302 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



June 



think the proposed legislation would oper- 

 ate to 'take' private property within the in- 

 hibition of the Constitution. While it might 

 restrict the owner of wild and uncultivated 

 lands in his use of them, might delay his 

 taking some of the product, might delay his 

 anticipated profits and even thereby might 

 cause him some loss of profit, it would 

 nevertheless leave him his lands, their prod- 

 uct and increase, untouched, and without 

 diminution of title, estate or quantity. He 

 would still have large measure of control 

 and large opportunity to realize values. He 

 might suffer delay but not deprivation. 



* * * The proposed legislation * * * 

 would be within the legislative power and 

 would not operate as a taking of private 

 property for which compensation must be 

 made." 



The Court of Errors and Appeals of New 

 Jersey has adopted a similar view, which 

 has recently been sustained by the Supreme 

 Court of the United States. In delivering 

 the opinion of the court on April 6, 1908, 

 Mr. Justice Holmes said : "The state, as 

 quasi-sovereign and representative of the 

 interests of the public, has a standing in 

 court to protect the atmosphere, the water, 

 and the forests within its territory, irre- 

 spective of the assent or dissent of the pri- 

 vate owners of the land most immediately 

 concerned. * * * j^ appears to us that 

 few public interests are more obvious, in- 

 disputable and independent of particular 

 theory tnan the interest of the public of a 

 state to maintain the rivers that are wholly 

 within it substantially undiminished, except 

 by such drafts upon them as the guardian 

 of the public welfare may permit for the 

 purpose of turning them to a more perfect 

 use. (Applause.) This public interest is 

 omnipresent wherever there is a state, and 

 grows more pressing as population grows. 



* * * We are of opinion, further, that 

 the constitutional power of the state to in- 

 sist that its natural advantages shall re- 

 main unimpaired by its citizens is not de- 

 pendent upon any nice estimate of the ex- 

 tent of present use or speculation as to 

 future needs. The legal conception of the 

 necessary is apt to be confined to somewhat 

 rudimentary wants, and there are benefits 

 from a great river that might escape a law- 

 yer's view. (Laughter and applause.) But 

 the state is not required to submit even to 

 an aesthetic analysis. Any analysis may be 

 inadequate. It finds itself in possession of 

 what all admit to be a great public good, 

 and what it has it may keep and give no one 

 a reason for its will." 



These decisions reach the root of the 



idea of conservation of our resources in the 

 interests of the people. 



Finally, let us remember that the con- 

 servation of our natural resources, though 

 the gravest problem of to-day, is yet but 

 part of another and greater problem to 

 which this Nation is not yet awake, but to 

 which it will awake in time, and with which 

 it must hereafter grapple if it is to live — 

 the problem of national efficiency, the p? ■ 

 triotic duty of insuring the safety and con- 

 tinuance of the Nation. (Applause.) When 

 the people of the United States consciously 

 undertake to raise themselves as citizens, 

 and the Nation and the states in their sev- 

 eral spheres, to the highest pitch of excel- 

 lence in private, state, and national life, and 

 to do this because it is the first of all the 

 duties of true patriotism, then and not till 

 then the future of this Nation, in quality 

 and in time, will be assured. (Great ap- 

 plause.) 



Following the address of the Presi- 

 dent, it was suggested that, in order 

 to expedite the work of the Confer- 

 ence, the special statements, or papers, 

 to be presented by the "experts," be 

 limited to twenty minutes ; that discus- 

 sion be limited to ten minutes, and 

 that all resolutions be handed, without 

 reading, to a committee on resolu- 

 tions, such committee to be charged 

 with the work of formulating the gen- 

 eral conclusions of the Conference. 

 In line with this suggestion President 

 Roosevelt proposed Governors Blanch- 

 ard, of Louisiana ; Fort, of New Jer- 

 sey; Cutler, of Utah; Davidson, of 

 Wisconsin, and Ansel, of South Caro- 

 lina, as a Committee on Resolutions, 

 and on motion of Governor Johnson, 

 of Minnesota, the suggestion was car- 

 ried out. Dr. W J McGee, secretary 

 of the Inland Waterways Commis- 

 sion, sat with the committee. 



At the conclusion of the morning 

 session the members of the Conference 

 passed out through the Blue Room, 

 where the President met and person- 

 ally greeted each of the Governors 

 and conferees. 



AFTERNOON SESSION 



When the afternoon session was 

 called to order President Roosevelt 

 announced that, owing to his multitu- 

 dinous duties, it would be impossible 



for him to preside over all of the ses- 

 sions, and that he would call to the 

 chair one or another of the Governors 

 present to act in his place. The 



