

Vol. XIV 



AUGUST, 1908 



No. 8 



A PLEA FOR NATIONALIZATION OF OUR 

 NATURAL RESOURCES 



By HENRY RIESENBERG, Indianapolis, Ind, 



t iBRARV 

 NEW 



THERE is growing apace in the 

 world to-day a spirit of coopera- 

 tion. Men are growing out of 

 the old theory of individualism, which 

 finds expression in such sentiments as 

 "Every man for himself and the devil 

 take the hindmost;" or "What's mine 

 is my own to do with as I please."' 



At the recent Conference of Govern- 

 ors, held at the White House, it was 

 graphically pointed out that the policy 

 of individualism in regard to our nat- 

 ural resources has brought us almost 

 to the brink of actual exhaustion ; every 

 student of the subject is at one in de- 

 claring that unless radical action be 

 taken in regard to our forests, minerals, 

 and waterways, the day will soon dawn 

 which will see this country treeless, 

 mineral-less, and waterless. Woe be 

 unto us when that day arrives. 



Admitting the hypothesis then — and 

 who will gainsay it? — that our natural 

 resources urgently require conserva- 

 tion the question naturally arises, what 

 steps ought we — the present possessors 

 of these resources— to take in order 



best to conserve them, not only for our- 

 selves, but for our children and our 

 childrens' children ? 



Quite recently the writer, in a dis- 

 cussion of this topic, took occasion to 

 point out that the several states of the 

 Union and the United States itself, are 

 the owners of natural resources of 

 vast value. These consist of farm lands, 

 arid lands, swamp lands, timber lands, 

 mineral lands, waters, and waterways. 

 As their complete utilization is funda- 

 mentally beneficial to the country as a 

 whole, the writer urged the merger of 

 these resources by the states with those 

 of the United States, in order that a 

 comprehensive, adequate, and uniform 

 policy could be adopted for the refor- 

 estation of cut-over and burnt-over tim- 

 ber lands ; for forestation to protect the 

 headwaters of our streams ; for the irri- 

 gation of arid lands ; reclamation of 

 swamp lands ; improvement for pur- 

 poses of irrigation of all worthy water- 

 courses ; for the creation and sale of 

 electrical energy, and for the establish- 

 ment of model coal, iron, and other 



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