Conservation, as a living, vital principle stands out beyond and above selfish partisan politics; and no man or combination of men will ever be able to make a political issue of it any more than you can make the gospel of spiritual salvation a political issue. But, like the gospel of spiritual and physical health, it demands the homage and acceptance of all. There will be many men of many minds, crystallizing by their combinations into different sentiments, and advocating different methods. It is so with churches. But their central doctrine of salvation will continue to be the basis of creed. And ours is Conservation, that the country and its people may continue to prosper and progress, and that the principle and practice of love and charity, which make up the Golden Rule, shall not cease to influence the hearts of men. The great question to each one should be: Where and how does Conservation apply to me?
We are here to build the temple, and to bring men up to the standard which we now unfurl to the world.
The sower goeth forth to sow; some sow to discord and strife, and some to peace and harmony; some sow to love and some to hate; some sow to adversity, and some to prosperity; some sow to selfish greed, and some to philanthropy and public good; some sow to prudence and Conservation, and some sow to extravagance and waste.
"There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that witholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty."
"Be ye not deceived. For whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap."
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF CONSERVATION
A. B. Farquhar
Executive Committeeman National Conservation Congress
In the forum of argument the Cause of Conservation, as a general principle and in every detailed application, has already won. When taken on its own merits, hardly a voice is now raised in opposition. Yet it has still its enemies, none the less pertinacious or dangerous that their antagonism is based not on public but on private interest—enemies who are carrying on a bitter contest by indirect methods, and clouding the issue by starting side questions. We have all heard of the medical practitioner who covered his general ignorance of pathology by the device of inducing fits, which were his specialty. So, when anybody finds the Conservation policy an obstacle to his pecuniary interest, it is an easy expedient to cover his inability to overthrow or confute that policy on point of principle by a display of his skill in exposing real or fancied weaknesses on irrelevant points.
Instances of this effort to secure an advantage by an adroit befogging of the question will occur to everyone who has followed the discussion of our subject. Some of these have been so often exposed that it would be only wearisome to allude again to them, were it not for the importance of being on guard at all times on all points against the crafty contrivings of the enemy.
Let us first consider the confusion of Conservation with hostility to corporations; of encouragement to enterprise, with license to destruction of natural resources. It is true that we have heard and read some vigorous protests recently against grants of timber and water-rights to certain business corporations, whose profits would be sharply curtailed by preventing or limiting their free use of the country's forest and river wealth. Perhaps those protests were stronger because a combination was to profit by the grants than they would have been had the beneficiaries been dissociated individuals; what is certain is that they were decidedly stronger because of a belief that the concessions were to be granted without exacting for them their full money value. Yet, even allowing that objections founded on the principles of Conservation may have been mixed in this case with objections on other grounds, it is contrary to common-sense to apply to the former the invalidity or the validity that may be discovered in the latter. Arguments for Conservation are no more or less sound because aggregations of capital in large industrial undertakings are dangerous or useful to the public. As Conservationists, we are not concerned either to palliate the frequent dangers or to depreciate the frequent valuable services to the public from such aggregations. But we are concerned to see that the National resources are not squandered for private gain, if our best efforts can prevent it.