678 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



All this must be true if we are to ever really have a Great Society. 



And none of it is going to be easy. 



The Federal Government will do its part but it will also require 

 a most active concern and a practical program in every State capitol 

 and in every city hall of this country. And in that connection, Mrs. 

 Johnson told me just as we entered the room that three or four 

 governors were already following the example you set here by calling 

 State conferences on natural beauty where citizens will spend 2 days 

 reviewing and evaluating and analyzing the problems at the State 

 level, truly exercising their much boasted right of State's rights. I 

 am going to be disappointed if there is a single person in this room, 

 representing a single State, who returns to that State and doesn't 

 communicate with his governor so that not just 3 or 4 States follow 

 this example, but all 50 of them have conferences on natural beauty. 



I think it is going to demand that all of our private citizens be 

 constantly alert to stimulate, to inspire, and to stem new danger to 

 beauty. For it is the quality of our lives that is really at stake. 



All of this, at every level, has been begun by this conference. This 

 is not just the first White House Conference on Natural Beauty. It 

 is one of the largest and I think the most impressive conference that 

 we have ever held. Experts, officials, and concerned citizens in 

 every field from each of the States have come to Washington to 

 try to help us make this a better and a more beautiful land. 



I know, for many of you, it was not easy to attend. Most of you 

 are busy people with much to do. But there is nothing that is more 

 important, for you are helping to provide an enriching environment 

 for almost 200 million Americans. You are working to extend the 

 national heritage of beauty to successive generations of Americans. 

 And you are laying one of the great cornerstones for the Great 

 Society. 



I have received reports on your progress from my staff. I have 

 heard from many observers, including my wife, that your delibera- 

 tions have been marked by expert knowledge, by a zeal for our cause, 

 and an awareness of the practical progress. The reports that I just 

 listened to, which I realize cover just a few of the highlights, reflect 

 the impressive nature of your achievement. 



I intend to make full use of all of your work, and I hope that 

 local government officials as well as the governors themselves in 

 every State in the Union, will do the same. All America is deeply 

 in the debt of that selfless patriot, Laurance Rockefeller, for the job 

 that he has done. 



