156 
This Commission was asked “to prepare and report a compre- 
hensive plan for the improvement and control of the river sys- 
tems of the United States,” and further, because “it is not pos- 
sible to properly frame so large a plan as this for the control of 
our rivers without taking account of the orderly development of 
other natural resources “the Commission was asked to consider 
the relations of the streams to the use of all the great permanent 
natural resources and their conservation for the making and 
maintenance of prosperous- homes.” 
The preliminary report of the Inland Waterways Commission 
was made to the President in February, 1908, was transmitted by 
him to Congress, and was published. The investigations of this 
body having made it apparent that the field to be covered was 
larger than could be handled by the Waterways Commission, 
President Roosevelt issued a call in November, 1907, for a Con- 
servation Congress to be held at the White House in May, 1908, 
to which were invited the Governors of all the States, officials of 
various branches of the Federal Government, representatives 
from many organizations having to do with the natural resources, 
and delegates from each State, designated by the Governor. The 
conference lasted three days and was a memorable occasion in 
many ways, perhaps the most important feature being the prece- 
dent thereby established of occasional meetings of the Governors 
that bids fair to develop into a highly useful, if technically un- 
official line of government activity. A declaration of principles 
was drawn up and approved that has been adopted as the charter 
as it were, of the Conservation Movement. The results of this 
conference were published by authority of Congress, as a stout 
volume during the summer of 1909. 
Early in June, 1908, President Roosevelt reappointed and en- 
larged the Inland Waterways Commission and also created the 
National Conservation Commission, with four sections; water, 
lands, forest and minerals. This body at once undertook an in- 
ventory of the natural resources of the United States, which it 
completed in December, 1908. The report of the National Con- 
servation Commission was submitted to President Roosevelt in 
January, 1909, and by him transmitted to Congress. The main 
report was accompanied by reports covering each of the sections 
and also by numerous papers prepared by experts in various 
lines. Again to quote from President Roosevelt’s special conser- 
vation report message to Congress : “It is one of the most 
fundamentally important documents ever laid before the Ameri- 
can people. It contains the first inventory of the natural re- 
sources ever made by any nation. In condensed form it presents 
a statement of our available capital in material resources, which 
are the means of progress, and calls attention to the essential con- 
ditions upon which the perpetuity, safety and welfare of this na- 
tion now rests and must always continue to rest. It deserves and 
should have the widest possible distribution among the people.” 
