THOUGHTS ON CONSERVATION 289 



power, and navigation, to the end that navigable and 

 source streams may be brought under complete con- 

 trol and fully utilized for every purpose. We especi- 

 ally urge on the Federal Congress the immediate 

 adoption of a wise, active, and thorough water- 

 way policy, providing for the prompt improvement 

 of our streams and the conservation of their water- 

 sheds required for the uses of commerce and the 

 protection of the interests of our people. 



We recommend the enactment of laws looking to 

 the prevention of waste in the mining and extraction 

 of coal, oil, gas, and other minerals with a view 

 to their wise conservation for the use of the 

 people, and to the protection of human life in 

 the mines. 



Let us conserve the foundations of our prosperity. 



THOUGHTS ON CONSERVATION 



BY WILLIAM H. TAFT 



WITHOUT the resources which make labor pro- 

 ductive, American enterprise, energy, and skill 

 would not in the past have been able to make head- 

 way against hard conditions. Our children and 

 their children will not be able to make headway if 

 we leave to them an impoverished country. Our 

 land, our waters, our forests, and our minerals are 

 the sources from which come directly or indirectly 



