222 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



we should have had in the past at the Presidential level ( and which 

 we are getting now) and why we haven't had it at every political 

 level. I think it proves, more than anything else, the lack of per- 

 ception by our politicians rather than lack of interest by the people. 



Without going into details, let me tell you the experience that we 

 had of putting a penny tax on cigarettes in my State. Anybody who 

 has been in politics realizes that it is always toughest to pass an excise 

 tax because it is so visible. People oppose taxes (although they love 

 the services) so that every time you put a tax on something you gen- 

 erate great opposition. When we made our proposal, we detailed 

 an expenditure of $50 million for parks and wetlands acquisition and 

 wildlife habitat and scenic easements and so forth and drafted maps 

 and showed the people of the State everything we were going to pur- 

 chase during the next ten years. When we told them, we received 

 editorial support from every single newspaper in Wisconsin without 

 exception. Of the hundreds of letters I received., I received only one 

 in opposition. The expression of opposition was not to the program, 

 but because the smokers were going to be required to pay for it. 



This demonstrates the kind of support the public is willing to 

 give to a program if they see what the program is all about. Our 

 failure has been not to delineate a large program that people can 

 see and feel. The President is providing remarkable leadership on 

 this issue. I am hopeful he will at the proper time make a major 

 comprehensive proposal that will meet the whole conservation issue 

 head-on. I think it is crucial he paint with a big brush and make it 

 clear to the country that we have maybe a decade left, maybe a little 

 more, to make a major investment in preserving those things which 

 provide quality of living in this country. We are talking about 

 substantial general fund moneys. We must, for example, spend $50 

 billion to $75 billion just to clean up the water of this country. Our 

 rivers are being destroyed at an accelerated pace. The tragic cir- 

 cumstance is that there is not a single major river in America left, as 

 far as I know, except the Saint Croix River, that is close to a metro- 

 politan area and still unpolluted. The Great Lakes are being 

 destroyed very rapidly. On Lake Erie last year 2,400 square miles 

 were without oxygen because of pollution. We are polluting all 

 the underground water supply in this country. The Mississippi is 

 polluted. All the major watersheds are polluted. To clean up our 

 waters I think we must give substantial aid to industry and our 

 municipalities. Whatever the cost, the return both in the oppor- 



