Conservation of Resources 57 



the governors declared that they would ap- 

 point forest commissions on their return : this 

 may be of value, but it is not likely to 

 accomplish much, as commissions go. The 

 man who stands at the sources, is the one on 

 whom we must in the end depend for the 

 work of preservation. The instincts of the 

 settled farmer are all for preservation and bet- 

 terment, not for exploitation or for sales of 

 stocks: he is the natural conservator of the 

 native resources of the earth. 



There are many persons who are waiting to 

 know what forces the great Conference will set 

 in motion to reach and quicken the man at the 

 sources ; that is, how we are to get to the real 

 bottom of the question. It was most interest- 

 ing to follow the discussions on the means of 

 developing water-power: the Mississippi, Ni- 

 agara, and other great streams were mentioned. 

 This development, of course, is necessary. But 

 rivers are not born as rivers. They originate 

 from a little lake in the mountains, and a rill in 

 a forest, and a spring in the pasture lot. To 

 a great extent, they originate or are supplied 



