1 62 



CONSERVATION 



Mr. Gifford Pinchot, Chairman of 

 the United States delegation, opened 

 the session by briefly outlining the his- 

 tory of the conservation movement 

 from the formation of the Inland 

 Waterways Commission clown to the 

 calling of the North American Confer- 

 ence. He said that the conservation of 

 natural resources had become in the 

 United States almost a religion. The 

 ideal of the movement was national ef- 

 ficiency, and the material basis of that 

 efficiency was, in last resort, the natural 

 resources. He expressed the keen 

 pleasure he felt that the well-beloved 

 neighbors of the United States were 

 represented, to lend their aid to the con- 

 servation movement. Mr. Pinchot then 

 introduced Mr. James Wilson, Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture. 



Mr. Wilson alluded to the fact that 

 one of the explorers of the Department 

 of Agriculture had just returned from 

 Siberia, bringing with him specimens 

 of wheat and alfalfa which could with- 

 stand the colder climate of Northern 

 United States. Should these plants 

 prove of benefit to this country, he said, 

 they could not fail to prove of benefit 

 to Canada as well. The case was simi- 

 lar, he explained, with the successful 

 experiments made by the Department 

 in fighting the cotton boll-weevil and 

 the cattle tick in the South, since Mexi- 

 co and our other Southern neighbors 

 might freely share in the advantages 

 thus secured. It was impossible, he 

 said, to make advances in agriculture 

 in one part of North America without 

 making possible similar advances in 

 other parts of the great territory. He 

 was convinced that Canada and Mexico 

 had accomplished results which would 

 be of great value to the United States, 

 and concluded that in all efforts to in- 

 crease the productiveness of the soil 

 one nation could not work for itself 

 alone, but that each nation must work 

 for all. 



Senator Smoot, Chairman of the 

 Section of Forests of the National Con- 

 servation Commission, next addressed 

 the conference. He applauded the ob- 

 jects and results of the conservation 



movement, and expressed regret that it 

 had not been initiated fifty years ago. 

 Last summer he had traveled in Eu- 

 rope, studying the methods of forest 

 conservation practised there. He had 

 visited the famous Sihlwald, the town 

 forest of Zurich, Switzerland, which 

 yields the town an annual net profit of 

 $12 per acre from its wood, but is 

 yet so carefully managed that it 

 has kept up its productiveness unim- 

 paired for more than 300 years. He 

 confessed a feeling of shame that in his 

 own country an example of equally 

 good forest management was perhaps 

 nowhere to be found. He did not know 

 whether Canada or Mexico had wasted 

 their forests as had the United States, 

 but urged that the experience of the 

 United States was a warning against 

 similar waste of resources in other 

 lands. 



Mr. Pinchot then invited the Chair- 

 man of the Canadian delegation, Mr. 

 Sydney Fisher, Minister of Agriculture, 

 to address the conference. Mr. Fisher 

 spoke, in substance, as follows : 



Canada had been watching the course 

 of the conservation movement in the 

 United States with the keenest interest 

 and the closest attention, not only on 

 account of her concern for all that 

 concerned America, but because she 

 had, no doubt, many lessons to learn. 

 W r hat was good for our neighbor was 

 good for us, he said, and what was 

 good for us was good for our neigh- 

 bor. The same was true of nations as 

 of individuals, and the President, in 

 emphasizing this point, had struck the 

 key-note of true statesmanship. He 

 hoped to profit greatly from the con- 

 ference, and when the conference ad- 

 journed he anticipated that a great in- 

 ternational movement would have been 

 started, which would include not only 

 all North America, but all the civilized 

 nations of the earth. 



Mr. Romulo Escobar. Chairman of 

 the Mexican delegation, was next 

 called upon by Mr. Pinchot. In his 

 address Mr. Escobar declared that not 

 only President Diaz, but also the peo- 

 ple of Mexico, were pleased with the 



