380 
ous  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  dominating  the  power  market 
in  the  region  of  each  group.  And  whoever  dominates  power, 
dominates  all  industry.  Have  you  ever  seen  a few  drops  of  oil 
scattered  on  the  water  spreading  until  they  formed  a continuous 
film,  which  put  an  end  at  once  to  all  agitation  of  the  surface? 
The  time  for  us  to  agitate  this  question  is  now,  before  the  sepa- 
rate circles  of  centralized  control  spread  into  the  uniform,  un- 
broken, nation-wide  coverning  of  a single  gigantic  trust.  There 
will  be  little  chance  for  mere  agitation  after  that.  No  man  at  all 
familiar  with  the  situation  can  doubt  that  the  time  for  effective 
protest  is  very  short.  If  we  do  not  use  it  to  protect  ourselves 
now,  we  may  be  very  sure  that  the  trust  will  give  hereafter  small 
consideration  to  the  welfare  of  the  average  citizen  when  in  con- 
flict with  its  own. 
The  man  who  really  counts  is  the  plain  American  citizen.  This 
is  the  man  for  whom  the  Roosevelt  policies  were  created,  and  his 
welfare  is  the  end  to  which  the  Roosevelt  policies  lead.  As  a 
nation  we  are  fortunate  at  this  time  in  this  fact  above  all  others, 
that  the  great  man  who  gave  his  name  to  these  policies  has  for 
his  successor  another  great  President  whose  administration  is 
most  solemlnly  pledged  to  the  support  of  them. 
I stand  for  the  Roosevelt  policies  because  they  set  the  common 
good  of  all  of  us  above  the  private  gain  of  some  of  us ; because 
they  recognize  the  livelihood  of  the  small  man  as  more  important 
to  the  nation  than  the  profit  of  the  big  man;  because- they  oppose 
all  useless  waste  at  present  at  the  cost  of  robbing  the  future ; be- 
cause they  demand  the  complete,  sane,  and  orderly  development 
of  all  our  natural  resources,  not  forgetting  our  rivers ; because 
they  insist  upon  equality  of  opportunity  and  denounce  monopoly 
and  special  privilege ; because  discarding  false  issues,  they  deal 
directly  with  the  vital  questions  that  really  make  a difference  with 
the  welfare  of  us  all — and  most  of  all,  because  in  them  the  plain 
American  always  and  everywhere  holds  the  first  place.  And  I, 
propose  to  stand  for  them  while  I have  the  strength  to  stand  for 
anything. 
PRESIDENT  TAFT  AND  CONSERVATION. 
Telegram  to  the  First  National  Conservation  Congress. 
Executive  Office, 
Beverley,  Mass.,  Aug.  26,  1909. 
“To  the  First  National  Conservation  Congress, 
Seattle,  Washington. 
I congratulate  you  on  the  objects  of  your  meeting  and  sin- 
cerely hope  that  your  deliberations  will  result  in  useful  con- 
clusions. You  can  count  upon  the  earnest  support  of  this  ad- 
ministration of  the  policy  of  conservation  of  natural  resources  by 
every  reasonable  means  properly  within  the  federal  executive 
jurisdiction  and  such  recommendations  to  Congress  as  may  be 
best  adapted  to  obtain  useful  legislation  towards  the  same  end. 
William  H.  Taft. 
