632 



CONSERVATION 



The Journal believes that the 

 material prosperity of the West is 

 to be affected very largely by the 

 success or failure of your enter- 

 prises. \Ye know that the fate of 

 millions hangs upon a slender 

 thread. The Journal, which is a 

 part of your electrical world, shares 

 all the hopes and fears and all of 

 the suspense that you feel. We 

 therefore feel emboldened to speak 

 our mind. 



Court publicity. Deal frankly 

 with the people and take the world 

 into your confidence. Be open, 

 and if this is to be a campaign of 

 education, as it must be to a great 

 extent, let the people and the com- 

 munities to whom you speak, feel 

 and know that your every promise 

 will be kept to the letter and that 

 you are to benefit and to help them 

 and the state as well as yourselves. 



This admonition may not be nec- 

 essary. The Journal does not be- 

 lieve it is : but we do believe it nec- 

 essary to let the public fully under- 

 -tand that such is your spirit, that 

 such are your intentions, and that 

 the battle we have ahead of us is 

 one in which they, the people, are 

 as vitally interested as you are. 



Lest we may be misunderstood, 

 the Journal states that it stands 

 pledged to the cause of the Na- 

 tional Forest. The wilful, the aw- 

 ful and scarcely conceivable waste 

 that the country ha-- unnecessarily 

 suffered in its natural resources is 

 appalling. The plunderer of for- 

 ests has mowed down all before 

 him with a wicked wantonness. He 

 has given no thought to to-mor- 

 row. To-day has been his fetish. 



If the cause of the hydro-electric 

 companies involved even to the 

 smallest extent a fight against the 

 underlying theory of the National 

 I-<>rest movement, or the conserva- 

 tion of our natural resources. \ve 

 would hesitate before espousing it. 

 The work inaugurated by Clifford 

 Pinchot, and the services rendered 

 by him. are entitled to the highest 

 encomiums at our hands and at the 



hands of the people, who should be 

 grateful, even though they are not. 

 In this day of abundance and waste 

 we are not likely to appreciate the 

 work of the man to the fullest ex- 

 tent. Future generations surely 

 will. 



Doubtless this man is jealous of 

 his cause. It may be difficult to 

 treat with him. difficult to induce 

 him to adjust and dovetail his great 

 work with the demands of a mod- 

 ern, every-day affair. But we 

 must have patience. The cause of 

 the hydro-electric interests rests on 

 a sound foundation. If it does not, 

 then the cause should not succeed. 

 There may be cases where too much 

 is expected, or where too much has 

 been demanded. We know of no 

 >uch cases. So far as our informa- 

 tion goes, the problem to be solved 

 is a simple business proposition. 

 The state, and the people of the 

 state, will be beneficially or harm- 

 fully affected by its proper or im- 

 proper settlement. 



True, rich men and wealthy cor- 

 porations are very largely inter- 

 ested in the immediate question at 

 hand. But the ultimate benefici- 

 aries of their enterprise will be the 

 people. It is not an easy matter 

 to surround the petitions of large 

 corporations with anything like 

 sentimentalism, and sentiment 

 comes pretty near moving the 

 world. 



The hydro-electric people appear 

 before the Government, saying: 



1 . We offer you a means of con- 

 serving the coal resources of the 

 country, which are being rapidly 

 exhausted. 



2. We offer you a means of con- 

 serving the oil deposits of the coun- 

 try. 



3. \\ e offer you a means of 

 bringing to the surface the wasted 

 waters that How under our arid 

 lands, and so save for other uses 

 the water already flowing in our 

 streams. 



