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farmer, and of course every miner knows the same thing. Not only- 

 does the farmer need the water which the preservation of the forests 

 itself also preserves, but he needs the wood too. So does the miner, 

 so does the manufacturer, and so does the railroad man. The reser- 

 voirs cannot last if they fill full of silt, and the only way to prevent 

 this filling with silt is to preserve the forests themselves. The forest 

 is a great sponge for absorbing and distilling water. It is the great 

 preventor of erosion, and erosion is always the danger point in any 

 irrigation system. 



Without pretending to outline definitely a working scheme, I ven- 

 ture to point out that without the attainment of the following objects 

 your plans must measurably fail : 



First. Government study of the streams upon which your plans 

 depend 



Second. Government construction and control of great irrigation plants. 

 Third. The preservation of forests by the extension of the forest 



reserve system and hence of Government control of the forests. 



Fourth. National protection and use of the forests under expert 



supervision. 



Fifth. I urge you to see to it that private owners of forests in the 

 West and East alike understand that timber can be cut without forest 

 destruction (the Department of Agriculture will tell them how) and that 

 the ownership of water rights in the arid country, and of forest lands 

 anywhere entails public as well as private duties and responsibilities. 



The East is interested in the commercial development of the arid 

 lands of the West, just as the West is interested in the proper de- 

 velopment of our harbour system and of our commerce on the high 

 seas. No part of this country can be permanently benefited without a 

 reflex benefit to the other parts. As Americans we are all interested 

 in the progress of any part of our common country, and while your 

 movement is of immediate benefit to the West, its ultimate benefit 

 will be shared by the East as well. I earnestly hope that all far- 

 aighted citizens, whether they dwell on the Atlantic or on the Pacific 

 aeaboard, or in the great Mississippi valley will appreciate this, and 

 that Congress will give to your efforts the substantial backing that 

 they deserve. 



Sincerely Yours, 

 (Signed) Theodore Roosevelt. 



Letter from Secretary Wilson, 

 November 20, 1900. 

 To the National Irrigation Congress, Chicago. 

 Gentlemen : 



The pressure of official duties stands in the way of my presence at 

 your Congress, and I am exceedingly sorry it is so. It would have 

 given me very great pleasure to meet you, and to discuss with you the 

 two great agricultural problems of the West, — wood and water. But 

 the necessity of setting rightly before the President and the people 

 the work of the scientists of the Department of Agriculture in my an- 

 nual report keeps me in Washington, where I hope I shall not be less 

 useful to your cause than 1 should be if I came to Chicago, As it is, 

 the Department will be represented by several of its scientists, and to 



