RELATION U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TO PUBLIC 



655 



127 reprints of maps, and fifteen special 

 maps — a separate publication for every 

 (lay of the year, with a grand total of 

 copies issued of over 900,000. The total 

 distribution of these publications was 

 nearly 850,000 copies. 



After this review of the different 

 phases of the work of the United 

 States Geological Survey, it may be 

 appropriate to speak of the policy gov- 

 erning this branch of the public serv- 

 ice. I have said that the Survey had 

 its origin in an appreciation of the im- 

 portance to the Nation of its mineral 

 resources. In 1879, the treasure house 

 of the country had barely been opened ; 

 the value of last year's mineral output 

 was approximately six times that of the 

 product of 1880. 



This phenomenal growth of the min- 

 eral industry during the life of the 

 Survey has emphasized the industrial 

 dependence of the country upon its 

 mineral wealth, and the present year 

 has seen a nation awakening to a 

 realization of its future needs. Thus 

 it is that the Survey's duty to the peo- 

 ple has caused its role to change in 

 these thirty years from that of the pro- 

 moter of the development of the min- 

 eral industry to that of the conserver 

 of these sources of wealth. The Na- 

 tion, under the lead of President 

 Roosevelt, has begun to take thought 

 of the morrow, and it has turned to 

 its scientific bureaus for authoritative 

 information. 



The problem before the American 

 people to-day is the extension of the 

 life of its natural resources. It is 

 fortunate that the explorations and 

 investigations of the Geological Survey 

 not only have contributed to the de- 

 velopment of these resources, but also 

 have furnished quantitative data that 

 are available at this time of popular 

 awakening to the needs of national 

 conservation. The practical value of 

 the Survey's scientific work has thus 

 won popular recognition and apprecia- 

 tion, so that the Bureau can realize more 

 fully its purpose of promoting the eco- 

 nomic development of the country along 

 proper lines. 



Conservation as applied to mineral 



resources means the meeting of pres- 

 ent-day needs with an eye open to the 

 requirements of the morrow. To this 

 end, an inventory of the country's 

 present supply of the essential mate- 

 rials is the first step, and for a period 

 of years the Survey has been engaged 

 in stock taking. The Survey geologist 

 has measured the coal and iron re- 

 serves ; the Survey hydrographer has 

 gaged the streams of the country, de- 

 termining their flow and calculating the 

 available power ; the Survey topogra- 

 pher has explored and mapped the little- 

 known areas, furnishing us with relia- 

 ble data from which may be determined 

 the feasibility of reclamation by irriga- 

 tion or by drainage, and the Survey 

 statistician has determined and re- 

 corded the increasing rate of produc- 

 tion and consumption of mineral prod- 

 ucts. With this information already at 

 hand, the greatest incentive to economy 

 is provided. The phenomenal indus- 

 trial growth of the past few years can- 

 not continue without endangering the 

 future unless wasteful methods are 

 stopped. 



The campaign of conservation must 

 be one of education. In this educa- 

 tional service, the Geological Survey, 

 like the other scientific bureaus, long 

 since enlisted. Its policy has been to 

 better economic conditions by the in- 

 vestigation of the Nation's natural 

 resources. Through such investiga- 

 tions by the Geological Survey the 

 Forest Service and the Reclamation 

 Service both originated, the older bu- 

 reau by its preliminary work marking 

 out the great fields open for the larger 

 activities of the younger organizations. 

 In the subjects other than forestry and 

 irrigation, the Survey has continued its 

 work and to-day is presenting to the 

 public facts that constitute most forci- 

 ble arguments for national conservation. 



The subject of our mineral fuels is 

 one of intense interest to the American 

 who desires his country's future to be no 

 less brilliant than its present. On the 

 eve of the Governors' Conference at the 

 White House, the Survey issued a map 

 of the coal fields of the United States. 

 This showed both graphically and sta- 



