45 



replacing in some measure the trees that we have destroyed. We must 

 think of the future of this country. Man is naturally a destructive animal. 

 If you don't believe that, just keep your eyes open. So this sort of a con- 

 ferences comes at this time particularly "pat" for the people of Ohio, 

 Illinois and Indiana. 



Now I am going to present the first gentleman on the program. Mr. 

 Pack is unable to be here this evening and Mr. P. S. Ridsdale is to fill his 

 place. (Applause) 



MR. P. S. RIDSDALE: Mr. Toastmaster and gentlemen, Mr. Pack, who 

 was to speak to you this evening, is ill and is unable to be here. He caught 

 a bad cold recently and his physician forbids him to leave his home. He 

 has asked me to be his substitute this evening and so I would like to read 

 to you a little article which Mr. Pack had planned to read. 



"I do not believe the human mind can devise a more suitable memorial 

 to Theodore Roosevelt than a movement which will look to preserving the 

 forests of this country. Knowing the man, as it was my privilege to know 

 him, I am positive that could the selection of a memorial be left to his 

 choosing he would say 'save the forests.' As president he called the first 

 conference of governors which took up the great questions of conserving 

 our natural resources. He was our greatest exponent of the value of these 

 resources and of the value to the nation of outdoor life. 



"You foresters can do a great work in directing the public mind to these 

 values. You must take the public into your confidence and the way to do 

 that is to tell your story to the editors of the country for without them your 

 progress will be as that of the snail you may get there some day but with- 

 out the editors I firmly believe you will have arrived when there are no 

 forests to conserve. Our forests are like a bank account; they cannot be 

 continually drawn upon without making some deposits. 



"If you expect to see a national forest policy adopted in this country 

 you have to show the people the necessity for it as they are the ones who 

 pay the bills. There is but one way to show the people and that way is 

 through the editors. The editor is the spark that stands between your lever 

 the forest policy, and the motor its adoption. Show your editor what 

 a forest policy means and where our forests, one of our great natural re- 

 sources are going, your motor starts and your battle is nine-tenths won. 



"The force of public opinion today is working 'on high' on several ques- 

 tions. Turn that force toward a national forest policy. Show your editor 

 what a national forest policy will do and the wheels will begin to turn. 

 Show him how a national forest policy adopted one hundred twenty-five 

 years ago in France saved her and civilization. Show him how the forests 

 of France held back the Hun from Paris. Show him the figures that esti- 

 mate last year's forest fire losses to be $28,500,000. Show him what a 

 national forest policy means to his paper bill. Show him that the net 

 growth of timber is not more than one-third the amount which is being 

 used or destroyed every year. Show the editor these things and you show 

 the world. 



"The time has come for forestry to .be taught as a science in a college, 

 to become a subject for popular thought. The people must be interested 

 in trees. The American Forestry association is conducting a campaign for 



