250 Presidential Addresses 



ondary. The whole effort of the government in 

 dealing with the forests must be directed to this end, 

 keeping in view the fact that it is not only necessary 

 to start the homes as prosperous, but to keep them 

 so. That is the way the forests have need to be kept. 

 You can start a prosperous home by destroying the 

 forest, but you do not keep it. You will be able to 

 make that policy permanently the policy of the coun 

 try only in so far as you are able to make the people 

 at large, and then all the people concretely, inter 

 ested in the results in the different localities, appre 

 ciative of what it means; give them a full recogni 

 tion of its value, and make them earnest and zealous 

 adherents of it. Keep that in mind too. In a gov 

 ernment such as ours it is out of the question to 

 impose a policy like this upon the people from with 

 out. A permanent policy can come only from the 

 intelligent conviction of the people themselves that 

 it is wise, and useful; nay, indispensable. We shall 

 decide in the long run whether we will or will not 

 preserve the forests of the Rocky Mountains ac 

 cordingly as we are or are not able to make the 

 people of the States around the mountains, in their 

 neighborhood, hearty believers in the policy of for 

 est preservation. This is the only way in which this 

 policy can be made a permanent success. In other 

 words, you must convince the people of the truth 

 and it is the truth that the success of home-makers 

 depends in the long run upon the wisdom with which 

 the Nation takes care of its forests. That seems a 

 strong statement. It is none too strong. There are 



