A MAGAZINE OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP
AMERICA’S PLEA FOR CONSERVATION OF
THE NATION’S MATERIAL RESOURCES
X CONFERENCE on the conservation of America’s natural re­
sources was held at the White House in Washington, D. C.
on May 13-15, 1908, while William Taft was president. Promi­
nent in the gathering were Andrew Carnegie, James J. Hill, Theo­
dore Roosevelt and the late Chief Justice of the United States su­
preme court. These men have passed from the field of earthly
usefulness, but their pleadings, though unheeded, are still reverbe­
rating in the hearts of the American people and are voiced through
the press and by the faithful sentinels in public and private life
who mourn the unabated destruction carried on. Nearly sixteen
years have passed since that conference was held, but all these
earnest ^ahd^thoughtful expressions have accomplished little, save
a hail to the thought of conservation. In the intervening period
the people of America have witnessed a more wanton destruction
of the nation s natural resources than in any previous period of
time. The mineral veins have been tapped to satisfy greed. The
oil lands have been converted through sale and leases to private
individuals and corporations who are amassing great wealth by
draining these vital arteries of national defense. The forests are be­
ing mowed down in the face of rational and patriotic conservation
appeals while only slight attention is given constructive plans for re­
forestation. Where yesterday the untold millions of giant trees
towered to the sky, on the hills and through the valleys of the
great American timber arsenal of the West, only stumps and roots
are left behind to tell the story of this era of hideous destruction.
If Americanism has any meaning, Congress should find means
to protect our natural resources. The Forest Service should be en­
gaged in promoting reforestation over the vast stretches of denuded
hills and uplands where the soil adapted for forest growth may con­
tinue to produce wealth and prosperity for generations to come
EBRUARY, 1924
PORTLAND. OREGON