DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES 



Before adjourning, the Governors signed the following Declaration 

 as embodying the results of the Convention : 



DECLARATION. 



We, the Governors of the States and Territories of the United States of 

 Ameria, in conference assembled, do hereby declare the conviction that 

 the great prosperity of our country rests upon the abundant resources of 

 the land chosen by our forefathers for their homes, and where they laid 

 the foundation of this great nation. 



We look upon these resources as a heritage to be made use of in estab- 

 lishing and promoting the comfort, prosperity, and happiness of the 

 American people, but not to be wasted, deteriorated, or needlessly de- 

 stroyed. 



We agree that our country's future is involved in this: that the great 

 natural resources supply the material basis upon which our civilization 

 must continue to depend, and upon which the perpetuity of the nation 

 itself rests. 



We agree, in the light of the facts brought to our knowledge and from 

 information received from sources which we can not doubt, that this 

 material basis is threatened with exhaustion. Even as each succeeding 

 generation from the birth of the nation has performed its part in pro- 

 moting the progress and development of the Republic, so do we in this 

 generation recognize it as a high duty to perform our part; and this duty 

 in large degree lies in the adoption of measures for the conservation of 

 the natural wealth of the country. 



We declare our firm conviction that this conservation of our natural 

 resources is a subject of transcendent importance, which should engage 

 unremittingly the attention of the nation, the States, and the people in 

 earnest cooperation. These natural resources include the land on which 

 we live and which yields our food; the living waters which fertilize the 

 soil, supply power, and form great avenues of commerce; the forests 

 which yield the materials for our homes, prevent erosion of the soil, and 

 conserve the navigation and other uses of the streams; and the minerals 

 which form the basis of our industrial life, and supply us with heat, light, 

 and power. 



W 7 e agree that the land should be so used that erosion and soil wash 

 shall cease; and that there should be reclamation of arid and semi-arid 

 regions by means of irrigation, and of swamp and overflowed regions by 

 means of drainage; that the waters should be so conserved and used as 

 to promote navigation, to enable the arid regions to be reclaimed by irri- 

 gation, and to develop power in the interests of the people; that the for- 

 ests which regulate our rivers, support our industries, and promote the 

 fertility and productiveness of the soil should be preserved and perpetua- 

 ted; that the minerals found so abundantly beneath the surface should 

 be so used as to prolong their utility; that the beauty, healthfulness, and 

 habitability of our country should be preserved and increased; that 

 sources of national wealth exist for the benefit of the people, and that 

 monopoly thereof should not be tolerated. 



We commend the wise forethought of the President in sounding the 

 note of warning as to the waste and exhaustion of the natural resources 

 of the country, and signify our high appreciation of his action in calling 

 this conference to consider the same and to seek remedies therefor through 

 cooperation of the Nation and States, 



We agree that this cooperation should find expression in suitable action 

 by the Congress within the limits of and coextensive with the national 

 jurisdiction of the subject, and, complimentary thereto, by the Legisla- 

 tures of the several States within the limits of and coextensive with their 

 jurisdiction. 



We declare the conviction that in the use of the national resources our 

 independent States are interdependent and bound together by ties of 

 mutual benefits, responsibilities, and duties. 



72 



