situated to bear the cost 

 in time and money really form the mov- 

 ing force of all of them. They are 

 productive of immense 'good, but they 

 ought to be spaced a little farther apart 

 and so planned that each could nave 

 its full weight and effect. 



If the present tendency continues we 

 shall need a central bureau to plan our 

 annual program of congresses, so that 

 conflict may be avoided and a reason- 

 able attendance and effective activity be 

 assured for each one. 



)^ Jg )« 



A Recognized Public Need 



IN THE Second Conservation Con- 

 gres at St. Paul there was general 

 recognition of the Southern Appala- 

 chain-White Mountain forest bill as the 

 most pressing and immediate conserva- 

 tion measure. It was not looked upon as 

 a question for argument. It was an 

 assumed fact. The same was practic- 

 ally true in the Eighteenth National 

 Irrigation Congress. These two bodies 

 were truly representative of the people 

 of the United States. The second is 

 distinctly western, but it stands for the 

 national spirit and not for the narrow 

 sectionalism voiced by some of the 

 northwestern governors at St. Paul. 

 Some persons like the junior senator 

 from Ohio may still see opportunity for 

 satisfying vanity by holding up this 

 measure, or regard themselves as hav- 

 ing a special mandate to be the better 

 judgment of the people against all 

 comers, but the only result will be to 

 increase the ultimate cost of the project, 

 for the intelligence of the country has 

 long ago given its decision in the affirm- 

 ative and will not be permanently 

 cheated of its will. 



The present measure, the Weeks bill, 

 is not perfect. Bills that have been 

 through the fires of legislative strife 

 and the chill of legislative compromise 

 seldom are, but it has many merits from 

 the legislative point of view. It repre- 

 sents the best form of legislation prac- 

 ticable at this time and it should be 

 passed by the Senate without alteration 



