Proceedings
of the
Third
National Conservation Congress
at
Kansas City, Missouri
September 25, 26 and 27, 1911
“_Let us conserve the foundations of our prosperity_”
(Declaration of the Governors, 1908)
Kansas City, Missouri
National Conservation Congress
1912
[Illustration: HON. J. B. WHITE, President]
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES FOR 1910-11
_President_
HENRY WALLACE, Des Moines
_Executive Secretary_
THOMAS R. SHIPP, Washington, D. C.
_Treasurer_
D. AUSTIN LATCHAW, Kansas City, Mo.
_Recording Secretary_
JAMES C. GIPE, Clarks, La.
_Executive Committee_
J. B. WHITE, Kansas City, Mo., _Chairman_
B. N. BAKER, Baltimore
L. H. BAILEY, Ithaca
JAMES R. GARFIELD, Cleveland
FRANK C. GOUDY, Denver
W. A. FLEMING JONES, Las Cruces
MRS. PHILIP N. MOORE, Saint Louis
WALTER H. PAGE, New York
GEORGE C. PARDEE, Oakland, Cal.
GIFFORD PINCHOT, Washington, D. C.
J. N. TEAL, Portland, Ore.
E. L. WORSHAM, Atlanta
_Vice-Presidents_
ALABAMA, Hon. Albert P. Bush, Mobile; ALASKA, Hon. James
Wickersham, Fairbanks; ARIZONA, B. A. Fowler, Phenix;
ARKANSAS, A. H. Purdue, Fayetteville; CALIFORNIA, E. H.
Cox, San Francisco; COLORADO, Murdo Mackenzie, Trinidad;
COLUMBIA (District of), W J McGee, Washington; CONNECTICUT,
Rollin S. Woodruff, Hartford; DELAWARE, Hon. George Gray,
Wilmington; FLORIDA, Cromwell Gibbons, Jacksonville; GEORGIA,
Hon. Jno. C. Hart, Union Point; HAWAII, Mrs. Margaret R.
Knudsen, Kauai; IDAHO, James A. McLean, University of Idaho;
ILLINOIS, Julius Rosenwald, Chicago; INDIANA, F. J. Breeze,
Lafayette; IOWA, Carl Leopold, Burlington; KANSAS, W. R.
Stubbs, Topeka; KENTUCKY, James K. Patterson, Lexington;
LOUISIANA, Newton C. Blanchard, Shreveport; MAINE, Bert M.
Fernald, Augusta; MARYLAND, William Bullock Clark, Baltimore;
MASSACHUSETTS, Frank W. Rane, Boston; MICHIGAN, J. L. Snyder,
Lansing; MINNESOTA, Ambrose Tighe, Saint Paul; MISSISSIPPI,
A. W. Shands, Sardis; MISSOURI, Hermann Von Schrenk, Saint
Louis; MONTANA, E. L. Norris, Helena; NEBRASKA, Dr. F. A.
Long, Madison; NEVADA, Senator Francis G. Newlands, Reno; NEW
HAMPSHIRE, George B. Leighton, Monadnock; NEW JERSEY, Charles
Lathrop Pack, Lakewood; NEW MEXICO, W. A. Fleming Jones, Las
Cruces; NEW YORK, R. A. Pearson, Albany; NORTH CAROLINA, T.
Gilbert Pearson, Greensboro; NORTH DAKOTA, U. G. Larimore,
Larimore; OHIO, James R. Garfield, Cleveland; OKLAHOMA,
Benj. Martin, Jr., Muskogee; OREGON, J. N. Teal, Portland;
PENNSYLVANIA, William S. Harvey, Philadelphia; PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS, Maj. George P. Ahern, Manila; PORTO RICO, Hon. Walter
K. Landis, San Juan; RHODE ISLAND, Henry A. Barker, Providence;
SOUTH CAROLINA, E. J. Watson, Columbia; SOUTH DAKOTA, Ellwood
C. Perisho, Vermillion; TENNESSEE, Herman Suter, Nashville;
TEXAS, W. Goodrich Jones, Temple; UTAH, Harden Bennion, Salt
Lake City; VERMONT, Fletcher D. Proctor, Proctor; VIRGINIA,
A. R. Turnbull, Norfolk; WASHINGTON, M. E. Hay, Olympia; WEST
VIRGINIA, A. B. Fleming, Fairmont; WISCONSIN, Charles R. Van
Hise, Madison; WYOMING, Bryant B. Brooks, Cheyenne; NATIONAL
CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION, Gifford Pinchot, Washington.
_Standing Committees_
FORESTS—H. S. Graves, U. S. Forester, Washington, D. C., _Chairman_;
E. M. Griffith, Madison, Wis.; E. T. Allen, Portland, Ore.; J. Lewis
Thompson, Houston.
LANDS—Governor W. R. Stubbs, Topeka; _Chairman_; Dwight B. Heard, Phenix;
J. L. Snyder, Lansing; Murdo Mackenzie, Trinidad; Charles S. Barrett,
Union City, Ga.
WATERS—W J McGee, Washington, D. C., _Chairman_; E. A. Smith, Spokane;
Henry A. Barker, Providence; J. N. Teal, Portland, Ore.; Herbert Knox
Smith, Washington, D. C.
MINERALS—Charles R. Van Hise, Madison, _Chairman_; Joseph A. Holmes,
Washington, D. C.; D. W. Brunton, Denver; John Mitchell, New York; I. C.
White, Morgantown, W. Va.
VITAL RESOURCES—Dr. William H. Welch, Baltimore, _Chairman_; Professor
Irving Fisher, New Haven; Dr. H. W. Wiley, Washington, D. C.; Dr. J. H.
Kellogg, Battle Creek, Mich.; Walter H. Page, New York.
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES FOR 1911-12.
_President_
JOHN B. WHITE, Kansas City, Mo.
_Executive Secretary_
THOMAS R. SHIPP, Washington, D. C.
_Treasurer_
D. AUSTIN LATCHAW, Kansas City, Mo.
_Recording Secretary_
JAMES C. GIPE, Clarks, La.
_Executive Committee._
PROF. E. LEE WORSHAM, Atlanta, Ga., _Chairman_.
J. LEWIS THOMPSON, Houston, Tex.
W. A. FLEMING JONES, Las Cruces, N. M.
WALTER H. PAGE, New York.
EX-GOV. GEORGE C. PARDEE, Oakland, Cal.
DR. H. E. BARNARD, Indianapolis, Ind.
MRS. PHILIP N. MOORE, St. Louis, Mo.
BERNARD N. BAKER, Baltimore, Md.
DR. HENRY C. WALLACE, Des Moines, Ia.
GIFFORD PINCHOT, Washington, D. C.
_Vice-Presidents._
_Arkansas_, E. N. PLANK, Decatur.
_California_, FRANCIS CUTTLE, Riverside.
_Colorado_, I. S. T. GREGG, Golden.
_Connecticut_, PROF. J. W. TOWNEY, Hartford.
_District of Columbia_, DR. H. W. WILEY.
_Florida_, T. J. CAMPBELL, West Palm Beach.
_Georgia_, SENATOR L. R. AKIN.
_Illinois_, BALLARD DUNN, Chicago.
_Iowa_, PROF. P. G. HOLDEN, Ames.
_Louisiana_, HON. HENRY E. HARDTNER, Urania.
_Massachusetts_, PROF. F. W. RANE, Boston.
_Missouri_, HERMAN VON SCHRENK, St. Louis.
_Nebraska_, PROF. E. A. BURNETT, Lincoln.
_New Jersey_, E. A. STEVENS, Hoboken.
_New York_, DR. W. T. HORNADAY, New York City.
_Ohio_, J. C. RODGERS, Mechanicsburg.
_Oklahoma_, THOMAS C. HARRICE, Wagoner.
_South Carolina_, PROF. M. W. TWITCHELL, Columbia.
_South Dakota_, GOV. R. S. VESSEY, Pierre.
_Texas_, W. GOODRICH JONES, Temple.
_Washington_, A. L. FLEWELLING, Spokane.
_Wisconsin_, HERBERT QUICK, Madison.
_Local Board of Managers for Kansas City Congress Representing Commercial
Club_—J. C. LESTER, _President_; E. M. CLENDENING, _Secretary_; F. P.
NEAL, _Chairman_; F. A. FAXON, F. L. HALL, W. B. HILL, F. J. MOSS, J. C.
SWIFT, R. A. LONG.
STANDING COMMITTEES. 1911-12.
_Forests_—H. S. GRAVES, Washington, D. C., _Chairman_; E. T. ALLEN,
Portland, Ore.; Major E. G. GRIGGS, Tacoma, Wash.; WILLIAM IRVINE,
Chippewa Falls, Wis.; GEORGE K. SMITH, St. Louis.
_Minerals_—Dr. JOSEPH A. HOLMES, Washington, D. C., _Chairman_; Dr.
CHARLES R. VAN HISE, Madison, Wis.; Dr. I. C. WHITE, Morgantown, W. Va.;
C. W. BRUNTON, Denver, Col.; JOHN MITCHELL, New York City.
_Lands and Agriculture_—Prof. L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University,
_Chairman_; Prof. GEORGE E. CONDRA, Nebraska; Prof. J. L. SNYDER,
Lansing, Mich.; F. D. COBURN, Kansas; CHARLES S. BARRETT, Union City, Ga.
_Education_—Dr. C. E. BESSEY, Lincoln, Neb., _Chairman_; Dr. DAVID
STARR JORDAN, Leland Stanford University, Oakland, Cal.; Dr. EDWARD E.
ALDERMAN, University Of Virginia, Charlotteville; Dr. E. C. CRAIGHEAD,
Tulane University, New Orleans, La.; Prof. FAIRCHILD, Topeka, Kas.
_Vital Resources_—Dr. WILLIAM H. WELCH, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, Md., _Chairman_; Prof. IRVING FISHER, Yale University, New
Haven, Conn.; Dr. J. N. HURTY, Indianapolis, Ind.; Hon. A. B. FARQUHAR,
York, Pa.; Dr. OSCAR DOWLING, Shreveport, La.
_Homes_—Mrs. MATTHEW T. SCOTT, Washington, _Chairman_; Mrs. HARRIET
WALLACE ASHBY, Des Moines, Ia.; Mrs. J. E. RHODES, St. Paul, Minn.; Mrs.
SARAH S. PLATT-DECKER, Denver, Col.; Mrs. AMOS F. DRAPER, Washington, D.
C.
_Child Life_—Hon. BENJAMIN B. LINDSAY, Denver, Col., _Chairman_; Dr.
SAMUEL M. LINDSAY, New York City; Judge HENRY L. MCCUNE, Kansas City,
Mo.; Mrs. CARL VROOMAN, Bloomington, Ill.; Dr. ANNA LOUISE STRONG,
Seattle, Wash.
_Food_—Dr. HARVEY W. WILEY, Washington, D. C., _Chairman_; F. G. URNER,
New York; Prof. F. SPENCER BALDWIN, Boston, Mass.; J. F. NICKERSON,
Chicago, Ill.; LUCIUS P. BROWN, Nashville, Tenn.; E. H. JENKINS, New
Haven, Conn.; M. A. SCOVELLE, Lexington, Ky.; Prof. GEO. A. LOVELAND,
Lincoln, Neb.
_Civics_—RALPH EASLEY, New York, _Chairman_; Judge ALBERT HALL WHITFIELD,
Jackson, Miss.; B. A. FOWLER, Phoenix, Ariz.; Hon. H. M. BEARDSLEY,
Kansas City, Mo.; Hon. FRANCIS J. HENEY, San Francisco, Cal.
_General_ (_Including Domestic Animals and Wild Life_)—Dr. W. T.
HORNADAY, New York, _Chairman_; Dr. J. O. HOWARD, Washington, D. C.; Mrs.
MINNIE MADDERN FISKE, New York City; Dr. JOHN MUIR, Martinez, Cal.; D.
AUSTIN LATCHAW, Kansas City, Mo.; Prof. GEO. A. LOVELAND, Lincoln, Neb.
_Waters_—Hon. J. N. TEAL, Portland, Ore., _Chairman_; Hon. JOSEPH E.
RANSDELL, Lake Providence, La.; WALTER S. DICKEY, Kansas City, Mo.; Hon.
HERBERT KNOX SMITH, Washington, D. C.; W. K. KAVANAUGH, St. Louis, Mo.;
Dr. W J MCGEE, Washington, D. C.; Prof. GEO. F. SWAIN, Harvard University.
_National Parks_ (_to include Mammoth Cave, Ky., and Adjacent Lands_)—Dr.
W J MCGEE, Washington, D. C.; Dr. HENRY F. DRINKER, South Bethlehem,
Pa.; Hon. WILLIAM P. BORLAND, Kansas City, Mo.; Hon. GIFFORD PINCHOT,
Washington, D. C.; Col. W. H. CRUMP, Bowling Green, Ky.
CONTENTS.
CONSTITUTION IX
RESOLUTIONS XIII
OPENING SESSION 1
Invocation by BISHOP LILLIS 1
Welcome by MAYOR BROWN 1
Address of Welcome by PRESIDENT LESTER for Commercial Club 4
Address by GOVERNOR HADLEY 5
Address by PRESIDENT WALLACE 11
Address by HONORABLE J. B. WHITE 19
Appointment of Credentials Committee 21
Announcements by PRESIDENT WALLACE 21
Announcement by SECRETARY SHIPP 21
Announcement by RECORDING SECRETARY GIPE 22
Request by DELEGATE BAUMGARTNER 22
SECOND SESSION 22
Invocation by the REV. DR. KERR 22
GOVERNOR HADLEY Made Chairman 23
Remarks by GOVERNOR HADLEY 23
Call of States 24
Address by MR. J. C. BAUMGARTNER of California 24
Address by PROFESSOR WORSHAM of Georgia 24
Address by MRS. HOLLAND C. DAY 28
Address by COL. ISHAM RANDOLPH of Illinois 28
Address by MR. HARRY EVEREST BARNARD of Indiana 28
Message from MEXICAN AMBASSADOR 28
Address by MR. THOMAS H. MACBRIDE of Iowa 29
Remarks by MR. A. W. STUBBS of Kansas City, Kansas 29
Address of DEAN WATERS of Kansas 29
Address by COL. CRUMP of Bowling Green, Ky. 29
Address by MR. FRED J. GRACE of Louisiana 30
Introduction of EX-PRESIDENT B. N. BAKER 30
Motion by MR. BREEZE of Indiana 30
Remarks by CHAIRMAN HADLEY 30
Address by JUDGE LINDSAY of Colorado 31
Address by MR. D. M. NEILL of Minnesota 43
Address by HONORABLE GEORGE COUPLAND of Nebraska 43
Announcement by PROFESSOR CONDRA 43
Address by HONORABLE E. A. STEVENS, Commissioner of Public Roads 44
Address by PROFESSOR RANE of Massachusetts 44
THIRD SESSION 45
Announcements by ACTING CHAIRMAN CONDRA 45
Remarks by MR. EMIL GUNTHER 46
Address by STATE COMMISSIONER JOHN D. MOORE 46
Address by DR. TWITCHELL of South Carolina 47
Address by MR. GROSS, President of National Soil Fertility League 47
Address by CHAIRMAN CONDRA 49
Address by EX-PRESIDENT BAKER 50
Address by PRESIDENT TAFT 54
FOURTH SESSION 62
Invocation by BISHOP HENDRIX 62
Roll Call of States Resumed 62
Announcement by CHAIRMAN FOWLER of Resolutions Committee 63
Announcement by SERGEANT-AT-ARMS 64
Address of MR. LOGAN of the Missouri Waterways Commission 64
Remarks of MR. C. P. DYAR of Ohio 68
Address by MR. MILTON BROWN of Oklahoma 68
Address by MR. A. B. FARQUHAR 68
Address by DR. DRINKER of Lehigh University 68
Remarks by PRESIDENT WALLACE 71
Address by MR. B. G. HOLDEN of Iowa 71
Address by MR. R. A. LONG 76
Address by HONORABLE W. A. BEARD of California 78
Chair Assumed by HONORABLE J. B. WHITE 87
Announcement by CHAIRMAN FOWLER of Resolutions Committee 87
Address by MR. HERBERT QUICK 88
Reading of Telegram 109
Appointment of Committee on Nominations 110
FIFTH SESSION 111
Invocation by the REV. DR. COMBS 111
Announcement by RECORDING SECRETARY GIPE 111
Introduction of GOVERNOR VESSEY as Chairman 111
Address by GOVERNOR VESSEY 111
Reading of Letter from COLONEL ROOSEVELT 112
Reports from National Organizations 113
Report by MR. MULLIN 113
Report by MAJOR GRIGGS 113
Report by MR. RUSHTON 113
Report by HONORABLE E. T. ALLEN 114
Report by MR. SCHWEDTMAN, of St. Louis 116
Report by MR. COFFIN, of New York 116
Report by DR. FIELD, of the Audubon Society 116
Report by MR. E. R. TAYLOR 116
Address by MRS. VROOMAN 117
Vote of Thanks by DELEGATE BAUMGARTNER 119
Remarks by MR. MCBRIEN 120
Address by PROFESSOR GREENWOOD 120
Address by DEAN MUMFORD, of Missouri 121
Address by MRS. ASHBY, of Des Moines 121
Address by MRS. SCOTT, President General, Daughters American
Revolution 125
Address by MISS FRANCES BROWN 128
Report of Executive Committee by CHAIRMAN WHITE 129
Amendments to the Constitution 129
Adoption of Amendments 130
Address by MISS WELLER, of the Iowa Federation of Women’s Clubs 130
Address by MR. GUTHRIE, of St. Paul 131
SIXTH SESSION 131
Address by MRS. MOORE, President General, Confederation Women
Clubs 132
Address by DR. WILSON, of Presbyterian Church 139
Address by DR. WILEY 139
SEVENTH SESSION 147
Induction of DR. NORTHROP as Chairman 147
Invocation by THE REV. DR. NEEL 148
Address by MR. BAILEY 148
Remarks by DELEGATE STUBBS 151
Discussion by PRESIDENT WALLACE 151
Call of States Resumed 152
Report by MR. FILSON 152
Address by PROFESSOR SPILLMAN, of the Department of Agriculture 152
Address by MRS. WEEKS, of the National Congress of Mothers 156
Address by CONGRESSMAN F. S. JACKSON 157
Address by HONORABLE CURTIS HILL, of Missouri 163
Report of Committee on Credentials 167
Address by HONORABLE J. B. WHITE 167
Report of Committee on Nominations 174
Address by PRESIDENT WHITE 175
Address by PROFESSOR HOPKINS, of University of Illinois 176
Remarks by SECRETARY COBURN, of Kansas 183
Address by DR. MCGEE, of the Department of Agriculture 183
EIGHTH SESSION 193
Invocation by the REV. DR. MONROE 193
Entrance of MR. BRYAN 193
Address by PROFESSOR TEN EYCK 193
Resolution Complimenting GIFFORD PINCHOT 193
Address by HONORABLE WALTER L. FISHER, Secretary of the Interior 194
Remarks by MR. BRYAN 203
Letter from COLONEL ROOSEVELT 204
Address by MR. GROUT, of Illinois 205
Report of Committee on Resolutions 211
Personnel of Committee on Resolutions 211
Remarks by DELEGATE SHOFFER 212
Resolution by DELEGATE STUBBS 212
CLOSING SESSION 214
Address by PROFESSOR HOYNES, of Notre Dame University 214
Address by SENATOR OWEN, of Oklahoma 218
Address by MR. BRYAN 220
SUPPLEMENTARY PROCEEDINGS 231
Address by DEAN MUMFORD, of the University of Missouri 231
Address by EX-GOVERNOR HOARD, of Wisconsin 234
Address by HENRY I. WILLEY, of New York 237
Address by MR. GRIGGS, of Washington 245
Address by PROFESSOR TEN EYCK 247
Address by the REV. DR. WILSON 257
Address by F. A. FILSON 259
Address by MR. SCHWEDTMAN 261
Report of PRESIDENT STILLMAN 262
Report of DR. FIELD 263
Address by MR. RUSHTON 264
Report of the Camp Fire Club 265
Report by Committee of National Board of Fire Underwriters 267
Report of National Association of Audubon Societies 272
Letter from MR. VAN ORNUM 273
Address by MR. BAUMGARTNER 274
Report for Idaho by MRS. DAY 275
Report for Illinois by COLONEL RANDOLPH 275
Report for Indiana by MR. BARNARD 277
Report for Iowa by MR. MACBRIDE 277
Report for Kansas by DEAN WATERS 278
Report for Louisiana by MR. GRACE 278
Report for Massachusetts by PROFESSOR RANE 281
Report for Minnesota by MR. NEILL 284
Report for Nebraska by MR. COUPLAND 285
Report for New York by MR. MOORE 286
Report for Oklahoma by MR. BROWN 287
Report for Oregon by MR. TEAL 288
Report for Pennsylvania and Philadelphia by MR. GUNTHER 290
Report of Conservation Movement by MR. FARQUHAR 291
Report for South Carolina by DR. TWITCHELL 299
National Organizations Represented at the Congress 301
List of Registered Delegates 303
Index 315
CONSTITUTION OF THE NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS
_As Amended by the Third Congress._
ARTICLE 1—NAME.
This organization shall be known as the National Conservation Congress.
ARTICLE 2—OBJECT.
The object of the National Conservation Congress shall be: (1) to provide
a forum for discussion of the resources of the United States as the
foundation for the prosperity of the people, (2) to furnish definite
information concerning the resources and their utilization, and (3)
to afford an agency through which the people of the country may frame
policies and principles affecting the wise and practical development,
conservation and utilization of the resources to be put into effect by
their representatives in state and federal governments.
ARTICLE 3—MEETINGS.
_Section 1._ Regular annual meetings shall be held at such time and place
as may be determined by the executive committee.
_Section 2._ Special meetings of the Congress, or its officers,
committees or boards, may be held subject to the call of the president of
the Congress or the chairman of the executive committee.
ARTICLE 4—OFFICERS.
_Section 1._ The officers of the Congress shall consist of a president,
to be elected by the Congress; a vice-president from each state, to
be chosen by the respective state delegations; and from the National
Conservation Association; an executive secretary, a recording secretary,
and a treasurer.
_Section 2._ The duties of these officers may at any time be prescribed
by formal action of the Congress or executive committee. In the absence
of such action their duties shall be those implied by their designations
and established by custom. In addition, it shall be the duty of the
vice-presidents to receive from the state conservations commissions,
and other organizations concerned in conservation, suggestions and
recommendations and report them to the executive committee of the
Congress.
_Section 3._ The officers shall serve for one year, or until their
successors are elected and qualify.
ARTICLE 5—COMMITTEES AND BOARDS.
_Section 1._ An executive committee of seven, in addition to which the
president of the National Conservation Association and all ex-presidents
of the Congress shall be members, ex officio, shall be appointed by the
president during each regular annual session to act for the ensuing year;
its membership shall be drawn from different states, and not more than
one of the appointed members shall be from any one state. The executive
committee shall act for the Congress and shall be empowered to initiate
action and meet emergencies. It shall report to each regular annual
session.
_Section 2._ A board of managers shall be created in each city in which
the next ensuing session of the Congress is to be held, preferably
by leading organizations of citizens. The board of managers shall
have power to raise and expend funds, to incur obligations of its own
responsibility, to appoint subordinate boards and committees, all with
the approval of the executive committee of the Congress. It shall report
to the executive committee at least two days before the opening of the
ensuing session, and at such other times as the Congress or the executive
committee may direct.
_Section 3._ An advisory board, consisting of one person from each
national organization having a conservation committee, shall be created
to serve during that Congress and during the interval before the next
succeeding Congress. The board shall report to and coöperate with the
executive committee.
_Section 4._ A committee on credentials shall be appointed, consisting
of five (5) members, by the president of the Congress not later than on
the second day of each session of the Congress. It shall determine all
questions raised by delegates as to representation, and shall report
to the Congress from time to time as required by the president of the
Congress.
_Section 5._ A committee on resolutions shall be created for each annual
meeting of the Congress. A chairman shall be appointed by the president.
One member of the committee shall be selected by each state represented
in the Congress. The committee shall report to the Congress not later
than the morning of the last day of each annual meeting.
_Section 6._ Permanent committees, consisting of five members each, on
each of the following five divisions of conservation: forests, waters,
lands, minerals and vital resources, shall be appointed by the president
of the Congress. The committee on vital resources is to consist of six
subordinate committees as follows: food, homes, child life, education,
civics (including wild life, domesticated animals, and cultivated
plants). These committees shall, during the intervals between the
annual meetings of the Congress, inquire into these respective subjects
and prepare reports to be submitted on the request of the executive
committee, and render such other assistance to the Congress as the
executive committee may direct.
_Section 7._ By direction of the Congress, standing and special
committees may be appointed by the president.
_Section 8._ The president shall be a member, ex officio, of every
committee of the Congress.
ARTICLE 6—ARRANGEMENTS FOR SESSIONS.
_Section 1._ The program for the session of each annual meeting of
the Congress, including a list of speakers, shall be arranged by the
executive committee. The entire program, including allotments of time
to speakers and hours for daily sessions and all other arrangements
concerning the program, shall be made by the executive committee.
_Section 2._ Unless otherwise ordered, the rules adopted for the guidance
of the preceding Congress shall continue in force.
ARTICLE 7—MEMBERSHIP.
_Section 1._ The personnel of the National Conservation Congress shall be
as follows:
OFFICERS AND DELEGATES.
Officers of the National Conservation Congress.
Fifteen delegates appointed by the governor of each state and territory.
Five delegates appointed by the mayor of each city with a population of
25,000 or more.
Two delegates appointed by the mayor of each city with a population of
less than 25,000.
Two delegates appointed by each board of county commissioners.
Five delegates appointed by each national organization concerned in the
work of conservation.
Five delegates appointed by each state or interstate organization
concerned in the work of conservation.
Three delegates appointed by each chamber of commerce, board of trade,
commercial club, or other local organization concerned in the work of
conservation.
Two delegates appointed by each state, or other university, or college,
and by each agricultural college, or experiment station.
HONORARY MEMBERS.
The President of the United States.
The Vice-President of the United States.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Cabinet.
The United States Senate and House of Representatives.
The Supreme Court of the United States.
The representatives of foreign countries.
The governors of the states and territories.
The lieutenant-governors of the states and territories.
The speakers of state houses of representatives.
The state officers.
The mayors of cities.
The county commissioners.
The presidents of state and other universities and colleges.
The officers and members of the National Conservation Association.
The officers and members of the National Conservation Commission.
The officers and members of the state conservation commissions and
associations.
ARTICLE 8—DELEGATIONS AND STATE OFFICERS.
_Section 1._ The several delegates from each state in attendance at any
Congress shall assemble at the earliest practicable time and organize by
choosing a chairman and a secretary. These delegates, when approved by
the committee on credentials, shall constitute the delegation from that
state.
ARTICLE 9—VOTING.
_Section 1._ Each member of the Congress shall be entitled to one vote on
all actions taken _viva voce_.
_Section 2._ A division or call of states may be demanded on any action,
by a state delegation. On division, each delegate shall be entitled to
one vote; provided (1) that no state shall have more than twenty votes;
and provided (2) that when a state is represented by less than ten
delegates, said delegates may cast ten votes for each state.
_Section 3._ The term “state” as used herein is to be construed to mean
either state, territory, or insular possession.
ARTICLE 10—AMENDMENTS.
This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Congress
during any regular session, provided notice of the proposed amendment has
been given from the Chair not less than one day or more than two days
preceding; or by unanimous vote without such notice.
RESOLUTIONS OF THE THIRD NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS.
The third National Conservation Congress, made up of delegates from all
sections and nearly every state and territory of the United States, met
at the call of a great moral issue, now in session assembled in the city
of Kansas City and State of Missouri, does hereby adopt and solemnly
declare the following platform of opinion and conclusion concerning the
inherent rights of the people of the United States:
Heartily accepting the spirit and intent of the Constitution and adhering
to the principles laid down by Washington and Lincoln, we declare our
conviction that we live under a government of the people, by the people,
and for the people; and we repudiate any and all special or local
interests or platforms or policies in conflict with the inherent rights
and sovereign will of our people.
Recognizing the natural resources of the country as the prime bases of
property and opportunity, we hold the rights of the people in these
resources to be natural and inherent, and justly inalienable and
indefeasible; and we insist that the resources should and shall be
developed, used, and conserved in ways consistent both with current
welfare and with the perpetuity of our people.
We commend the efficient work of the federal forest service, and
particularly urge upon Congress the need for more liberal financial
provision for protection of the national forests from fire, and the
desirability of making the army available without delay whenever needed
to supplement such protection.
We also appreciate the forestry progress being made by many states,
believing it not only the function, but the duty of the state to
safeguard its forest resources by liberal appropriation for fire
prevention; by acquisition and conservative management of state owned
forest lands; by encouraging the practice of private forestry on timber
lands and wood lots in every way, especially through reform in forest
taxation; and by providing for the educational work necessary to secure
all these ends.
We commend the increasing effort at better forest management and
protection by timber owners themselves, and urge upon all such the study
and emulation of the several coöperative systems for this purpose.
We urge the coöperation of public and private educational authorities in
instilling the principles of forest economics in the minds of the young
of today, who will be the doers of tomorrow.
We are in sympathy with the policy of establishing public parks to be
used for the benefit of the people forever, including localities of
scenic, scientific or historic interest, by states and by the National
Government, and we cite as an example the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, one
of the wonders of the world; we recommend this policy to obviate the
danger of such national heirlooms being held permanently in private
ownership and subordinated to private interest rather than the public
good.
Recognizing the 900,000,000 acres of well-watered arable land in this
country as the chief source of food and clothing for our people, we hold
that these lands should be guarded as a natural heritage to be kept in
sacred trust for our children and our children’s children; that they
should be safe-guarded from loss through natural agencies and negligent
or thriftless use; that they should be protected from monopoly and
private or corporate rapacity; that they should be so cultivated and
improved that they may pass to each coming generation with increased
fertility and productivity; and that they should forever be used as sites
for homes in which the strength and spirit of the Nation may be conserved
for the general welfare of mankind.
Approving the withdrawal of public lands pending classification, and
the separation of surface rights from mineral, forests, and water
rights, including water-power sites, we recommend legislation for the
classification and leasing for grazing purposes all unreserved lands
suitable chiefly for this purpose, subject to the rights of homesteaders
and settlers, or the acquisition thereof under the land laws of the
United States; and we hold that arid and non-irrigable public grazing
lands should be administered by the Government in the interest of small
stockmen and homeseekers until they have passed into the possession of
actual settlers.
We favor the repeal of the commutation clause of the Homestead Law, and
the disallowance of homestead entries on land chiefly valuable for its
timber at time of filing.
We hold that mineral deposits underlying public lands should be
transferred to private ownership only by long-time leases with
revaluation at stated periods, such leases to be in amounts and subject
to such regulations as to prevent monopoly and needless waste; and that
in case of doubt as to the availability of such mineral deposits, or
while they are waiting exploitation, surface rights to the land should be
transferred by lease only under such conditions as to promote development
and protect public interest.
Since all successful conservation effort must follow ascertained fact,
we agree (1) that there should be in each commonwealth an active
conservation commission or equivalent organization; and (2) that such
commission should use, and strive ever to coördinate, all agencies, state
or national, which have for their object the discovery of exact data and
the ascertainment of scientific information in reference to all natural
resources and conditions in each of the several states and in the country
at large.
We hold that phosphate deposits underlying the public lands should be
safe-guarded for the American people by appropriate legislation, and
that export of phosphates and other natural and manufactured fertilizing
material should be limited and regulated by law.
Realizing that the productivity of our soil depends on water supply; that
one of the chief losses to the farm is destructive soil erosion; that
the freshets and floods due to storm and thaw waters are destructive of
property and even of life; and knowing through experience in this and
other countries that the waste and destruction due to unregulated run-off
are largely susceptible to control by appropriate agricultural methods,
we hold that the aim of every farmer should be to make his farm take care
of the water naturally reaching it; we also hold that allowing ordinary
storm waters to carry silt and sand from farms into neighboring streams
and rivers works a public injury which may be prevented by appropriate
legislation.
Realizing that the strength of the Nation will ever lie in the
multiplication of homes on the land up to its full capacity, we approve
the successful efforts of the Federal Government to provide for such
homes through irrigation of the more arid portions of the country; we
endorse and commend the Reclamation Service, and urge its continuance
with such increased means as may be found needful; and we urge the
immediate extension of the same policy to the drainage of swamp and
overflow lands, to be carried forward so far as appropriate through
coöperation between state and federal agencies.
We recommend the early opening of the coal fields and other resources
of Alaska belonging to the people of the United States, for industrial
and commercial purposes, on a system of leasing, national ownership to
be retained pending such development of that portion of our territory
as to permit the creation of states within its area; and as a means of
promoting industry and commerce in Alaska we approve the construction of
necessary highways, railways, and terminal facilities by the National
Government.
Realizing that the prosperity of the country and its suitability for
homes must always depend largely on transportation facilities, we
recommend extension of the good roads movement until every community is
provided with safe and easy ways to schools, churches and markets; and
in developing the necessary road systems, we favor coöperation between
townships, counties, states, and the federal government in such manner as
to secure the greatest benefits to the entire country at the minimum cost.
Realizing that the current cost of railway transportation is apparently
exorbitant, amounting to about $2,750,000,000 annually, equivalent
to a tax of $150 per family (or one-third the cost of living) or an
impost of over $5 on each acre of improved land in the United States,
we urge on the Federal Government appraisal of railway property and
such investigation and supervision of railway business as will insure
protection of the public interests; and to this end we recommend
enlargement of the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
As a means of reducing the cost of living and promoting the general
welfare, we favor the establishment of a parcels post.
Realizing that products of the soil on which our people depend for food
and clothing are sometimes diverted from the most direct lines leading
from producer to consumer for speculative purposes, and that they are
made the basis for gambling transactions, we hold that all dealing in
futures and gambling operations involving foodstuffs and materials
for clothing are a public injury, and recommend investigation of the
matter by authority of the Federal Congress; and in case our judgment
is sustained by such investigation, we demand the enactment of law by
the Federal Congress prohibiting the sale of these necessaries of life
by men or interests who do not own them at the time of such sale, under
penalties including imprisonment at least for any second offense.
Since noxious insects and plants, including weeds, are a source of
public injury, we urge appropriate state and federal legislation tending
to their extermination; and we commend the development of that public
spirit finding expression from time to time in communities and states in
crusades against insect and plant pests in the public interest.
Recognizing in coöperative enterprises an effective means of conserving
human energy and increasing the efficiency of our soils in feeding our
people cheaply, and thereby affording means for the development of equal
opportunity for all, we approve and commend such coöperative organization
among our producers and consumers as will tend to promote economy and
prevent waste in handling the necessaries of life.
Realizing that the interests of our citizens, our states, and our
Nation are identical, and impressed by the success which has attended
coöperation between state institutions and the Federal Government,
we favor continuation and extension of such coöperation as a highly
efficient means of promoting the general welfare.
Impressed by immeasurable benefits derived by our people from the work
of the United States Department of Agriculture in promoting the use and
conservation of our soil and its products, we endorse and commend that
department; we strongly urge on Congress increased appropriation for
its necessary work; and we recommend the enactment of such state and
federal legislation as will enable the state colleges of agriculture and
experiment stations to maintain in every agricultural county a capable
field demonstrator to aid farmers in practical application of newly
acquired agricultural knowledge.
Since all successful conservation effort must follow ascertained fact,
we agree (1) that there should be in each commonwealth an active
conservation commission or equivalent organization; and (2) that such
commission should use and strive ever to coördinate all agencies, state
or national, which have for their object the discovery of exact data and
the ascertainment of scientific information in reference to all natural
resources and conditions in each of the several states and in the country
at large.
Recognizing the waters of the country as a great national resource, we
approve and endorse the opinion that all the waters belong to all the
people, and hold that they should be administered in the interests of all
the people.
Realizing that all parts of each drainage basin are related and
interdependent, we hold that each stream should be regarded and treated
as a unit from its source to its mouth; and since the waters are
essentially mobile and transitory and are generally interstate, we hold
that in all cases of divided or doubtful jurisdiction the waters should
be administered by coöperation between state and federal agencies.
Recognizing the interdependence of the various uses of the waters of
the country, we hold that the primary uses are for domestic supply and
for agriculture through irrigation or otherwise, and that the uses for
navigation and for power, in which water is not consumed, are secondary;
and we commend the modern view that each use of the waters should be made
with reference to all other uses for the public welfare in accordance
with the principle of the greatest good to the greatest number for the
longest time.
Viewing adequate and economical transportation facilities as among the
means of conservation, and realizing that the growth of the country
has exceeded the development of transportation facilities, we approve
the prompt adoption of a comprehensive plan for developing navigation
throughout the rivers and lakes of the United States, proceeding in the
order of their magnitude and commercial importance.
Recognizing the vast economic benefits to the people of water power
derived largely from interstate and source streams no less than from
navigable rivers, we favor public control of water power development; we
deny the right of state or federal governments to continue alienating or
conveying water by granting franchises for the use thereof in perpetuity;
and we demand that the use of water rights be permitted only for limited
periods, with just compensation in the interests of the people.
We demand the maintenance of a federal commission empowered to deal
with all uses of the waters and to coördinate these uses for the public
welfare in coöperation with similar commissions or other agencies
maintained by the states.
We recognize the great service that has been, and can be, rendered in
the conservation of our mineral resources, by developing and mining in
large units with adequate capital, and approve the encouragement of such
development under proper regulation.
We heartily approve of the work of the United States Government in
improving sanitary conditions and in lowering the death rates of Cuba,
the Philippine Islands, and the Canal Zone. We are especially pleased
that in 1911 the National Government, through its wise provisions for
the maneuver division of the United States Army operating in western
Texas, demonstrated that the achievements in health and life security
found possible in Cuba, the Philippine Islands, and the Canal Zone,
are possible with Americans on American soil. We therefore call on our
municipal, state, and national governments, to accomplish these same
results for the people of the United States.
Our National Government in the Canal Zone of Panama has demonstrated that
Caucasians, properly directed, can work in the tropics without loss of
efficiency, and we express our opinion that this is one of the monumental
discoveries of the age.
The Hook Worm Commission is demonstrating another possibility in
increasing efficiency; and we endorse the efforts of this commission, and
all other efforts, governmental and extra-governmental, for increasing
human efficiency through promotion of physical welfare, and call on our
governments—municipal, state, and national—to increase their activities
along these lines.
We favor a child welfare bureau under, and as a part of, each municipal
and state government.
Inasmuch as nearly all the states and most of the cities have health
departments as coördinate branches of administrative work, we endorse
the plan of bringing together as a department of health the various
human health activities of the United States Government as a coördinate
branch of its administrative work, divorced from the impediment of being
a part of other administrative work of entirely different character
and conducted for entirely different purposes; this in order that the
efficiency of the service may be increased to a point in some degree
commensurate with its importance.
We protest against the present neglect of health, life security, and work
for physical efficiency by the municipal, state and national governments,
and we ask that they be given that study and care that have proven so
broad an economy in the case of live stock and farm crops.
We are of opinion that municipal, state, and national governments should
pass proper laws, and provide proper means of enforcement of such laws
that there may be prevented, (1) blindness, (2) birth accidents, (3)
infant mortality, (4) labor by immature children, (5) communicable
diseases of children, (6) occupational diseases, (7) occupational
accidents, and especially mine and transportation accidents, (8)
communicable diseases of adults, (9) bad ventilation, and (10) physical
inefficiency.
We deplore the practice of disposing of sewage and manufacturing waste
by dumping it into the streams, lakes, and coastal waters of the Nation,
thereby polluting the chief sources of water for drinking and domestic
purposes, destroying fish and crustacean life, rendering the waters
obnoxious to sight and smell, and losing beyond hope of recovery vast
quantities of elements essential to plant life.
We earnestly advocate the employment by communities and manufacturing
concerns of such methods of sewage disposal as will render their waste
products innocuous to health and utilize them in the restoration of
soil fertility, and to this end we urge the enactment by states of
stream-pollution laws, and by the Federal Government of such legislation
as will prevent the pollution of interstate and coastal waters.
Deeply concerned at the rapid disappearance of wild life from the
continent of North America and the large economic loss that the continued
destruction of that life is bound to entail, we call upon the people of
America to adopt more stringent measures to stop the excessive killing of
birds, quadrupeds and fish, and to enact more drastic and far-reaching
laws for the protection of the remnant from the extermination that
threatens it.
We realize that the tremendous importance of our fishery resources is
underestimated, and that this great asset is threatened with serious
diminution. We urge upon Congress and the states to provide more
liberally for fish propagation and preservation, in the interest of the
conservation of this food source so important at present and vital for
the future.
The problem of the preservation of migratory birds, fishes and quadrupeds
is interstate; therefore, we emphatically endorse the resolution of the
second National Conservation Congress to the effect that the National
Government supplement the laws of the states with comprehensive national
laws for the protection of migratory animals.
The losses of life and property from fire in the United States are
enormous and abnormal, amounting to 1,500 human lives annually, and
with the cost of prevention to nearly $400,000,000 of property, or ten
times that of any other civilized country of the world. Such losses may
be largely prevented by economical treatment, and we recommend to the
Congress of the United States a national investigation of this subject
under government supervision, the collection, classification and analysis
of data concerning the causes of such fire losses, and the relation of
fire insurance rates thereto, to the end that a permanent department of
government be established to collect and furnish to the United States and
the people thereof reliable information in relation to life and property
losses and practical means for their prevention.
The children of the United States are recognized as the most precious
resource of this Nation, and the Federal Bureau of Education as the
best agency for collecting, publishing and distributing educational
information throughout the country. We therefore urge that national
appropriations for studying problems involving the welfare of the
Nation’s school children be made comparable in amount with those annually
made for studying problems involving the welfare and conservation of the
Nation’s material resources.
In a system of free schools all the children should be trained for good
citizenship and for the useful industries; owing to the rapidly changing
and increasingly complex social and economic condition in all sections of
the Union, our public schools should make ample provision for instructing
the youth of the land in the more important occupations in which our
people are engaged, and the parents and teachers should counsel together
to determine if possible for what vocation each child is best adapted.
We recommend that the schools should be so organized and conducted that
the great purposes for which this Congress exists may be realized through
the work and lives of men and women who have been trained in health,
home-making, citizenship, and industry.
We urge upon all who are concerned with the actual work of conservation,
whether in the state or Nation, that they secure quickly as possible
through unprejudiced scientific investigation exact knowledge concerning
our various resources and the conditions which affect their development,
and we urge that all constructive conservation policies be based upon
such exact information.
As this notable Congress draws to a close we, the delegates, desire to
express our hearty appreciation of the many courtesies and the warm
hospitality extended to us by the citizens of the city and state in which
we are assembled. We desire, especially, to proffer warm thanks to His
Excellency Herbert S. Hadley, Governor of Missouri, and to Honorable
Darius A. Brown, Mayor of Kansas City, for their words of welcome, borne
out later by actions.
We desire also to express a special acknowledgment of the courtesy,
energy and ability and good will of the Commercial Club of Kansas City,
as manifested particularly by its accomplished president, Mr. J. C.
Lester, and its highly capable secretary, Mr. E. M. Clendening. We
appreciate our obligation, too, to the local board of managers, and to
Chairman Neal, for their efficient service.
We also acknowledge a debt to the clergy of Kansas City for their
coöperation in several sessions and for the spirit emanating from them
which has done so much to temper and ennoble the deliberations of the
Congress.
We, the delegates, desire also to express appreciation of the devotion,
eminent fairness, tireless energy, and endless good humor of retiring
President Wallace; we acknowledge no less indebtedness to the highly
efficient chairman of the executive committee, Mr. John B. White, now
president of the Congress.
We also note our debt to the efficient executive secretary of the
Congress, Mr. Thomas R. Shipp, without whose untiring efforts the
Congress would have fallen short in the accomplishment of duty; and we
appreciate, too, the efficiency of Recording Secretary Gipe.
We desire to signalize our appreciation of the notably efficient service
of our worthy sergeant-at-arms, Colonel John I. Martin, who has not only
maintained perfect order under trying circumstances, but has smoothed the
practical working of the Congress by his courtesy and good humor.
Finally, we acknowledge a special obligation to the press of Kansas City
for the notably full and fair reports of our proceedings from day to day,
and in equal degree for the preliminary publicity which contributed so
much to the success of this Congress.
[Illustration: DR. HENRY WALLACE, President 1910-11]
THIRD NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS
_OPENING SESSION._