CAMPAIGNING FOR CONSERVATION
Mackenzie, Frederick W.
CONSERVATION is a live subject in Wisconsin. In that state a movement has recently been started which is the forerunner of similar movements in other states. The idea is to enlist the active aid of...
...They resent any attempt to "interfere in their private affairs...
...Strong Men Selected MEN were quickly found to lead the movement...
...The national association is launching this movement on the theory that no man can safely be entrusted with an official position unless he believes that all our natural resources should be conserved...
...Water Power Situation Acute SO IN Wisconsin just now the water power situation is acute...
...The campaign is on...
...No rights to the use...
...Water-power is our future source of heat, light and manufacturing energy...
...The idea is to enlist the active aid of citizens— that means you and me and our neighbors—in achieving practical and effective results in the conservation of our natural resources...
...They will be free to the public...
...It is a state rich in natural resouroes...
...Our potential water power is well distributed about the state and is only one-sixth developed...
...The men, who were entrusted with this mission in Wisconsin are: William M. Bray, chairman...
...He is a real servant of the people—of the type of Gifford Pinchot...
...They know it will not be long before electricity, generated by water power, will be turning the wheels of industry in the state, lighting its houses and streets, and moving ita cars...
...No individual can afford to deny his support to the Association...
...It is now time to begin constructive work...
...Conservation has almost passed the educational stage...
...His achievements in creating a great forest reserve in Wisconsin have attracted national attention...
...They are getting in on the ground floor...
...He brings to it the acumen and singleness of purpose of the successful business man...
...Not waterpower to the exclusion of the rest...
...It was his generosity that made it possible to place the replica of the famous Weinman statue of Lincoln on the campus of the University of Wisconsin...
...The public authority should retain the right to readjust at stated periods the compensation to the public and to regulate the Campaigning for Conservation By FREDERICK W. MACKENZIE rates charged, to the end that undue profit or extortion may be prevented...
...His mission was to establish a state committee...
...and Charles R. Van Hise, member of the national board of governors of the Association...
...Van Hise is president of the state university...
...He must go all the way, or he will not be permitted to travel on the official wagon of the organization led by Pinchot...
...He has been through the same hard schooling as the former Chief Forester, and is imbued with the same high ideals of public service...
...Drive home the basic principle of conservation to every thinking citizen of your state and then clinch it on the other side so it will stay driven...
...Melendy proceeded cautiously...
...But it is well supplied with waterpower—the "white coal" of the future...
...Independently wealthy, he is able to devote all his time and some of his money to the campaign for members...
...Once a leader in timber resources, it has been stripped nearly bare by ruthless cutting and wasteful methods...
...What is the program...
...He was received with open arms...
...The State Forester wants the people of the state to profit by past experience and adopt a policy that will encourage development of water power and at the same time safeguard the public interest...
...Bray is serving his first term as state assemblyman...
...hence the very foundation of our industrial welfare...
...Arrangements are being perfected to hold public meetings in as many localities as possible, with speakers especially qualified to discuss conservation...
...Laws may be passed to promote the development of the natural wealth of the state wisely and economically in the interest of the WHOLE PEOPLE...
...This was the situation found by Royal L. Melendy when he came to Madison a few months ago...
...It has not yet reported...
...No person may be pat on a state committee without the approval of the national officers...
...Our forests are in danger of complete destruction by fire, waste and enforced cutting...
...The lectures will be profusely illustrated by stereopticon views...
...of water powers in streams should hereafter be granted in perpetuity...
...A State without Coal WISCONSIN is a state without coal...
...Build up a large membership in the Association in your state...
...on these same rivers 827,900 horse power remains undeveloped...
...The officers of the National Association say to the state committee: "Get busy...
...Brittingham deals in lumber on an extensive scale...
...And they are going at it in an orderly and energetic way...
...Not merely the forests...
...The proper development and conservation of the water-powers of the state, and the retention of their benefits within the state so far as needed, is of the utmost importance to the...
...Such period should be no longer than is required for reasonable safety of in-vestment...
...They say the conservation program, if carried out, will stifle development...
...Perhaps wisely so...
...Chairman Bray has established headquarters in his home city, Oshkosh, and from there is directing operations throughout the state...
...It is a people's movement...
...At the last session, a special committee of the legislature was appointed to study the question and work out a policy...
...Why, when a bill comes up in the legislature to enact the conservation principle into law there will be a body of intelligent, well-informed public opinion throughout the state that no legislator will dare to thwart...
...He is a public-spirited citizen and a man of considerable influence...
...Each grant should be conditioned upon prompt development, continued beneficial use, and the payment: of proper compensation to the public for tf|c rights enjoyed, and should be for a definite period only...
...He is a Conservationist with a capital C. A Vigorous Campaign Started THESE men have a great work to do...
...Our summer resorts are only partially appreciated and their natural beauty is threatened...
...Wisconsin has been Prodigal WISCONSIN was selected by the Association as the first state in which to launch the new movement...
...The nucleus of a state committee was formed, and Mr...
...Hence waterpower worth $21,732,375 per annum is as yet undeveloped on the more important rivers of the state...
...But, like other states, it has been prodigal...
...Chairman Bray has gathered a corps of assistants around him and is opening the campaign with a vigor and intelligence that is bound to bring results...
...But that is what they have set out to do...
...Establish sub-committees in every locality where men can be found to take hold...
...On the twelve most important rivers in the state only 183,-105 horse power has been developed...
...Simply this: the organization of state committees of the National Conservation Association...
...Not the soils alone...
...Meanwhile the State Forester and the legislature have been grappling with the problem of state control of these water powers...
...The capital already invested, industrii-s already established, may in a few years find themselves quite at the mercy of power companies in combined control of the water power of the state...
...Griffith is State Forester...
...Secure contributions to the fund necessary to carry on the work...
...This power is worth $26.25 per horse power per annum...
...general welfare...
...E. M. Griffith, secretary and treasurer...
...It is fathered by the National Conservation Association, of which Gifford Pinchot is now president...
...Four years later, when the famous North American Conference, including commissioners from the United States and Canada and Mexico, met at the call of President Roosevelt they declared: "We regard the monopoly of waters and especially the monopoly of water power, as peculiarly threatening...
...But what does it promise in the way of results...
...By electricity, power can be transmitted long distances—in Africa 1,000 miles successfully...
...Membership in that organization is an investment that will yield big returns...
...A legislative policy which grants franchises without substantial conditions amply protecting the public, and securing to it reasonable benefits in return, is neither right nor just, and ought no longer to be tolerated...
...The cause of conservation is the citizen's cause and the cause of his children...
...As long ago as 1905, Governor La Follette sent a vigorous message to the legislature urging effective state control of water powers...
...It is the first official declaration of its kind...
...Our developed water power is enjoying public right without adequate public regulation...
...It is not a new problem in Wisconsin...
...Our mineral wealth is still practically intact but in need of judicious development...
...Not a revolutionary idea, to be sure...
...He is one of the few men who are leading and directing the thought of the whole nation along lines of wise conservation...
...He has taken hold of conservation with earnestness and conviction...
...But all of them...
...Solicitors are in the field getting people interested...
...T. E. Britting-ham, vice-chairman...
...Waterpower owners and their attorneys and press bureaus have been waging a bitter fight against the proposal to regulate their use of this natural power and to impose reasonable restrictions in the granting of waterpower rights...
...Our unimproved land is lying idle and greatly exceeds in extent our improved land...
...Our fish and game are being exterminated and adequate protection is necessary...
...The conservationists meet this misrepresentation with their statement of purposes: "Let us conserve by WISE USE our waterpowers, forests, soils and minerals...
...They call it "confiscation," "socialism" and other dreadful names...
...He is supported by experts at the state university...
...He said: "Economic conditions are rapidly changing in this state and in the country...
...He is a young man, new in politics, and has no strings attached to him...
...Melendy left for other fields...
...The waterpower lobby and the timber crowd will be put to rout...
...Melendy is Director of the National Conservation Asssociation...
...It was upon his representation that the four and one-half million acres of land containing mineral phosphates were withdrawn from entry during Roosevelt's administration, so that this fertilizer should remain in the country for the enrichment of our own agricultural lands, and not be shipped abroad to the enrichment of a great monopoly...
...Promoters and capitalists have in recent years been going into this field...
...Matter is being prepared for the press—and editors are generously giving it space...
...The present situation is thus described by the state committee: "Our improved land is depreciating in fertility and its present productivity can be doubled...
...Suppose the committee is successful, what then...
...We all recognize (thanks to the agitation inspired by Pinchot, stirred up by Roosevelt and guided by such leaders as Van Hise) that the use of our forests and our coal beds and our oil wells and our waterpower and our soils must be regulated so that waste will be eliminated and Private Greed prevented from getting a stranglehold on Posterity...
...It is no easy matter to get 5,000 people in one state to join any organization, however worthy, and to pay a membership fee, however small...
...You want to pickle our resources," they shout...
Vol. 2 • March 1910 • No. 11
