NEWS AND NOTES 



Mr. Start Made Secretary 



At a meeting of the Board of Directors of 

 the American Forestry Association held in 

 New York City on October 18, Mr. Edwin 

 Augustus Start, of Boston, Mass., was elected 

 Secretary of the American Forestry Asso- 

 ciation. 



Through his connection with the Massa- 

 chuse.ts Forestry Association, of which, for 

 a number of years, he was secretary and 

 treasurer, and because of his activity in the 

 American Forestry Association, particularly 

 in pressing the Appalachian-White Mountain 

 bill, Mr. Start is well known to the members 

 of this Association. 



At its last annual meeting, he was elected 

 to the Board of Directors, at which time he 

 nominated Hon. Curtis Guild, Jr., for the 

 presidency of the same body. 



Mr. Start was born at North Bridgewater, 

 Mass., June I, 1863; he graduated at Tufts 

 College in 1884, receiving the degree of A.M. 

 from Harvard College in 1893. 



On September 9, 1885, at Windsor, Conn., 

 he married Miss Julia Edith Moor, who died 

 January 21, 1902. 



From 1885 to 1892 Mr. Start was occupied 

 with journalism; in the eight years following 

 he was head of the Department of History in 

 Tufts College. 



Mr. Start is a member of the American 

 Historical Association, of the New England 

 History Teachers' Association, and of the 

 New England Historic Genealogical Society. 

 He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of 

 the Phi Beta Kappa, the Theta Delta Chi, 

 the Twent'^th Century, and Appalachian 

 Mountain clubs, and a contributor to the de- 

 partment of modern history in the Neiv 

 International Encyclopedia. Mr. Start has 

 written numerous articles in magazines, and 

 has aided in launching the new Tiventicth 

 Century Magazine, successor to the Arena. 



Mr. Start may be expected to give special 

 attention to Appalachian-White Mountain 

 legislation, together with the other large in- 

 terests for which the American Forestry As- 

 sociation stands. 



Conservation Congress Resolutions 



The National Conservation Congress at 

 Seattle adopted the following resolutions on 

 the water-power question : 



"We urge upon the states the enactment of 

 comprehensive water laws, framed in ac- 

 cordance with the policy pursued in several 

 western states during recent years, incorpo- 



rating the principle that the waters belong 

 to the people. We hold this right of the 

 people to be inherent. Recognizing the 

 necessity of administering this invaluable 

 possession for the people, we deny the right 

 of state or Federal governments to alienate 

 or convey water by granting franchises for 

 the use thereof for commercial or power pur- 

 poses in perpetuity, or without just com- 

 pensation in the interests of the people. 



"We hold that all natural resources be- 

 long primarily to the whole people and should 

 not be alienated by municipal, state, or na- 

 tional grants or franchises to individuals or 

 corporations except for limited periods." 



President Taft to the Conservation Congress 



President Taft sent to the first National 

 Conservation Congress at Seattle the fol- 

 lowing telegram : 



"I congratulate you upon the objects of 

 your meeting and sincerely hope that your 

 deliberations will result in useful conclu- 

 sions. You can count upon earnest support 

 from this administration for the policy of 

 conservation of natural resources by every 

 reasonable means properly within the juris- 

 diction of the Federal executive, and such 

 recommendations to Congress as may best be 

 adapted to obtain useful legislation toward 

 the same end. 



"WILLIAM H. TAFT." 



President Taft on Conservation 



On September 28 President Taft discussed 

 the conservation question at Spokane, Wash. 

 He spoke of the preservation of the National 

 Forests, the reclamation of the arid and semi- 

 arid lands by irrigation, the disposition of 

 water-power sites, and the disposition of coal, 

 oil, and phosphate lands belonging to the 

 Government. Following are his remarks, in 

 part : 



"The wonderful progress made by Mr. 

 Pinchot, with the earnest support of Mr. 

 Roosevelt and Secretary Wilson, at times has 

 met the denunciation of persons in this 

 western country on the ground that property 

 was being taken which Congress intended for 

 individuals, and was being withheld from 

 them. But I think general opposition to Mr. 

 Pinchot's plans has disappeared and that the 

 great body of the American people recog- 

 nizes the benefit of the reform in reference 

 to forestry and greatly regrets that it was 

 not begun years before. Congress has come 



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