1908 



THE GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE 



345 



sent constituencies, and those constituen- 

 cies, well marked, are looking to them for 

 the protection of state interests in conjunc- 

 tion with the development of National in- 

 terests, and I recognize that a private citi- 

 zen like myself with no fixed constituency 

 (laughter and applause) speaks, if he speaks 

 at all, either for himself or for a nebulous 

 portion of the Nation. I recognize that 

 such an one is not only under the same ob- 

 ligation that the Governors are, but that he 

 speaks with less authority ; and I have been 

 anxious that those who were in official po- 

 sition should discuss these questions and 

 leave to us unofficial visitors the bringing 

 up of the rear end, so to speak, of the dis- 

 cussion. * * * 



"I acknowledge my obligation to Presi- 

 dent Roosevelt for the opportunity which 

 he has given me to participate in this meet- 

 ing. The Conference marks the beginning 

 of a new era, during which increasing at- 

 tention will be given to the far-reaching 

 problems involved in the conservation of the 

 Nation's resources. (Applause.) The 

 epoch-makingspeech with which the Chief 

 Executive opened the first session must ex- 

 ert a powerful influence upon the country 

 at large, as it has upon those who were for- 

 tunate enough to hear him. * * * 



"I am a strict constructionist, if that 

 means to believe that the Federal govern- 

 ment is one of delegated powers and that 

 constitutional limitations should be care- 

 fully observed. I am jealous of any en- 

 croachment upon the rights of the states, 

 believing that the states are as indestructi- 

 ble as the union is indissoluble. It is, how- 

 ever, entirely consistent with this theory to 

 believe, as I do believe, that it is just as 

 imperative that the general government 

 shall discharge the duties delegated to it, as 

 it is that the states shall exercise the pow- 

 ers reserved to them. 



"There is no twilight zone between the 

 Nation and the State, in which exploiting 

 interests can take refuge from both, (great 

 applause), and my observation is that most 

 — not all, but most — of the contentions over 

 the line between Nation and state are trace- 

 able to predatory corporations which are 

 trying to shield themselves from deserved 

 punishment, or endeavoring to prevent 

 needed restraining legislation. The first 

 point which I desire to make is that earnest 

 men, with an unselfish purpose and con- 

 cerned only for the public good, will be 

 able to agree upon legislation which will 

 not only preserve for the future the inherit- 

 ance which we have received from a bount- 

 ful Providence, but preserve it in such a 

 way as to avoid the dangers of centraliza- 

 tion. Nothing that is necessary is impossi- 

 ble ; and it would be a reflection upon the 

 intelligence, as well as upon the patriotism 

 of our people, to doubt the value of gath- 

 erings of this kind. * * * 



"I begin with the proposition that it 

 should be our purpose, not only to pre- 



serve the Nation's resources for future gen- 

 erations by reducing waste to a minimum, 

 but that we should see to it that a few of 

 the people do not monopolize that which is 

 in equity the property of all the people. 

 (Applause.) The earth belongs to each gen- 

 eration, and it is criminal to fetter future 

 generations with perpetual franchises, mak- 

 ing the multitude servants to a favored fac- 

 tion of the population, as it would be to 

 impair, unnecessarily, the common store. 

 (Applause.) I am glad that Secretary Gar- 

 field emphasized this point. It is one that 

 must always be kept in mind by the Na- 

 tion and by the several states. * * * 



"I was surprised at the statistics given in 

 regard to our coal and our iron ore. While 

 it is possible that new coal measures and 

 new ore beds may be discovered, we can- 

 not afl'ord to base our conduct upon specu- 

 lations as to what may yet be discovered. 

 We should begin an intelligent supervision 

 and conservation of that which is known to 

 exist, and I respectfully submit that it is 

 worth while to ask ourselves whether we 

 can afford to offtr a bounty to those who 

 are engaged in exhausting the supply of 

 raw materials, which, when gone, cannot 

 be replaced. Surely if there is any im- 

 portation which we can properly encour- 

 age by a free list, it is the importation of 

 those raw materials of which our own sup- 

 ply is limited. (Applause.) And what I 

 say in regard to coal and iron ore is equally 

 applicable to timber. 



"It is hardly consistent to discourage the 

 importation of lumber, while we worry 

 about the devastation of oui forests. 



"Mr. Hill has rendered the Conference a 

 real service in presenting the facts and sta- 

 tistics set forth in his address on land and 

 its cultivation. Few of us, probably, were 

 conscious of the impairment of the crop 

 value of our soil. I am sure that a clear 

 understanding of this subject will lead to a 

 still further enlargement of the work of 

 the Department of Agriculture and to still 

 closer co-operation between the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and the States in 

 teaching economical methods of agricul- 

 ture. (Applause.) Already the rapid 

 growth of the agricultural college offers 

 encouragement and I am glad to express my 

 appreciation of the valuable work done by 

 Secretary Wilson and his associates in 

 bringing to our country fruits, plants and 

 grasses suited to the different parts of our 

 country. As the farmer pays more than 

 his share of the taxes and receives less 

 than his share of the direct benefits which 

 flow from national appropriations, it is 

 only justice to him that we shall be liberal 

 in the support of every effort put forth for 

 the improvement of agriculture. (Ap- 

 plause.) 



"Irrigation has justified the arguments 

 which led to the inaugauration of the 

 work. No one who has witnessed the trans- 

 formation of the desert into field and gar- 



