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Show PRESIDENT SENDS STRONGJESSAGE ACCOMPANYING REPORTS OF THE CONSERVATION CONGRESS URGES NEEDED LEGISLATION Document In a Measure Is a Defense De-fense of the Retiring Administration Duty of the Present Generation to its Descendants Pointed Out Obligations Obli-gations of Citizenship Urgent Need for the Development of the Country's Coun-try's Water Power. 1 Washington. With ttio transmission of t tin rpnnrt nt t tin nntlnv.nl 1 1 conunlnslon nnd accompanying papers. President Itoosevclt nlso sent a menage to congress. The following Is a comprehensive com-prehensive synopsis of the document: The president declares Ills entire concurrence con-currence with tlio statements and cbn-elusions cbn-elusions of tlie report and prococds: "It Is one of the most fundamentally Important documents ovcr'lnld before tho American people. It contains tho first Inventory In-ventory of Us natural resources ever niado by any nation. In condensed form It presents a statement of our available capital In material resources, which aro the means of progress, and calls attention atten-tion to the essential conditions upon which tho perpotulty, safety -nd welfare of this nation now rest and must always continue to rest. "The facts set forth In tills report constitute con-stitute an Imperative call to action. The situation they disclose demands that we. f I President Roosevelt. neglecting for a time. If need be, smaller unit ss vital questions, shall concentrate an effective part of our attention upon the great material foundations of national na-tional existence, progress, nnd prosperity. "Tho first of all considerations Is tho permanent welfare of our people; and true moral welfare, the highest form of welfare, can not permanently exist save on a firm and lasting foundation pf material mate-rial well-being. In this respect our situation situ-ation Is far from satisfactory. After every posslblo allowance has been mado, and wjion every hopeful Indication has been given Its full weight, the facts still give reason for grave concern. It would be unworthy of our history and our Intelligence, In-telligence, and disastrous to our future, to shut our eyes to these facts or attempt at-tempt to laugh them out of court. The peoplo should and will rightly demand that the great fundamental questions shall be given attention by their representatives. rep-resentatives. I do not advise hasty or Ill-considered Ill-considered action on disputed points, but I do urge, where tho facts are known, where the public Interest Is clear, that neither Indlfferenco and Inertia, nor adverse ad-verse private Interests, shall be allowed to stand In the way of the public good. "The great basic facts are already well known. We know that our, population Is now adding about one-fifth to Its numbers In ten years, nnd that by the middle of. the present century perhaps 150,000,000 Americans, and by Its end very many millions more, must be fed and clothed from the products of our soil, "We know now that our rivers can and should be made to servo our peoplo effectively ef-fectively In transportation, but that the vast expenditures for our waterways have not resulted In maintaining, much less In promoting, Inland navigation, Therefore, let us take Immediate steps to ascertain the roasons and to prepare and adopt a comprehensive plan for Inland-waterway Inland-waterway navigation that will result In giving the peoplo the benefits for which they have paid but which they have not yet received. We know now that our for-estB for-estB am fast disappearing, that less than one-fifth of them aro being consorved, and that no good purpose can be met by falling to provldo tho relatively small sums needed for the protection, use, and Improvement of nil forests still owned by the government, and to enact laws to check the wasteful destruction of the forests for-ests In private hands. There are differences differ-ences of opinion as to many public questions; ques-tions; but tho American people stand nearly as a unit for waterway development develop-ment and for forest protection. "Wo know now that our mineral resources re-sources onco exhausted ore gone forever, for-ever, and that tho needless waste of thum costs us hundreds of human lives and nearly $300,000,000 n, year. Thorefore, let us undertake without delay the Investigations In-vestigations necessary before our peoplo will be In position, through state action or otherwise, to put an end to this huge loss and "wnste, and conserve both our mineral resources and the lives of the men who take them from the earth. "ThlB administration has achieved some things; it has sought, but has not been able, to achieve, others; It has doubtless mado mistakes; but all it has done or attempted has been In the single, consistent effort to secure se-cure and enlarge tho rights nnd opportunities oppor-tunities of the men and women of the United States, Wo are trying to con-servo con-servo what Is good in our social system, sys-tem, and wo nro striving toward this end when we endeavor to do away with what la bad, Success may bo mado too hard for some If it Is made too easy for others. Tho rewards of common Industry nnd thrift may be too small If tho rewards for others, and on the whole less valuable, qualities, are made too large, and especially If tho rewards for qualities which aro really, from the public standpoint, undesirable, undesir-able, are permitted to become too large, Our aim la so far as posslblo to provldo such' conditions' that there shall be equality of opportunity where there Is equality of enorgy. fidelity and intelligence; when there Is a reason able equality of opportunity tho dls tril-iitlon of rewards will take car of Itself. 'Yho unchecked existence of monopoly monop-oly Is Incompatible with equality of opportunity Tho reason for the exercise ex-ercise of government control over groat monopolies is to equalise opportunity. Wo are fighting against privilege. It Wus made unKwful for corporations to contribute money tor election expense!) ex-pense!) In order to abridge the power of special privilege nt the polls. Railroad Rail-road rate control Is an attempt to secure se-cure an equality of opportunity for all men nffeuted by rail transportation; nnd, that means nil of us. Tio great anthracite coal strike was settled, and tho pressing danger of n coal famine averted, becauso we recognized that tho control of a public necessity Involves In-volves a duty to the people, and that publlo Intervention In tho affairs of a public scrvlco corporation is neither to be resented as usurpation nor permitted per-mitted as a privilege by the corporations, corpora-tions, but on tho contrary to bo accepted ac-cepted as a duty and exercised as a right by tho government in' the Interest In-terest of nil tho "people. The efficiency effi-ciency of tho nrmy nnd tho nivy lias been Increased so that our peoplo may follow In pence tho great work of making this country a better place for Americans to llvo In, nnd our navy was sent' round tlio world for the soma Ultimate purpose. All tho acts taken by the government during the last seven vnnm nriil nil thn nn1lnla nnuf being pursued by tho Government, flf In as parts of a consistent wholo. "Tho enactment of a puro food law wns a recognition of tho fact that tho public welfare outweighs tho right to prlvato gain, and Mint no man may poison tho people for his prlvato profit. Tho employers' liability bill recognized recog-nized the controlling fact that whllo the employer usually has nt stake no more than his profit, tho stake of the employe Is a living for himself and his family. "We nro building tho Panama canal; and this means that wo aro cngnged in tho giant engineering feat of all tlmo. Wo oro striving to add in nil wnys to tho habltalrlllty nnd benuty of our country. Wo nro striving to hold In the public lnnds tho remaining supply of unappropriated coal, for tho protection nnd benefit of nil tho peoplo. We have taken the first stops toward the conservation of our natural resources, re-sources, and tho betterment of country coun-try life, and tho Improvement of our wnterways. Wo stand for tho right of every child to n childhood frco from grinding toll, nnd to nn education; for the clvlo responsibility and deconcy of every citizen; for prudent foresight fore-sight In public mntters, and for fair piny In every relation of our national and economic life. In International matters we apply a system of diplomacy diplo-macy which puts the obligations of International morality on a level with those that govern the actions of an honest gontlcman in dealing with his fellow-men. Wlthfn our own border we stand for truth and honesty In publlo and In prlvato life; and wo war sternly stern-ly against wrongdoers of every grnde. All theso efforts aro integral parts of tho Bame attempt, the attempt to enthrone justice nnd righteousness, to secure freedom 6t opportunity to all of our citizens, now nnd hereafter, nnd to set the ultimate Interest of all of us above the temporary Interest of any Individual, class, or group. "Tho nntlon, its government, and its resources exist, first or nil, for the American citizen, whatever his creed, rucc, or birthplace, whether ho be rich or poor, educated or Ignorant, provided pro-vided only Mint he Is a good citlzon, recognizing his obligations to the nation na-tion tor tho rights nnd opportunities which he owes to the nntlon, "The obligations, nnd not tho rights, of citizenship increase in proportion to the Increase of a, man's wealth or power. The time (s coming when a. man will bo Judged, not by what ho has succeeded in getting for himself from tho common store, but by how well he hns dono his duty as a citizen, and by what tho ordinary citizen has gained in freedom of opportunity because be-cause of Ills sorvlco for the common good. Tho highest vnluo wo know Is that of the Individual citizen, and the highest Justlco Is to give him fnlr play in the effort to realize tho best thero Is In him. "The tasks this nntlon has to do aro grent tasks, They can only be dono at all by our citizens nctlnft together, to-gether, nnd they can bo dono best of all by the direct nnd simple application applica-tion of homely common sense. The application of common senso to common problems for the common good, under tho guidance of tho principles upo which this rpubllo wns based, and by virtue of which It exists, spells perpetuity per-petuity for tho nation, civil and Industrial Indus-trial liberty for Its citizens, and freedom of opportunity In tho pursuit of happiness for tho plain American, for whom this nation wns founded, by whom It was preserved, and through whom nlono it can bo perpetuated. Upon this platform larger Minn nny party differences. hlKher than pln prejudice, broader than nny question of profit nnd loss there is room for every American who realizes that the common good stnnds first." Accompanying tho messago are explanations ex-planations and recommendations of work to bo done for the futuro good of the country. Tho president snys: "It Is especially important that tho development develop-ment of water power should bo guarded guard-ed with tho utmost caro both by the national government nnd by the states In order to protect tho people against the upgrowth of monopoly nnd to Insure In-sure to them a fair sharo In the bepo-tlts bepo-tlts which will follow tho development of this great aBset which belongs to tho people nnd should bo controlled by them. "I urge that provision bo made for both protection nnd more rapid development devel-opment of tho national forests, Otherwise, Other-wise, either the Increasing use of these forests by tho peoplo must bo checked or their protection ngnlnst fire must bo dangerously weakened. If we compare tho actual Are damage on similar sim-ilar areas on private and national forest for-est lands during tho past year, tho government nre patrol saved commercial commer-cial timber worth as much as ths total cost of caring for all national forests at, the present rate for about tan years. "I especially commend to congress the fucts presonted by the commission commis-sion as to the relation bptween forests for-ests and stream flow In its benrlux upon the Importance of the forest lands In national ownership, Without With-out An understanding of this ultimate relation the conservation of both these natural resources must largely fall. "The time has fully arrived for recognizing rec-ognizing In tho law the responsibility to the community, the state, and the nation which rests upon tho private ownership of private lands. The ownership own-ership of forest land is a publlo trust. The man who would handle his forest oh to causo erosion and to injur stream flow must be not only educated, but he must be controlled," In conclusion the president urges upon congress tho desirability of maintaining n national commission on tho conservation of tho resources of the country. He adds: "I would also advise Mint nn appropriation of at least 150,000 bo mado to cover tho expenses ex-penses of tho national conservation commission for necessary rent, assistance assist-ance and traveling expenses. TIiIb Is a very small sum. I know of no other way In which the appropriation of so small a sum would reBiilt in sa largo a benefit to the whole nation." |