458 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATK )N 



What is the effect of the scenic beauty 

 of Washington upon the citizens of the 

 nation who come here? Is not their pride 

 awakened, their patriotism quickened, their 

 love of country increased by the dignitv "f 

 man's effort for beauty here? Consider 

 wealthy Pittsburg, busy Cincinnati, proud 

 Chicago, with their wasteful smoke, their 

 formless streets, their all-pervading bill- 

 boards and grime would one of these serve 

 to stimulate love of country as the national 

 capital ? 



Xo, the unthinking and ofttimes unneces- 

 sary ugliness f civ li/ation docs not f-ter 

 patriotism, nor docs jt promote the health 

 and happiness which are at the very 1 

 of good citizenship. \\'hen. in looking over 

 the horrors of industrial civilization, Will- 

 iam Morris urged humanitarian effort 



"Until the contrast is ], ss disgrace- 

 ful between the tields where the 

 beasts live and the streets where 

 men live," 



he brought out a bitter truth. We have 

 made our cities ugly, for the most part; 

 but we are learning the basis <>f happy citi- 

 zenship, and. while we cannot altogether 

 make over these center- of population, we 

 are bringing into them the M-enic s-.iggc-tion 

 a- well a- the physical facilities of the open 

 country, in the park-. In the-e parks IH-- 

 the answer to the ignorant contempt for 

 scenery to which I have alluded; for it is 

 incontrovertible that peace and health and 

 good order are be-t fostered in the park- 

 including the most natural scenic luautie- 



Mr. Chairman, there is. too. a va-: eco- 

 nomic reason for jealously g.ianlmg all of 

 our scenic heritages in America. Visiting 

 a quiet Canadian community on the -hore 

 of Lake Ontario a few day- -ince, 1 wa- 

 impressed by the number and the beauty of 

 the summer homes there exi-tiug. Inquiry 

 brought out the a-tom'shing fact that they 

 were alnio-t exclusively owned by residents 

 of a certain very wealthy and certainly very 

 ugly American city, where iron is king. 

 The iron manufacturers flee from the all- 

 pervading ugliness they have created, and 

 the money earned in complete disregard of 

 naturally hue scenic condition-- abo it 

 their own homes is used in buying scenic 

 beauty in a foreign country. Perhaps a cer- 

 tain form of protection is here suggested ' 



It is authoritatively stated that the tour- 

 ist travel tribute paid annually to F.urope 

 exceeds a half-billion dollars, of which vast 

 sum America contributes a full half, get- 

 ting back a far smaller sum in return travel 

 from all the world. No one will suggest 

 that there is travel to see ugly things, or to 

 look upon wasted scenery, in Europe. No, 

 this vast sum is expended almost entirely in 

 travel to view agreeable scenic conditions, 

 either natural or urban. The lumber king 

 leaves the hills he has denuded into piteous 



ugliness, and takes his family to view the 

 jealously guarded and economically beautiful 

 Black Forest of Germany. The coal opera- 

 tor who has made a horror of a whole coun- 

 try, and who is responsible for the dreadful 

 kennels among the culm-banks in which his 

 imported labor lives, travels with* his gains 

 to beautiful France, and he may motor 

 through the humble but sightly European 

 villages from whence came his last invoice 

 of workers. 



Every instinct for permanent bn-iiu SS 

 prosperity should impel us not only to sue- 

 in their natural beauty all our important 

 scenic posse--ioiis. but, also, to fully .safe 

 guard the great and revolutionary develop- 

 ment almost certain to follow this epoch- 

 making conference. \Yc are :i--ured by ex- 

 perience that the use of our great renewable 

 re-oiirce- of -oil fertility is attended with 

 the ront n.iance of beautiful scenic condi- 

 tions. The smiling farm, the blooming and 

 glowing orchard, the waving wheat-fields, 

 the rustle of the corn all these spell peace- 

 ful beauty as well as national wealth which 

 we can indefinitely continue and increase 



Can we not see to it that the further use 

 of our unrenewable resources of minerals 

 and primeval fore-t i- no longer attended 

 with a sad change of beautiful, restful, and 

 truly valuable scenery into the blasted hill- 

 side and painful ore-dump, ugly, di-turhing 

 and valueje "' 



The water- of our stream- nri-t f irni-h 

 the "white coal" of the future, and electri- 

 cally turn the wheels of commerce in -moke- 

 economy. Such a change ran consider. 

 retain, and -otnetime- increase the beauty 

 of the scenerv : or it can introduce the sacri- 

 h-L'ion- uuliness of which the American 

 gorge at Niagara is at present 50 disgraceful 

 an example. The banks of the waterways 

 we are to develop can be made so pleasing 

 a- to attract travel, rather than r. pel it. 

 if we care for thi- land of our- a- a plru-e 

 to dwell in, rather than to tlee from 



We cannot, either, safely overlook the ne- 

 cessity for retaining not only for ourselves, 

 but for our children's children, at K a-t a 

 portion of (Jod's glory of mountain and vah . 

 lake, forest, and seaside. His refuge in (li- 

 very bo-oiii of nature, to which we may tie 

 from the noise and strain of the market- 

 place, for that renewing of spirit and 

 strength which cannot be had cl-ewln-r.- 

 True, we can continue and expand our 

 travel tribute to the better sense of the 

 Eastern World, but that will not avail our 

 toiling millions. ''Beauty for the few, no- 

 more than freedom or education for th- 

 few," urges William Morris, and who shall 

 say that such natural beauty of scenery as 

 we have is not the heritage of all, and a 

 plain necessity for good citizenship? 



Every one of us recognizes the renewing 

 of strength and spirit that comes from even 

 a temporary sojourn amidst natural scenic- 

 delights. The President has but just returned 



