STATE HORTICULTDEAL SOCIETY. 203 



you will be conscious of having done your duty; and whether you 

 succeed or not, you may be assured that posterity will not forget to 

 bless you for the efforts you made to bequeath to it the priceless bless- 

 ing of thrifty and sufficient forests. 



The intelligent conservatism of this Society is known and acknowl- 

 edged all over the land; and if it should start a discussion of the for- 

 estry problem from a standpoint similar to the one I have but imper- 

 fectly outlined, I feel satisfied that it would go a long way towards 

 inaugurating a crusade for economic and commercial methods that 

 would eventually prove of inestimable value, not only to our forests, 

 but to our industrial system. It is not necessary for me to suggest to 

 this body the danger of a fanatical or dogmatical agitation of this 

 question. If he whose cause is just is thrice armed, then you have 

 weapons in your hands so potent that calm reason is the power to 

 wield them, and not fiery fanaticism. 



In pursuing the present policj- we are, I feel satisfied, committing a 

 great wrong against ourselves and a great crime against posterity. 

 The wrong must be righted and the crime must be stopped. Some day 

 the war for the right will be waged on this line. It is none too soon 

 to declare the war, nor is there a more appropriate place to declare it 

 than in this region, where the first and greatest suffering will be ex- 

 perienced, for here we will have the fewest forest trees, yet will have 

 the greatest need of them. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Sias. Mr. President, I move that we place this most excellent 

 paper on file, and the author be tendered a vote of thanks, and also 

 request its publication in the Farm, Stock and Home, and that mem- 

 bers of this Society be furnished with copies. 



Col. Robertson. Mr. President, 1 am glad to be here, and to have 

 an opportunity to listen to this paper. It is one of great importance. 

 I have read much, studied and inquired much concerning this sub- 

 ject, and I must say it is the best presentation of it I have ever heard, 

 the most complete of anything of which I have any knowledge. It 

 is enough to distinguish the gentleman who is the author of it, and it is a 

 credit to our State. We are not happy hyperboreans he re, but as he has 

 characterized us, we are the finest body of men in the world intellec- 

 tually and physically. But it is time, as shown by this document, 

 for we will be compelled to leave this country, or our children after 

 us — we cannot live here — we might as well go to Greenland or Ice 



