1908 



THE GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE 



339 



Tennesseeans and Virginians; Texas, 

 made up, in the main, of Missourians 

 and Tennesseeans, and Oklahoma, 

 whose citizens are principally Texans 

 and Kansans. And so it is, all over 

 this broad land; our American states 

 are united by blood, united in pur- 

 pose, and joined together by patriotic 

 bonds to a common country. (Ap- 

 plause.) It does not matter so much 

 where a man is frorri as what that man 

 is. In Kipling's words: 



''There is neither East or West — 

 Border, nor breed, nor birth — 

 When two strong men stand face to face, 

 Though they come from the ends of the 

 earth." 



After referring briefly to the situa- 

 tion in Missouri as regards coal, iron 

 and other minerals. Governor Folk 

 aroused a tremendous burst of ap- 

 plause by the declaration that "the for- 

 estry question is our problem, and it is 

 a problem that we must settle, and set- 

 tle soon. The waterways question is 

 our problem, and if we do not settle 

 it we will fail of our duty, not only to 

 the present generation, but to those 

 who may come after us." 



Continuing in this vein, the Mis- 

 souri Executive said: 



"Governor Glenn this morning spoke of a 

 bill before Congress in reference to forests 

 and waterways. I want to indorse what 

 Governor Glenn said. That bill ought to 

 pass. (Applause.) Governor Glenn spoke 

 of vox populi, vox Dei. But there is a new 

 voice in the land — a voice that was not con- 

 templated by the Fathers of this Republic — 

 vox Cannoni. (Applause and laughter.) 

 This later voice has often proven more pow- 

 erful than vox populi, and it sometimes 

 seems that it has been thought greater than 

 vox Dei. 



"We want to put our forests in proper 

 condition to preserve the timber we have, 

 and we want to adopt a comprehensive 

 scheme of reforestation. I am sorry to say 

 that in Missouri we have no State Forester ; 

 but as soon as I go back home I intend to 

 appoint a State Forestry Commission . (Ap- 

 plause and cries of "Good! good!") I be- 

 lieve that every Governor ought to do the 

 same thing, and I am sure that every legis- 

 lature, when it meets, will ratify such action. 

 We want to preserve our forests. I hope I 

 am not treading on forbidden ground, but I 

 have been wondering why, with the neces- 

 sity for forest preservation, it would not be 



a good thing to put lumber on the free list. 

 (Great applause.) I hope this is not heresy. 

 It seems to me that, for every foot of lum- 

 ber brought to us from another country we 

 preserve a foot of lumber in our own for- 

 ests." (Applause.) 



Governor Folk then turned to the 

 subject of improvement of inland wa- 

 terways. He referred to the Missouri 

 River, stretching clear across his state. 

 As it is a navigable stream, he said, it 

 belongs to the Federal Government. 

 The states, he said, cannot undertake 

 the work of improving such streams 

 without obtaining the consent of the 

 Government. If the Government does 

 not care to undertake the permanent 

 improvement of the Missouri River, 

 he went on, and if the consent of the 

 Government is granted, Missouri is 

 willing to undertake the work, pro- 

 vided that, by act of Congress, Mis- 

 souri is given the right to use the 

 water power generated by the river. 

 Applause followed his announcement 

 that Missouri would undertake to do 

 this work and to pay for it out of the 

 revenues derived from the sale of the 

 water power; and not only that, but 

 to run the state government out of 

 such revenues also. And, he stated, 

 he believed that every state through 

 which courses a navigable stream 

 could and would undertake the same 

 work, under similar conditions. 



Governor Folk was followed by 

 Governor Osborne, of Michigan, 

 whose announcement that the Senate 

 Committee on Interstate Commerce 

 had favorably reported the bill for the 

 perpetuation of the Inland Waterways 

 Commission brought forth a round of 

 cheers and hand-clapping. Practical 

 results, stated Governor Osborne, were 

 expected from the Conference ; and 

 among the practical results already 

 obtained were the announcements by 

 Governor Folk and others that they 

 intended immediately to appoint State 

 Forestry Commissions ; and he pleaded 

 for the same action on the part of 

 every Governor present whose state 

 has not already such a Commission. 



Governor (!!utler, of Utah, then 

 spoke. He said that Utah has at pres- 



