EDITORIAL 



others, and that none can be managed 

 independently of others. Ktfective 

 action lias been blocked because there 

 has been nobody broad enough to 

 formulate a plan sufficiently compre- 

 hensive. 



Such a body is now provided by the 

 conference on the conservation of 

 natural resources, which the President 

 has called to meet him in the White 

 House on May 13, 14 and 15. This 

 conlerence will represent every part 

 of the country, and all the country's 

 needs. By direct personal contact, 

 the members will be able to come to 

 an understanding of the various inter- 

 related problems and of what will be 

 required of each part of the country 

 to make a general scheme possible. 



This conference will be the most 

 remarkable in the historic mansion. 

 It will deal with problems upon 

 which the continued prosperity of 

 the Nation vitally depends. For 

 this reason its deliberations will 

 be more fundamentally important 

 and far-reaching than any since 

 the days when the republic was 

 planned. Never before have the chief 

 executives of all the States met in one 

 body presided over by the Chief Ex- 

 ecutive of the Nation, and never be- 

 fore has there been a subject bigger or 

 broader to cause such a meeting. 



The steps which led to the calling 

 of this conference are particularly in- 

 structive in the way in which they 

 emphasize the close inter-relation and 

 interdependence of all the natural 

 sources of the Nation's wealth, and tin- 

 fact that any attempt to conserve one 

 set will soon involve the protection of 

 others. 



First the Last March, in response 



Inland to petitions from numcr- 



Waterways O us commercial bodies 

 of the Mississippi Valley, President 

 l\o <seve1t appointed the Inland 

 Waterways Commission, to prepare 

 and report a comprehensive plan for 

 the improvement and control of the 

 river systems of the I nited States. 

 In the President's instructions to this 

 Commission he said : 



"Such a plan should consider and 

 include all the USCS to whi< I; I 

 may be put. and should brinj her 



and co-ordinate the points of viev. 

 all users of water." And ai o: 



n.t possible properly to fr; 

 large a plan as this for the 

 our rivers without taking account 

 the orderly development of other 

 natural resource^. Therefore, 1 ask 

 that the Inland Waterways Comn 

 sion shall consider the relations of ilu- 

 streams to the use of all the great ] 

 manent natural resources, and their 

 conservation for the making and 

 maintenance of prosperous homi 



All Sections In pursuance' of tli< 

 and directions, the Comn 



Interests M ',, M .soun came to the 



conclusion that the problem was so 

 extensive and intricate that a confer- 

 ence representing all the interests 

 cerned in all parts of the o >untr\ 

 OUght to he called to forum , -no. 



broad basis of action. I'pon their 

 recommendation, therefore, the Presi- 

 dent issued invitations to the Gov- 

 ernors of all the States and Terri- 

 tories to meet him to consider the 

 possibilities of preserving the coun- 

 try's natural wealth, and to bring with 

 thorn three representative citixeiis of 

 their respective Stat. Practically 



every Governor has accepted the invi- 

 tation, and many have announced the 

 names of the three men who \\ill ac- 

 company them. Those mo-i arc, with- 

 out exception, representatives "f tin- 

 ablest leaders of public opjnj..n and 

 public life in their eomnnnr'ti' 



Representatives of all national or- 

 ganizations dealing with natural re- 

 sources or with practical i|iie-lion- 

 lating to thorn have also been asked. 

 The members of the President's Cab- 

 inet, the Supreme C-.urt. the Inland 

 \\ aterwa; nmission, and MI 



members- of Congl can attend. 



will be pro-em. Furthermore, the 



President li;.s <ent invitaii n< to a 

 number of well-known men who can 



isl either by their general c.um- 

 or by their special knov 



