THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



547 



1878, and the first concrete legislation to conserve the 

 forests was under President Cleveland. The irrigation 

 act passed in 1902 had been vigorously advocated by Major 

 Powell for years, and if we go back to the real origin 

 of conservation in this country we would have to 

 start in prehistoric times. 



Forestry is one of the oldest sciences in Europe. Dry 

 farming has been practised in Scotland for more than 

 200 years, and it is certain that irrigation was practiced 

 in America before Columbus arrived. As in most great 

 movements there are a few badly balanced enthusiasts 

 who now lay claim to everything in sight and go far 

 beyond reason in their advocacy of the conservation move- 

 ment. During the past five years there has been a great 

 hurrah and a deal of shouting by these enthusiastic and 

 self-appointed conservators of conservation, and with it 

 all there has been a tremendous amount of misinformation. 

 These men, impatient of restraint and intolerant of any 

 opinion which does not agree with their own and wholly 

 lacking in restraint or good judgment, demand the adop- 

 tion of their own ideas to the exclusion of all others, 

 and to the great detriment of the movement. 



It is to the sane and temperate judgment and action 

 of those who have given the subject intelligent study, 

 and who are behind it because they know its real value 

 and are not trying to exploit it for political or private 

 purposes, that we must look for real and permanent re- 

 sults. The shouters will tire themselves out in time and 

 turn their attention to something else and then the solid 

 backers of conservation will move forward and in the 

 right direction as they always have. The people all be- 

 lieve in conservation. Who does not? But they believe 

 in sane and reasonable methods and in the principle that 

 the benefits to come from it should not be confined to 

 those who are to come after us in future centuries, but 

 that the people who are now on earth should be con- 

 sidered as beneficiaries. 



We may expect to hear a great deal of inefficient 

 enthusiasm expended in the Pueblo congress on this sub- 

 ject, and the men who stand for conservative methods and 

 who appreciate the vast breadth and importance of the 

 conservation movement will come in for volumes of criti- 

 cism, possibly abuse; but nothing of this kind can swerve 

 them from the plain path that has been marked out by 

 them and the great majority of the people who, in sym- 

 pathy and understanding, are backing them. 



President 

 Taft's 

 St. Paul 

 Speech. 



President Taft, in his address before the 

 National Conservation Congress at St. Paul, 

 promulgated a policy which will have the 

 hearty support of every true .friend of con- 

 servation. His address gave evidence of 

 the most careful study of the whole ques- 

 tion and furnished much food for thought to every person 

 who is interested in it. His position is clearly defined, and 

 if his policy can be carried out it will result in the greatest 

 possible good to the entire country. 



The President did not assume to dictate to the Congress 

 just what it should or should not do and frankly stated that 

 on some minor points his mind had not 'been clearly made 

 up. The tenor of his address was pacific and cleared up many 

 points on which the public had heretofore been in some doubt. 

 The President very wisely refrained from recriminations or 

 criticism of persons or performances but frankly praised what 

 has already been done and spoke most hopefully of what is 



yet to be accomplished. He unqualifiedly condemned the 

 policy of Federal control of all conservation interests when 

 he said: "I am firmly convinced that the only safe course 

 for us to pursue is for us to hold fast to the limitations of 

 the constitution and to regard as sacred the powers of the 

 states. In these days there is a disposition to look too 

 much to the Federal government for everything." 



Although the President mentioned no names in his ad- 

 dress, Gifford Pinchot and his rabid followers came in for de- 

 served rebuke in the following sentence: "I am bound to say 

 that the time has come for a halt in general rhapsodies over 

 conservation, making the word mean every known good in the 

 world, for after the public attention has been aroused such 

 appeals are of doubtful utility." The country now knows 

 just where the President stands on conservation, and although 

 he has been criticized for tardiness in pushing conservation 

 measures, he made it perfectly clear that he intends to ad- 

 vance legislation of this character as rapidly as possible. It 

 will not be an easy matter to enact the conservation measures 

 indicated in his address, but his frank and manly words will 

 do much toward concentrating public thought and giving fresh 

 energy to public opinion and in this way force Congress to 

 meet the issue fairly. 



The friends of true conservation will rejoice at the Presi- 

 dent's attitude in regard to Federal interference with State 

 rights. 



The natural resources in which the Federal government 

 has an ownership are nevertheless as much subject to the 

 sovereignty of the states in which they are located as any 

 property owned by private interests. It is absurd to assume 

 that the states cannot be trusted to protect their own re- 

 sources, and it is folly to believe that the unreasonable de- 

 mands of Pinchot and Garfield will be acceded to. 



The coal lands, water power sites and the forests should be 

 devoted to the use of the people now with due regard of course 

 to the interests of future generations, but Pinchot and his 

 followers would, if their policy should be carried out, tie up 

 these great sources of wealth until the present generation has 

 passed away. It is impossible that this policy can ever re- 

 ceive the support of the thinking people of this country, and 

 particularly those people who are interested in the develop- 

 ment of the West. The states should be trusted to protect 

 their own interests, as they are perfectly capable of doing 

 without the dangerous intervention of the Federal govern- 

 ment. 



We have said something before relative 

 Frederick H. to the ability of certain politicians who 

 Newell a have been developed by some of the 



Good bureaus at Washington. We wish to 



Politician. specialize at the present time and to call 



attention to one Frederick Haynes 

 Newell, formerly employed for a few months in a mine in 

 Colorado, for a few months more in a coal mine in West 

 Virginia and since then a humble servant of the people. 

 He became attached to the U. S. Geological Survey 

 about twenty-two years ago. He entered the best train- 

 ing school for politicians that the Government has thus 

 far founded. His field experience and his education were 

 along mining lines. He doubtless entered the Geological 

 Survey with the intention of pursuing further his geologi- 

 cal work. Opportunities are numerous for those who take 

 advantage of every favorable wind. Mr. Newell was never 

 known to miss anything in this direction. The Hydro- 

 graphic Division of the Geological Survey grew up under 



