THOMAS B. NOLAN 51 



1 believe the evidence is quite conclusive that the impelling reason 

 for the widespread acceptance of the conservation movement in the 

 early part of the century, as well as the specific justification for the 

 Governors' Conference, was fear — fear of exhaustion of the natural 

 resources upon which the national economy was based, and concern 

 that survival of the nation might be dependent upon ability to achieve 

 restrictions in use that would postpone or alleviate the effects of such 

 exhaustion. 



The communication of the Inland Waterways Commission to The- 

 odore Roosevelt, which led to the conference, called attention to an 

 unprecedented consumption of natural resources, and exhaustion of 

 these resources.^ President Roosevelt clearly accepted this view and 

 in his letters to the Governors calling the conference declared, ". . . 

 there is no other question now before the Nation of equal gravity with 

 the question of the conservation of our natural resources, .... 



"It is evident the abundant natural resources on which the welfare 

 of this nation rests are becoming depleted, and in not a few cases, are 

 already exhausted." ^ 



This theme was even more vigorously presented in his opening ad- 

 dress to the conference. He said, for example, "I have asked you to 

 come together now because the enormous consumption of these re- 

 sources, and the threat of imminent exhaustion of some of them, due 

 to reckless and wasteful use, once more calls for common effort, com- 

 mon action.' 



"We want to take action that will prevent the advent of a woodless 

 age, and defer as long as possible the advent of an ironless age." ^ 



This keynote of fear for the future because of exhaustion of nat- 

 ural resources was a recurrent one throughout the conference, and 

 was emphasized by some of the more eminent and influential partici- 

 pants. Andrew Carnegie, for example, predicted that our Lake Supe- 



iT. E. Burton, and WJ McGee, Letter (Oct. 3, 1907) to the President of 

 the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, Proceedings of a Conference of Gov- 

 ernors in the White House, Washington, D.C., May 13-15, 1908 (Washington: 

 U.S. Government Printing Office, 1909), p. viii. 



2 Theodore Roosevelt, Letter (Nov. 1907) to the Governors of the United 

 States, idem, p. x. 



3 Theodore Roosevelt, "Opening Address by the President," idem, p. 6. 



