562 



CONSERVATION 



lions of dollars in soil and humus and 

 scorching droughts at other seasons ; 

 this is the invariable history of a 

 country from which the forests have 

 been stripped. 



a? 



National Conservation League 



WITH Walter L. Fisher, of Chica- 

 go, as president, President Roose- 

 velt as honorary president, and William 

 Jennings Bryan, and William H. Taft as 

 honorary vice-presidents, the National 

 Conservation League has been organ- 

 ized. The National Rivers and Har- 

 bors Congress has taken the initiative 

 in the movement for welding into a 

 coherent whole the various conservation 

 organizations of the country, and the 

 membership of the newly-formed lea- 

 gue will eventually embrace all such 

 bodies, those of a local scope a> well as 

 those whose field of activity is the whole 

 nation. The league idea has been un- 

 der more or less serious consideration 

 for a long time, but the impetus that 

 has at last resulted in it^ formation was 

 given by the White House conference 

 last May. The purpose of the league 

 are given in its declaration of priiu-i].lr-. 

 which follows : 



"Whereas it is of the utmost importance 

 that the natural resources of the nation 

 shall be comprehensively and vigorously 

 developed and utilized for the promotion 

 of the public welfare without waste, de- 

 struction or needless impairment, and sub- 

 ject always to their intelligent conserva- 

 tion and the effective preservation of the 

 rights and interests of the future gen- 

 erations of our people. 



"Now, therefore, to secure the recogni- 

 tion and support of these principles by the 

 people and by their representatives, we 

 hereby unite in a national conservation 

 league, and adopt for ourselves the follow- 

 ing, taken directly from the declaration 

 unanimously adopted by the Conference 

 of Governors convened by the President 

 of the United States in the White House 

 at Washington, May 13, 14, and 15, 1908. 



"We do hereby declare the conviction 

 that the great prosperity of our country 

 rests upon the abundant resources of the 

 land chosen by our forefathers for their 

 homes and where they laid the foundation 

 of this great nation. 



"\\ e look upon these resources as a heri- 

 tage to be made use of in establishing and 

 promoting the comfort, prosperity, and hap 

 piness of the American people, but not to 

 be wasted, deteriorated, or needlessly de- 

 stroyed. 



"We agree that our country's future is 

 involved in this : That the great natural 

 resources supply the material basis upon 

 which our civilization must continue to de- 

 pend, and upon which the perpetuity of the 

 nation itself rests. 



"We agree that this material basis is 

 threatened with exhaustion. 



"We agree that the land should be so 

 used that erosion and soil-wash shall cease, 

 and that there should be reclamation of 

 arid and semi-arid regions by means of 

 irrigation and of swamp and" overflowed 

 ms by means of drainage; that tin- 

 waters should be so conserved and used to 

 promote navigation, to enable the arid 

 regions to be reclaimed by irrigation and 

 to develop power in the interests of tin- 

 people; that the forests which regulate our 

 rivers, support our imlustiie- .and promot- 

 the fertility and productiveness of the soil 

 should be pn-ser\<-d and perpetuated; that 

 the minerals found so abundantly beneath 

 the surface should be so Used as to prolong 

 their utility; that the beauty, healthfulness, 

 and habitability of our country should bo 

 pn served and increased; that sources of 

 national wealth exist for the benefit of the 

 people, and that monopoly thereof should 

 not be tolerated. 



"We declare our firm conviction that this 

 conservation of our national resources is a 

 subject of transcendent importance which 

 should engage unremittingly the attention 

 of the nation, the states and the people in 



rnest cooperation. 



"We agree that this cooperation should 

 find expression in suitable action by the 

 Congress and by the legislatures of the sev- 

 eral states. 



"Let us conserve the foundations of our 

 prosperity." 



For Automobilists' Information 



IX THE September issue of this ma- 

 gazine occurred a mention of the fact 

 that automobilists are beginning to find 

 the topographic maps issued by the 

 United States Geological Survey of 

 great help in laying out tours or lines 

 of travel. For the information of many 

 correspondents who have written the 

 editor asking for information regard- 

 ing these topographic maps, it may be 



