INVOCATION.

Father of us all and maker of all that is good, source of all light and life and love, early upon this morning, the second day of this Congress, we bring our respects to Thee and bow before Thee as the One worthy of worship, and invoke Thy blessing and benediction upon all who meet with us. We thank Thee that Thou hast so bountifully blessed us, and would have Thee, through these ministrations, at this time impress upon our minds that we are stewards of a great wealth, and we ask Thee to help us that we may so minister that there may be an equal distribution to all Thy people of the great goods with which Thou hast endowed us. May we hold above everything else the wealth of human life, and may we look to our work as that of making a better world, a better place for men.

May Thy blessing rest upon the deliberations of this hour, on all those who are participating in this Congress, and may it go on and do much good in the years that are to come, that Thy knowledge shall be in the hearts and minds of men, and they shall serve Thee and make this is a great opportunity to increase Thy rule and kingdom through Christ, our Lord and King. Amen.

President White—In the study of Conservation in this Congress we are getting around to the fundamental basis of all vital conservation. We are getting to the point where Conservation should have first begun—the study of human life as a national asset. It was Pope who said “The proper study of mankind is man.”

I take please in introducing to you, as the first speaker of this morning session, one who has had a great deal to do in the actual figures, the actual statistics, the actual knowledge of why human life is a national asset and why it should be conserved. I take pleasure in introducing to you Mr. E. E. Rittenhouse, of New York City, Conservation Commissioner of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, whose subject is “Human Life as a National Asset.” (Applause.)