A fair wage scale and reasonable hours of labor have done as much to elevate the American citizen and furnish the ties that bind him to home and State as have all the libraries and universities in the land, and I say this without any disparagement of these magnificent institutions for public good. But if you stop to think for a moment, the library can only be used by those who have a reasonable leisure to enjoy it; colleges have closed doors for those who do not receive something more than a living wage. The welfare of this Nation depends not on the accumulation of great wealth in the future; not upon the palaces on Fifth avenue or the villas at Newport. It depends upon the cultivation—upon the high average intelligence and prosperity of those who actually do the Nation’s work, whether they labor with brains or with brawn. (Applause.) And right here let me say to you people who are considering these great problems, that we want brawn developed by working hours that shall not warp and distort the image of God; and we want technical and scientific teaching that shall be as free to the sons and daughters of those who work as to these who have their way paid to college. (Applause.) We must lift from the bottom in any great movement; no movement gets very far that is worked from the top down.
So I am glad to see this movement bringing into its counsels those who are affiliated with the great labor movements of organized labor. My sympathies go out to the man who works with his hands, as well as to the man who works with his brain. I thank you. (Applause.)
Chairman White—Professor Moore stated he did not know why he was put down at the last end of the program. Perhaps it is not necessary to remind him that there is an old saying that the best of the wine is reserved for the last of the feast. (Applause.) But where all is good, and where all is best, as has been the case with the program of this Fourth National Conservation Congress, there can be no choice. And again I am going to remind this audience that this Congress is going to prepare a book containing every bit of the proceedings of this meeting, and it will be one of the best publications of proceedings that has been presented by any congress in the land, and I want to impress upon you, delegates and visitors alike, to leave a dollar for a copy of these proceedings.
While we are waiting for a final word from Governor Hadley, I will call upon Mr. Walter H. Page, Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, who will present the report of that committee, which I hope will be enthusiastically adopted.
Report, Committee on Resolutions
Mr. Page read the resolutions (which will be found in full at the beginning of this volume), and moved their adoption.
The motion was seconded, put and carried.
Resolution, Mr. John B. Hammond
Mr. John B. Hammond (Des Moines, Iowa)—I have a resolution to present. It was referred to the Resolutions Committee, but somehow it was lost in the shuffle.
Mr. Page—It was referred to one of the sub-committees, and, presumably, was not accepted by the sub-committee. It was not reported to the full committee.