159 
and dependable supply of water rests absolutely on the continu- 
ance of the forests, and without water what would our agriculture 
amount to ? 
Next to using water and forests wisely, perhaps the greatest 
need in Hawaii is for a better understanding of the care of the 
land itself — the prevention of waste, the maintenance of fertility 
and the increase of soil productivity. With these material ques- 
tions, we in Hawaii also face in a more intimate way than do 
many communities some of the larger questions of public health, 
which no less than these others are problems of Conservation. 
Thus the people of Hawaii are vitally concerned in this matter 
and should be ready to do their part in seeing to it that action is 
taken that will put the principles of Conservation into active 
practice. 
THE POINTS AT ISSUE. 
This brings the history of the movement down to the time of 
the present administration. Since the incoming of President 
Taft the progress of affairs has not been so smooth as under the 
last administration. It is a complicated situation that now ob- 
tains and the time is not yet when the end is in sight. For a 
correct understanding of the existing condition it is important 
that certain facts be got clearly in mind and that the essential 
points of variance be sharply differentiated from quarrels arising 
from the conflicting opinions of interested individuals, especially 
where these are concerned chiefly with the details of administra- 
tion. 
Practically, the conservation controversy boils down to three 
main issues : 
First : Shall the remaining natural resources belonging to the 
Government, that is to the people of the United States, be ad- 
ministered in accordance with the best modern thought, in the in- 
terest of the nation, or shall they continue as in the past, to be 
exploited under laws that admittedly work to the benefit of specu- 
lators and adventurers and often lead to spoliation and graft. 
The necessary corollary to an effective attempt to handle the nat- 
ural resources for the benefit of the people is that where the ex- 
isting laws are unsuited or insufficient to secure the desired ends, 
new legislation must be enacted by Congress that shall enable 
such results to be attained. This is the question now before 
Congress. 
Second : Granting that it is desirable that the remaining 
natural resources be handled in a more systematic and less waste- 
ful manner than they have been in the past, or than they can be 
under existing laws, shall the attitude of the executive officer 
charged with the administration be that of the strict construction- 
ist, who says in effect, ‘Ts there any express and specific law au- 
thorizing or directing such action?” and who having found none, 
does nothing ; or the attitude advocated by the law officers of the 
