IN CONCLUSION
No one can read the record of facts presented in this book without being
impressed by two things: (1) How these resources depend on one another
and that proper care of one results in the saving of another, and, (2)
the fact that every one of our most valued resources is decreasing so
rapidly that its end is in sight, even though far in the distance. When
the end comes we know that it will mean the end of progress for our
country in that direction.
It is also plain that the great, in fact the only, reason for this
scarcity lies not in use but in waste. And lastly we see that there is
yet time to prevent serious shortage in most directions if we set about
a general system of good management and thrift.
In the meantime we are sure to have higher prices, for the supply is
growing less and the demand greater for almost every material. In many
lines, unless something be done to check this shortage, prices will rise
so high that only the rich can afford what are now considered the
necessities of life, and the lives of the poorer classes will become
like those of the peasants of Europe:--a scanty living on the plainest
food, poor homes, hard work, less opportunity to develop mind and body.
Let us sum up how the various resources may be used to conserve one
another.
The soil is saved from erosion by the planting of forests, and by the
storing of the flood waters of rivers. Waste land is made fertile by
proper control of the rivers through drainage, storage and irrigation.
Farm crops and also the forests are increased in value by insect
control.
The insects are largely kept in check by encouraging the nesting and
increase of certain birds. Birds play a large part in the conservation
of the crops, by destroying insects, weeds, and small mammals. The birds
themselves are sheltered and thrive only where trees are abundant.
The grazing lands are conserved by proper forest control, and the supply
of animal food depends largely on the grazing lands.
Fisheries are dependent on proper care of the waters, which in turn
depend on forest control, and on proper care of the by-products of
factories.
Coal is conserved by the use of lower-grade fuels, by using waste from
the forests, and by substituting water-power.
Gas and oil will also be saved by the greater use of water-power.
Coal-mining is made safer to human life and much saving in coal is
effected by the use of mine-timbers, which involves the planting of
forests. Forests regulate to a great extent the stream-flow of rivers.
Beauty can only be conserved by the planting of trees, by keeping the
waters pure and clear, by using waste products so that there will be no
unsightly piles of refuse.
Health depends, among other things, on pure water, air unpolluted by
coal smoke and poisonous gases which should be used as factory
by-products.
And lastly, the life, happiness, and prosperity of man is conserved by
all of these things.
The first step in this system of conservation must be education on this
subject, education not only of the children but of the men and women
also, on the need and methods of saving. There would be no danger of a
scarcity of coal if manufacturers all knew the value and economy of
electric water-power or low-grade fuels, and of smoke-consuming devices.
There is no reason why insect destruction should cost the nation so
dearly if the birds were protected, and a few simple methods of
prevention understood. All the various water problems could be met and
solved if one general plan were adopted and carried out, and so all
along the line.
We have taken note of the great natural wastes: how two-thirds of the
wood cut is wasted, and how insects and fire destroy the standing
timber; how the soil is washed down into the valleys, taking the best
from the farms; how we are steadily robbing the soil of its most
necessary elements; how our waters are unused and we pay for this
non-use by the use of other resources that we can ill afford to spare;
how millions of acres of land which might be profitably farmed lie
useless for lack of water and other millions are useless because they
are covered with water. Consumers pay high freight rates and the
railroads are so overcrowded that they are unable to care for all the
business, while the rivers, the cheapest of all carriers, flow idly to
the sea.
We have seen how one-fourth of the coal is left in the mines, and how
small a part of that which is mined is actually turned into heat, how
gas is allowed to escape unchecked into the air. And greatest and most
serious of all, the useless waste of human life and health.
But there are scores of other wastes and extravagances that all growing
boys and girls should think of, so that when they enter active life,
they may do their part to prevent them.
It is going to be necessary to learn to economize in every department of
life as all the European peoples do. We must learn, in this new
country, to do things more with the idea of the future in mind. In all
European cities, there are hundreds of houses that have lasted many
centuries, but there are few houses in America that are built in an
enduring way. This building up and tearing down taxes not one, but many,
resources heavily. As the housewife learns that a good kettle that costs
a dollar and lasts five years is cheaper than a poor one which costs
fifty cents but will wear out in one year, so people must learn the
lesson that in building poor light houses of wood which will last a
comparatively short time, they are really paying the higher price; that
in putting in poor roads, cheap bridges, badly-constructed public
buildings, that cost less heavily in the first place but that will need
to be renewed in a few years, they are really paying much more than if
these had been substantially built in the beginning.
The fire loss of the United States amounts to over half a million
dollars a day, and all insurance men agree that most of this might be
prevented.
The remedies are to build fewer wooden houses, especially in crowded
districts, to exercise greater care in the building and management of
chimneys, greater care in electric wiring, and general watchfulness in
handling matches and lighted cigars.
For the forest fires which mean so much to all of us the remedy lies in
forest patrol. The amount usually set aside for fighting fires was not
allowed by some states in 1910, and the fires which cost hundreds of
millions of property and many lives were the result.
Much of the most fertile land in our country is used for raising
tobacco, and grains that are made into alcoholic liquors. As these can
never be considered necessities it is well to think to what better uses
the land might be put.
The yearly bill of the United States for pleasure is gigantic, and a
large proportion of the pleasure tends to lower rather than raise the
standard of American life and morals.
The greatest of all wastes is the waste of time and labor. The waste of
time by drunkenness, by poor work that must be done over, and by
idleness, makes a large item of loss in every line of business.
Proper education will teach every child to work neatly and with perfect
accuracy, will teach eye, hand and brain, will teach the value and
pleasure of work, careful management and economy and a regard for the
general good.
A study of the great facts of our national possibilities that have been
gathered together in this book should arouse in the heart of every
American, old and young, the feeling that here is a work for every hand
and every brain, not only to save, but to use wisely; to develop all the
possibilities of our great resources no less than to conserve them. In
searching for new by-products or machinery for checking the waste and
adding to the usefulness of these resources there is a field for
invention that will not only bring wealth to the inventor, but
prosperity and length of life to the nation.
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's Checking the Waste, by Mary Huston Gregory