NOKTH CAKOLINA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 19 



preservation by enforcing the law upon our statute books to punish any one 

 responsible for their destruction or injury by fire, and I most heartily wel- 

 come the aid of the members of your Association, both collectively and indi- 

 vidually. We are justly proud of our great nation; but as a people we are 

 at the same time the most progressive as well as the most careless and waste- 

 ful people on earth. There are none equal to us. It is, indeed, a hopeful 

 sign that we are being aroused by the cry of "Conservation." It is encour- 

 aging to see many of our best men traveling over this broad land, stirring 

 up and organizing our people to aid in the conservation of America's natural 

 resources. That much has been and more will be accomplished goes without 

 saying, for who is not in one way or another endorsing this great work and 

 aiding in its accomplishment! 



FIRE WASTE. 



I venture the assertion, and feel that I can make good the statement, that 

 in no field is there a greater need of conservation, or an opportunity of so 

 certainly accomplishing big results as in stopping our fire waste. "We can 

 and should hasten the day when we as a nation no longer countenance in our 

 midst the criminals who, by carelessness, indifference, or deliberate incendiar- 

 ism, are destroying our property and menacing the lives of our men, women, 

 and children. The total fire losses in the United States and Canada during 

 the year 1911 were $234,337,250, and during the past thirty-five years these 

 losses amount to $5,181,345,425. These figures do not include the cost of 

 insurance nor the money expended in fire departments. 



The fire losses and cost of fire prevention in the United States amount 

 annually to $450,000,000, or more than the total American production of gold, 

 silver, copper, and petroleum in a year. 



Fire losses exceed the total cost of the army and navy of the United States 

 for a year, and are greater than the annual expenditure for pensions, or the 

 annual cost of the United States Postal Service. Fire in the United States 

 costs over five hundred dollars each minute. Every two minutes the value 

 of the average home of our working man goes up in smoke; while every ten 

 or fifteen minutes there is consumed by the flames the value of fine homes 

 such as we point to with pride as ornaments to our cities and towns. As if 

 this were not enough to arouse us, over fifteen hundred people are killed and 

 more than five thousand injured annually by the result of fires. 



PREVENTABLE. 



This great fire waste is preventable to a large extent, and by the exercise of 

 even ordinary care and foresight over one-half of our fire waste can be pre- 

 vented. The general per capita fire waste in the United States is $2.51; in 

 Europe, 33 cents. Cause: The latter has better construction, less careless- 

 ness, and increased responsibility. In nothing is the old adage, "An ounce of 

 prevention is worth a pound of cure," so true as in stopping our appalling 

 annual loss by fire. If the buildings in the United States were fireproof, as 

 in Europe, the annual cost of fire losses and protection would be less than 

 $100,000,000. 



The enormity of our fire waste and its effects upon the business and progress 

 of our country is shown by the importance of the business of fire insurance. 



