346 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



Tune 



den can doubt the wisdom of the steps that 

 have been taken. Here, as elsewhere, both 

 the Nation and the State can find a field for 

 legitimate activity, and I am sure that there 

 will be a continuation of this work until 

 all of the waters which can be utilized for 

 that purpose have been appropriated. * *_* 



"The same principle which was invoked in 

 support of irrigation can be invoked in 

 support of drainage. The question is not 

 whether the water should be brought upon 

 the land or taken off the land ; it is 

 whether the land shall be made tillable and 

 its wealth-producing qualities utilized. 

 Drainage of the swamps is, therefore, as 

 legitimate a work as the reclamation of arid 

 wastes. 



"No subject has been brought out more 

 prominently at this Conference than the 

 subject of forestry, and it justifies the time 

 devoted to it, for our timber lands touch 

 our national interests at several points. Our 

 use of lumber is enormous, but immense as 

 would be the inconvenience and loss caused 

 by the absence of lumber, the consequence 

 of the destruction of our forests would be 

 still more disastrous to the Nation. As 

 has been shown, the timber on our moun- 

 tain ranges protects our water supply. Not 

 to speak of changes in climate which 

 might follow the denuding of our moun- 

 tains, the loss to the irrigated country 

 could not be remedied and the damage to 

 the streams could not be calculated. And if 

 this is not enough to arouse the interest of 

 all, I may add that the destruction of the 

 forests on the mountain ranges would in 

 time impair the underflow upon which we 

 rely for our well water. 



"The good effects of this Conference are 

 already apparent in the determination ex- 

 prtssed by several governors at once to ap- 

 point Forestry Commissions and begin such 

 work as the state can do. (Applause.) In 

 this case action is so urgent and the field 

 to be covered so large that both the Na- 

 tion and the several states can exercise 

 themselves to the full without danger of 

 doing too much. (Applause.) The na- 

 tional reservations already made in the 

 West, and the new reservations that ought 

 to be made, and are likely to be made, in 

 the White Mountains and in the Appala- 

 chian Range can doubtless be so adminis- 

 tered as to protect national interests with- 

 out unduly burdening the states in which 

 the reservations are located, or needlessly 

 interfering with the development of the 

 states. No national policy need retard the 

 development of the western states, and 

 their own interest should restrain them 

 from sacrificing future wealth and protec- 

 tion for temporary advantage. 



"Lastly, I come to our interior waterways. 

 I shall not defend the improvement of these 

 waterways on the ground that such im- 

 provement would help to regulate the rail- 

 road rates, although it would aid regula- 

 tion ; for whenever the people are ready, 



they will exercise the power which they 

 have. But water traffic is less expensive 

 than traffic by rail, and there are many 

 commodities which can be transported much 

 more cheaply by water than they possibly 

 could be carried by land. I believe it has 

 been estimated that an expenditure of $500,- 

 000,000 on interior waterways would result 

 in a saving of nearly $200,000,000 annually. 

 Just a word in conclusion about an in- 

 vestment in permanent i mprovements. 

 Money spent in care for the life and health 

 of the people, in protecting the soil from 

 erosion and from exhaustion, in preventing 

 waste in the use of minerals of limited sup- 

 ply, in the reclamation of deserts and 

 swamps, and in the preservation of forests 

 still remaining and the planting of denuded 

 tracts — money invested in these and in the 

 development of waterways and in the deep- 

 ening of harbors is an investment yielding 

 an annual return. If any of these expend- 

 itures fail to bring a return at once the 

 money expended is like a bequest to those 

 who come after us. And as the parent lives 

 for his child as well as for himself, so the 

 good citizen provides for the future as 

 well as for the present. This gathering 

 will be remembered by future generations, 

 because they as well as ourselves will be the 

 recipients of the benefits which will flow 

 from this Conference. We have all been 

 strengthened by communion together ; our 

 vision has been enlarged and the enthusi- 

 asm here aroused will permeate every state 

 and every community." (Great applause). 



At the conclusion of Mr. Bryan's 

 address, the peroration of whicli elic- 

 ited tremendous bursts of applause, 

 President Roosevelt stepped quickly 

 across the platform and shook the Ne- 

 brakan heartily by the hand. When 

 the enthusiasm had subsided, Judge 

 Goudy, President of the National Ir- 

 rigation Congress, invited all present 

 to attend the sixteenth session of that 

 organization at Albuquerque, New 

 Mexico, September 29th to October 



3d. 



Hon. B. B. Comer, Governor of Al- 

 abama, was recognized and made a 

 short talk, following the President's 

 suggestion that those governors who 

 had not been heard be called on for 

 their contribution to the discussion. 

 Governor Comer dwelt on the re- 

 sources of Alabama and on the state's 

 waterways, saying however, that his 

 sentiments were much the same as 

 those of Governor Folk, and that he 

 hesitated to take a stand for turning 



