Pollard: Conservation, the National Issue 129 



are of direct economic benefit to man, chief among which are the 

 forests, coal and mineral deposits, fur-bearing animals, etc. ; but 

 also of other natural gifts whose value to the human race may be 

 less obvious, but which are none the less important in preserving 

 that delicate adjustment between organized and unorganized life 

 known to biologists as the balance of nature. Various public 

 and private organizations have therefore come into existence, 

 since the conservation movement assumed a national importance, 

 having for their aim the education of the people in this phase of 

 the subject. The Audubon Society, the two societies for the pro- 

 tection of native plants, field and outing clubs, and various civic 

 organizations are accomplishing excellent work for the cause. 

 Nor should such activities be regarded lightly when they happen 

 to be concerned chiefly with the esthetic aspect of conservation. 

 If we admit the value of the fine arts as an educational factor in 

 our intellectual development, we must also recognize that true 

 art finds its best expression through natural inspiration. Thus, 

 the plant and animal life of field and woodland play a more im- 

 portant part in our own existence than the mere political economists 

 would have us believe. As a scientist I have no sympathy with 

 the doctrine that the earth was made for man alone, and that the 

 sole aim of human knowledge and endeavor is to minister to his 

 needs. Man is merely a marvelously developed organism amid 

 a host of minor organisms, the capstone of the great arch of 

 evolution. He is surrounded on all sides with the wonderful 

 pages of the world's geological and biological history, and a thou- 

 sand untouched fields of activity are open to him. Yet there are 

 hosts of people whose attitude toward man's function on the earth 

 and his relation to the rest of nature may be summed up in the 

 old saying, "Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we 

 die." Such as these would employ natural resources for the best 

 interests of the present generation, leaving future generations 

 to take care of themselves. They would waste no time in the 

 study of what is not of practical use to mankind, having abiding 

 faith in human ingenuity to provide substitutes for exhausted 

 natural commodities. 



