REVIEWS 57 



opportunity for them to claim a right to the chief role in the shaping 

 of public policies. 



It is significant that of the four papers which make up "The Founda- 

 tions of National Prosperity," Professor Leith's is the only one which 

 is particularly informative on concrete conservation issues; and Pro- 

 fessor Leith is not a political economist, but an economic geologist. 

 His paper, entitled "Conservation of Certain Mineral Resources," deals 

 specifically with coal, iron, and copper, which are regarded as illustra- 

 tive. The essence of the matter, if not its sum and substance, is the 

 husbanding of these and similar non-renewable resources, mainly by 

 reducing waste. Private enterprise and the natural play of economic 

 forces are working strongly in this direction. The most promising 

 field for the use of the powers of government to the same end is that 

 of co-operative, not antagonistic, activities. From private monopoly 

 there is little to fear, since the reserves are too great to be successfully 

 controlled. Greater concentration of control and greater freedom to 

 enter into combinations, accompanied by public regulation of a reason- 

 able, not to say benevolent, character, would have its advantages. The 

 high standards of conservation which happily already characterize 

 large-scale production, as a rule, might be made compulsory upon the 

 weaker competitors of big business. Along these lines does Professor 

 Leith advance to the statement of his final position, that there is plenty 

 of room for conservation that won't hurt any existing private interest, 

 while it will be a long time before we shall know enough to have much 

 prospect of success with any other kind. 



The second of the four contributors to Professor Ely's book has so 

 far gone unmentioned — Professor Ralph H. Hess, who writes on "Con- 

 servation and Economic Evolution." The appraisal of the value of his 

 discussion of underlying economic theories may perhaps best be left to 

 those whose primary interest is with abstruse conceptions rather than 

 with concrete questions of practice and policy; for it is more than time 

 to point out what the conservation movement really was and sought, in 

 contrast with what the reader of these conservative essays might sup- 

 pose. 



Conservation is a word of many uses. Its present vogue was gained 

 as the result of a great public awakening to the need of a new attitude 

 toward our natural resources. Those who initiated and led this move- 

 ment knew very definitely what they were after and what kind of a 

 fight they were in for : but it was good strategy to mask the attack on 

 the citadels of privilege while the crusade was gathering momentum 

 and to join battle on new ground. "One of the beauties of calling this 



