CONTINUOUS FOREST PRODUCTION 59 



tation of raw materials and their elaboration and export. It seems to 

 me that there is ample evidence that this is too late a date in the world's 

 history to enter on such a policy with success. 



New England, our most ' exclusively manufacturing section on the 

 English and German plan, w^ould be in better shape to face the future 

 if she had better conserved her forest resource as a source of raw material. 

 Manufacturing competition is exceedingly keen and will be keener in 

 future as manufacture goes nearer the sources of raw material. New 

 England's factory towns are going to feel the pinch. New England 

 may therefore see hard times ahead. Her labor by low wages and skill 

 will have to make up the cost of transportation to and from her factories 

 which are distant from many of the raw materials they use. 



The world game of bringing raw materials from one country to 

 another to be manufactured and then sent back is about played out, 

 except for those populations which are as yet satisfied with low standards 

 of living. Capital is cosmopolitan and will not object to going to the 

 raw materials and producing the manufactured articles there. The 

 United States, in expecting to develop this system of bringing in raw 

 materials and sending out manufactured ones, instead of conserving 

 her own resources as a source of raw material, is leaning on a broken 

 reed. 



The epic conquest of America by the pioneers was a wonderful 

 achievement of which every American of today should be justly proud. 

 This does not mean, however, that the methods of yesterday will 

 suffice tomorrow to maintain the position America has won. Here, in 

 fact, lies the supremest test of democracy. The future will unfold 

 whether democratic institutions will suffice to conserve these material 

 bases of our civilization or whether such conservation can be practiced 

 only by centralized and unrepresentative governments. We may be 

 sure that only one thing, general public education on these subjects 

 will accomplish the desired results. In this education, economists and 

 pseudo-economists of the old school of "Laissez /aire," "What is, is 

 right," "Let the future take care of itself," etc., are not going to be 

 very useful factors. It seems entirely clear that democratic institutions 

 cannot live unless we can develop the necessary foresight to keep our 

 natirral resources producing. If we do not do this we shall have the 

 problem of constantly increasing population to support with constantly 

 decreasing resources. This means in the long run a constantly decreas- 

 ing standard of Hving which will carry with it lowering standards of 

 education without which a democracy cannot endure. With population 



