CONSERVATION 



1553 



CONSERVATORY 



servatists is the construction of a government 

 railroad in Alaska which will give a tremendous 

 impulse to the development of its rich coal 

 lands (see ALASKA). Not the least-striking 

 evidence of the force of the movement is the 

 failure of several interests to defeat or weaken 

 the government policy of preserving from waste 

 and despoliation the magnificent resources on 

 which the future welfare of the nation depends. 



North American Conservation Conference. 

 President Roosevelt was authorized by the Na- 

 tional Conservation Committee to invite Can- 

 ada and Mexico to join with the United States 

 in a movement for the conservation of the 

 resources of the entire American continent. In 

 February, 1909, the North American Confer- 

 ence, consisting of three commissioners from 

 each of the countries represented, met in 

 Washington. Harmony prevailed throughout 

 the sessions and among the valuable plans out- 

 lined was the suggestion that steps be taken 

 to make the conservation movement world- 

 wide in scope. 



Conservation in Canada. In 1909, the Do- 

 minion Parliament passed an act creating a 

 Commission of Conservation for Canada.. The 

 aims of this commission were stated as follows : 



It shall be the duty of the Commission to take 

 In consideration all questions which may be 

 brought to its notice relating to the conservation 

 and better utilization of the natural resources of 

 Canada, to make such inventories, collect and dis j 

 seminate such information, conduct such investi- 

 gations, inside and outside of Canada, and frame 

 such recommendations as seem conducive to the 

 accomplishment of that end. 



Thirty-two members make up this Commis- 

 sion; of these, the Minister of the Interior, the 

 Minister of Mines and the member of each 

 provincial government in Canada who is 

 charged with the administration of the natural 

 resources of the province are members by 

 virtue of their office. The important subjects 

 upon which the Commission is working are 

 the protection of the standing timber through- 

 out the Dominion, the conservation of water 

 supply and its relation to the forests, the super- 

 vision of fish and game, possible economies in 

 the development of the mineral resources, pub- 

 lic health and the conservation of the products 

 of the soil. The Dominion has a vast area set 

 aside for national parks, important among 

 which are Rocky Mountain Park and Jasper 

 Park in Alberta, and Yoho Park and Glacier 

 Park in British Columbia. Over 145,000,000 

 acres are included in the national and provin- 

 cial forest reserves. W.F.Z. 



Related Subjects. The following articles In 

 these volumes will make more clear certain phases 

 of the general topic of conservation : 

 Bird Flood 



Subhead Bird Reser- Forests and Forestry 



vationa Irrigation 



Coal Parks, National 



Fire Pinchot, Gifford 



Subhead Fire Pre- 

 vention 



CONSERVATIVE, konsur'vativ, a term 

 applied in Great Britain and Canada to a 

 political party which favors the maintenance 

 of governmental conditions that have been 

 tested and proved good. This party objects to 

 changes in the direction of new and untried 

 measures. One of the greatest leaders the 

 Conservative party ever had was the Earl of 

 Beaconsfield. Joseph Chamberlain, one of 

 England's ablest men, left the ranks of the 

 Radical party and joined the Conservative side. 

 Sir Robert Borden, a Premier of the Dominion 

 of Canada, is a strong type of the old Con- 

 servative party, formerly known as "Tories" in 

 England. The Conservatives have lost ground 

 during recent years as progressive ideas have 

 taken root and men with eloquence to expound 

 them have risen from the ranks of the people. 



CONSERVATORY, konsur'vatori, a name 

 applied to a school devoted to instruction in 

 all branches of music. The word was originally 

 the Italian word conservatorio, which means 

 a place for keeping anything. In the Italian 



A PLANT CONSERVATORY 

 Typical form of building, glass-covered. 



religious conservatories, where orphan children 

 were cared for, special attention was given to 

 teaching music and declamation; hence its 

 modern application. The first conservatory is 

 said to have been founded in Naples in 1537. 

 Perhaps the most famous school is the French 

 Conservatoire de Musique, established in 1795. 

 In England these schools are not called con- 

 servatories, because that name is there given 

 to a place devoted exclusively to flowers; but 

 the Royal Academy of Music in London, the 



