346 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



une 



den can doubt the wisdom of the steps that 

 have been taken. Here, as elsewhere, both 

 the Nation and the State can find a field for 

 legitimate activity, and I am sure that there 

 will be a continuation of this work until 

 all of the waters which can be utilized for 

 that purpose have been appropriated. * 



"The same principle which was invoked in 

 support of irrigation can be invoked in 

 support of drainage. The question is not 

 whether the water should be brought upon 

 the land or taken off the land; it is 

 whether the land shall be made tillable and 

 its wealth-producing qualities utilized. 

 Drainage of the swamps is, therefore, as 

 legitimate a work as the reclamation of arid 

 wastes. 



"Xo subject has been brought out more 

 prominently at this Conference than the 

 subject of forestry, and it justifies the time 

 devoted to it, for our timber lands touch 

 our national interests at several points. Our 

 use of lumber is enormous, but immense as 

 would be the inconvenience and loss caused 

 by the absence of lumber, the consequence 

 of the destruction of our fon -is would be 

 still more disastrous to the Nation. As 

 has been shown, the timber nn our moun- 

 tain ranges protects our water supply. Xot 

 to speak of changes in climate which 

 might follow the denuding of our moun- 

 tains, the loss to the irrigated country 

 could not be remedied and the damage to 

 the streams could not be calculated. Amli, 

 this is not enough to arouse the interest of 

 all, I may add that the destruction of the 

 forests on the mountain rangr- would in 

 time impair the underflow upon which we 

 relv for our well water. 



"The good effects of this Conference are 

 already apparent in the determination ex- 

 pressed by several governors at once to ap- 



they will exercise the power which they 

 have. But water traffic is less expensive 

 than traffic by rail, and there are many 

 commodities winch can be transported much 

 more cheaply by water than they possibly 

 could be carried by land. believe it has 

 been estimated that an expenditure of $500- 

 000,000 on interior waterways would result 

 in a saving of nearly $200,000,000 annually. 

 j us t a word in conclusion about an in- 

 vestment in permanent i mprovements. 

 Money spent in care for the life and health 

 o f the people, in protecting the soil from 

 erosion and from exhaustion, in preventing 

 waste in the use of minerals of limited sup- 

 p i y> j n the reclamation of deserts and 

 -\\amp-. ami in the preservation of forests 

 ^ {] \\ remaining and the planting of denuded 

 tracts money invested in these and in the 

 development "<>t" waterways and in the deep- 

 eiiing of harbor- i- an investment yielding 

 an anm , a l return. If any of these expend- 

 itures fail t bring a return at once the 

 money expended is like a bequest to those 

 wno come after us. And as the parent lives 

 f or his child as well as for himself, so the 

 good citizen provides for the future as 

 W( _.|i as f or the present. This gathering 

 w ;u ^ remembered by future generations. 

 because they as well as ourselves will be the 

 recipients of the hem-tits which will flow 

 f rom this Conference. We have all been 

 strengthened by communion together; our 

 vision has been enlarged and the enthusi- 

 asm i iere aroused will permeate every state 

 anc i every community." (Great applause). 



conclusion o f Mr . Bryan's 

 , . , , . , ,. 



address, the peroration of which ehc- 



hed tremendous bursts of applause, 

 | 'resident Roosevelt stepped quickly 



( 



ttiis case action is so urgent and the field 

 to be covered so large that both the Xa- 

 tion and the several Mate- can exercise 



tioral reservation- already made in the 

 West, and the new reservations that ought 

 to be made, and are likely to be made in 

 the White Mountains and in the Appala- 

 chian Range can doubtless be so adminis- 

 tered as to protect national interests with- 

 out unduly burdening the states in which 

 the reservations are located 



development of the western states, and 

 their own interest should restrain them 

 from sacrificing future wealth and protec- 



waterways, 



I shall not defend the improvement of these 



waterways on the ground that such im- 



rould help to regulate the rail- 



f; 



heartily by the 

 the enthusiasm had subsided, Judge 

 Q OUC J V I 'resident of the National Ir- 



<...*,, <** ? ***< 



to attend the Sixteenth session of that 

 organization at Albuquerque, New 

 ]y[ ex i co September 2Oth to October 



3 d - 



Hon. B. B. Comer, Governor Ot Al- 



abama, was recognized and made a 

 short lalk f o n ow i ng the President's 



suggestion that those governors who 

 had not been heard be called on tor 

 their contribution to the discussion. 

 Q overnor Comer dwelt Oil the re- 

 sources of Alabama and on the state's 

 waterways, saying however, that his 



sentiments were much the same as 

 h f Q overnor Folk aml that he 



hesitated to take a stand for turning 



