FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



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forests, minerals, soils and waters- 

 should be left as largely as possible to 

 the several states, and that a perma- 

 nent organization of the State Execu- 

 tives should be mace, through which 

 the will of the people of the several 

 states shall be expressed, rind a com- 

 prehensive plan of Nation-wide con- 

 servation shall be formulated and car- 

 ried out by the StaU>. working in 

 concert among themselves and with 

 the Nation. 



The tangible results of tin- Confer- 

 ence, generally speaking, arc: The 



- the President of the United States 

 met in consultation with the Execu- 

 tive- of practically all the states and 

 territories for the consideration of any 

 questions, big or little. And practi- 

 cally every speaker, from President 

 Roosevelt in through the list, empha- 

 sized the statement that from the meet- 

 ing in the East Room of the \Yhite 

 House would undoubtedly spring an 

 organixation of the Governors that, 

 thniugh its deliberations and the 

 weight of its matured opinions, would 

 exercise, in the vears to come, a tre- 



Photo Copyright by Harris & Ewing, Washington 



GUESTS OF THE PRESIDENT 

 Mr. Andrew Carnegie, Hon. W. J. Bryan, Messrs. J. J. Hill, and John Mitchell 



formation of a permanent organiza- 

 tion of state Executives, and the 

 arousing of a degree of interest 

 among the Governors that resulted in 

 the announcement by several of them 

 that their first official act upon return- 

 ing to their home states from the Con- 

 ference will be the appointment of 

 State Forestry Commissions. 



From the opening to the close of 

 the Conference stress was frequently 

 laid upon the great historical signifi- 

 cance of the gathering, and repeated 

 references were made to the fact that 

 never before in the Nation's history 



mendous influence over the destinies 

 and the affairs of the Nation. 



With the severe simplicity of its or- 

 dinary decoration brightened by dra- 

 peries of green velvet that overspread 

 almost all the east wall and the plat- 

 form erected there for the presiding 

 officer, the speakers, and the members 

 of President Roosevelt's Cabinet, the 

 East Room presented an unfamiliar 

 appearance. Two great maps, pre- 

 pared especially for the Conference, 

 hung on the east wall, one of these 

 maps showing the timber resources of 

 the United States, while the other il- 



