CONSERVATION OF WORLD RESOURCES 



219 



mon by the study of the problems of 

 conservation, suggested lines of investi- 

 gation that could best be pursued in 

 union, and cited international streams 

 as an example of natural resources 

 whose injury or wise use concerned the 

 neighboring countries equally. 



In the general session of the con- 

 ference, which immediately ensued in 

 ; :he Diplomatic Room of the Depart- 

 ment of State, the delegates again em- 

 phasized the fact that each of the three 

 countries must inevitably profit by the 

 work of the others in dealing with con- 

 servation problems. The wide scope of 

 these problems was once more indicat- 

 ed, particularly by Mr. Sydney Fisher, 

 Canadian Minister of Agriculture, who 

 said that Canada hoped to see the con- 

 servation movement extended "not only 

 to all North America but to all the civi- 

 lized nations of the earth." 



When, therefore, later in the same ' 

 day, the proposal to call a general con- 

 ference at The Hague was broached 

 to the delegates, it found them fully 

 prepared to endorse it. At the same 

 time, the primary object of the North 

 American Conference was kept clearly 

 in view. It was the sense of the con- 

 ference that the peculiarly close inter- 

 relationship of conservation problems in 

 North America required that the integ- 

 rity of the conference be preserved. Dis- 

 cussion brought out a remarkable una- 

 nimity as to general policies, and it was 

 felt that practical results of great value 

 to each of the three countries would be 

 secured by a plan of permanent coop- 

 eration. The delegates accordingly set 

 themselves to review the condition of 

 the resources of our northern continent 

 and to compare methods and results in 

 their utilization, with a view to drawing 

 up a general declaration of principles 

 which should embody a policy of con- 

 servation to be followed by the three 

 countries represented. This declaration, 

 the direct, tangible fruit of the confer- 

 ence, was published in the March issue 

 of this magazine, following the report 

 of the proceedings. 



The State Department, by means of 

 an aide-memoire addressed early in the 

 present year to the foreign governments 

 which are to be invited to send repre- 

 sentatives to The Hague Conference, 

 has already received favorable replies. 

 There is thus assured a full attendance 

 from the leading nations, who for the 

 first time in history will meet to take 

 stock of the material wealth of the 

 whole earth and to discuss the means 

 of so using that wealth as to safeguard 

 the material future of the race. The 

 plan is colossal. It is charged with tre- 

 mendous possibilities, moral and eco- 

 nomic, of which only partial glimpses 

 can be caught in advance. That it will 

 go far to knit new bonds of interde- 

 pendence and mutual understanding be- 

 tween the nations, and so aid in the 

 maintenance of peace, is beyond rea- 

 sonable doubt. It cannot fail to ce- 

 ment the nations closer than ever before 

 through a fuller realization of their de- 

 pendence upon a common basis of pros- 

 perity, the common heritage of the hu- 

 man race in the natural resources of 

 the earth. The Hague Conference will 

 throw into new relief a long obscured 

 truth that the debt to Nature makes 

 the whole world kin. 



What will be the matters taken up in 

 this spirit at The Hague, and what 

 practical results may be expected to fol- 

 low the conference? 



PROBLEMS FOR THE HAGUE CONFERENCE 



i. An Inventory of Resources. 



As the Secretary of State has already 

 indicated in his statement concerning 

 the North American Conference (p. 

 163), The Hague Conference "might 

 well consider a general plan for an in- 

 ventory of the natural resources of the 

 world, and devising a uniform scheme 

 for the expression of the results of such 

 inventory, to the end that there may be 

 a general understanding and apprecia- 

 tion of the world's supply of the mate- 

 rial elements which underlie the devel- 

 opment of civilization and the welfare 

 of the peoples of the earth." 



The great need of such a world in- 

 ventory of resources is well illustrated 



