ADDRESSES OF MAJOR LACEY 81 



Year by year they gather and store the sunshine for 

 future use. The sparkling log yields back this sunshine 

 on a dreary winter night. 



Americans have been the spendthrifts of the centuries. 

 It is high time to call a halt and save something of our 

 national resources for those who are to come after us. 



The first settlers found this continent a storehouse of 

 energy and national wealth. The climate was salubrious. 

 The soil was fertile. The forests spread on every hand. 

 The rivers teemed with fish. Earth and air alike fur- 

 nished abundant supplies of game. Later on coal oil 

 and natural gas arose to the explorer, from the earth's 

 great secret storehouse. Coal in vast beds was found in 

 nearly every state. 



The prodigality of the sun as the source of light, heat, 

 and power, is amazing. When we consider how few of 

 the sun's rays strike the earth out of the almost infinite 

 myriads that start out on their journey into space, we 

 may well wonder if the great storehouse will be finally 

 exhausted, and if a dead sun may finally cease to give 

 vigor to our planetary system. 



Man has been as wasteful of his natural possessions as 

 the sun of its energy. We have not been content with 

 using these resources; we have wasted them as reckless 

 prodigals. 



When an ancient citizen found a great treasure he re- 

 ported it to his ruler, who told him to keep it and use it. 

 "It is too great a sum to use," replied the finder. 

 "Abuse it then," replied his master. 



This is the method which our people have applied in 

 the past. The coal has been preserved in spite of man 

 by the vast strata of protecting earth and stone, but we 

 may even now begin to compute the time when the an- 

 thracite will take its place in the museums along with the 



