This congress announced from the first its pur- 

 pose to deal with the subject of conservation in a 

 practical spirit. The present condition of the move- 

 ment, now in the third stage of its development, 

 demands it. We have to apply the conservation 

 principle, as we have eventually to apply every 

 other, to our domestic economics; to work it out 

 in the experience and practice of everyday life. 

 How this may be done can be stated in the form 

 of a few conclusions that raise the word conserva- 

 tion from the name of a more or less vague, diffuse 

 and disputable theory to that of a practical guide 

 to legislation and administration. 



Conservation is wholly an economic, not in any 

 sense a political principle. The nation has suffered 

 and still suft'ers so much from transferring other 

 economic questions to politics that the mistake 

 should not be repeated. Whoever attempts to 

 make conservation the bone of a personal contro- 

 versy or the beast of burden to carry any faction 

 into power or popularity is its worst enemy. 



"Conservative" is the adjective corresponding to 

 the noun "conservation." Any other attitude to- 

 ward this movement, either radical or reactionary, 

 is treason to its name and to its spirit. It should 

 mean no more and no less than dealing with our 

 resources in a spirit of intelligence, honesty, care 

 for both the present and the future, and ordinary 

 business common sense. 



Conservation does not mean forbidding access 

 to resources that could be made available for pres- 

 ent use. It means the freest and largest develop- 

 ment of them consistent with the public interest 

 and without waste. A bag of gold buried in the 

 earth is useless for any purpose. So is an acre 



15 



