the usual practice in England - in other words, for "all it is worth,' and the men ably second the employers' efforts in this direction.. How is it that the American manufacturer can afford to pay wages 50 per cent, 100 per cent, and even more in some instances, above ours, and yet be able to compete successfully in the markets of the world? The answer is to be found in small economies such as mentioned above, which escape the ordinary eye.. That the American workman earns higher wages is beyond question. As a consequence, the average married man owns the house he lives in, which not only gives him a stake in the country, but saves payment of rent, enabling him either to increase his savings or to purchase further comforts. Food is as cheap (if not cheaper) in the United States as in England, whilst general necessaries may, I think, be put on the same level. Rent, clothes made to order, and a variety of things, including all luxuries, are considerably dearer. Luxuries, however, do not enter very much into the every day consumption of the average working man in this country, and if in the United States he can get them at all (even though he have to pay a high price for them) that is surely an advantage by comparison. The American workman drinks but little, and his house is usually well furnished and fitted with luxuries in the way of bathrooms, laundries, hot water and heating systems, and other items mostly unknown to the British workman. One of the points the delegates were invited to investigate was whether or not the workman in the United States "wears out" faster than the Englishman. Personally, I think not. It is generally admitted that the American workman, in consequence of labour saving machines and the excellence of the factory organisation, does not need to put forth any greater effort in his work than is the case here, if as much. . . . In American factories, speaking generally, great attention is paid to the necessities and comfort of the workers. Separate lockers (of which the workman has the key) are provided for working clothing; consequently the man can arrive at and leave his work well clad, changing at the factory. The shops are usually very well ventilated, although it is customary to keep them at a temperature many degrees above the average in this country. . . . One point that has struck me with enormous force, as I believe it has all the delegates, is the close touch and sympathy between master and man, which is carried a step further in the enlistment of the men's good offices to improve factory methods. . . . VI. CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES A. Conservation of Natural Resources, 19091 In any estimate of the economic progress of the people of the United States we must take account of the amount and fertility of the soil, and of the stores of metallic and mineral and forest wealth at the disposal of the people, for upon these will depend in large measure their future development. It had generally been assumed that the supplies along all these lines were practically inexhaustible, but in 1908 a national commission, appointed by President Roosevelt to investigate the subject, sounded a note of warning concerning our wasteful methods and urged more careful conservation of our natural resources. The land area of the United States, excluding Alaska and the insular possessions, is about 3,000,000 square miles, or 1,920,000,000 acres. Of this area over half is arable, and a little less than half is occupied as farm land. About one-fourth is forest and oneeighth sparse wood land and cut-over land. Two-fifths is arid or semi-arid, generally requiring irrigation; one twenty-fifth is swamp and overflow land requiring drainage. Most of the dry, wet, and sparsely wooded lands, with part of the forest area, is adapted to grazing. About two-thirds of the land has passed into private holdings. Of the original 1,920,000,000 acres there remained July 1, 1908, 387,000,000 acres open to entry; nearly all of this is arid or otherwise unsuitable for settlement by families. There are also about *235,000,000 acres in national forests, national parks, and other lands reserved for public use. . . . The population of the United States in 1900 was 76,303,387; probably it will double by the middle and triple before the end of the present century. In view of this growth, the question of food supply assumes the highest importance. How shall the greatly augmented demand for foodstuffs be met? Can sufficient food be obtained from our own soil or will it become necessary to import, and, if we import, how shall we find the means? Aside from the importation of foodstuffs, but one feasible way of meeting our growing demand appears-i.e., to increase our crop yields. That this is not only feasible but entirely practicable is shown by the larger yields of long-settled countries, by the reclamation of abandoned farms with increasing local population, by the general increase in our crop yield during the last decade, and by the natural tendency of soils to increase in fertility when properly treated. . . . 1 Report of the National Conservation Commission. 60th Cong., 2d sess., Sen. Doc. No. 676 (Washington, 1909), 43-111, passim. Aside from careless or ignorant farming and such hostile climatic conditions as storms and droughts, the most serious enemies to crops are noxious insects and mammals. . . . The total annual losses to the agriculture of the country, including live stock, animal products, and grain in storage, from insects, mammals, and disease is estimated at $1,142,000,000, or one-sixth of the total production. . Our stock of water is like other resources in that its quantity is limited. It differs from such mineral resources as coal and iron, which once used are gone forever, in that the supply is perpetual; and it differs from such resources as soils and forests, which are capable of renewal or increase (provided the supply of water suffices), in that its quantity can not be augmented. It differs also in that its relative quantity is too small to permit full development of other resources and of the population and industries depending on them. Like all other resources, it may be better utilized. It must be better utilized in order to derive full benefit from lands and forests and mines. . . . The first requisite for waterway improvement is control of the waters in such manner as to reduce floods and regulate the regimen of the navigable rivers; the second is development of terminals and connections in such manner as to regulate commerce. Most of the headwaters, especially in mountainous regions, may be so controlled by forestation as to diminish floods and ameliorate low waters, and at the same time clarify streams required for water supply and augment the subsurface reservoir of ground water. . . . Forests not only grow timber but they hold the soil and they conserve the streams. They abate the wind and give protection from excessive heat or cold. Woodlands make for the fiber, health, and happiness of each citizen and of the nation. The fish which live in forest waters furnish each year $21,000,000 worth of food, and not less than half as much is furnished by the game which could not exist without the forest. . . . Our forests now cover 550,000,000 acres, or about one-fourth of the United States. The original forests covered not less than 850,000,000 acres. The yearly growth of wood in our forests does not average more than 12 cubic feet per acre. This gives a total yearly growth of less than 7,000,000,000 cubic feet. . . . Since 1870 forest fires have each year destroyed an average of fifty lives and $50,000,000 worth of timber. Not less than 50,000,000 acres of forest are burned over yearly. The young growth destroyed by fire is worth far more than the merchantable timber burned. . . . We take from our forests each year, not counting the loss by fire, three and one-half times their yearly growth. We take 40 cubic feet per acre for each 12 cubic feet grown; we take 260 cubic feet per capita, while Germany uses 37 cubic feet and France 25 cubic feet. . . . We should stop forest fires. By careful logging we should both reduce waste and leave cut-over lands productive. We should make the timber logged go further by preservative treatment and by avoiding needless loss in the woods, the mill, the factory, and in use. We should plant up those lands now treeless which will be most useful under forest. We should so adjust taxation that cut-over lands can be held for a second crop. We should recognize that it costs to grow timber as well as to log and saw it. . . . Under right management our forests will yield over four times as much as now. We can reduce waste in the woods and in the mill at least one-third, with present as well as future profit. We can perpetuate the naval-stores industry. Preservative treatment will reduce by one-fifth the quantity of timber used in the water or in the ground. We can practically stop forest fires at a total yearly cost of one-fifth the value of the standing timber burned each year. We shall suffer for timber to meet our needs until our forests have had time to grow again. But if we act vigorously and at once we shall escape permanent timber scarcity. . . The annual products of the mines of the United States now exceed $2,000,000,000 in value. They contribute 65 per cent of the freight traffic of the country. The industry employs over a million men at the mines, and twice that number in handling, transporting, and manufacturing the products. The waste or losses in the mining, preparation, and use of the mineral products is estimated to exceed $1,500,000 per day. The available and accessible commercial coal in the United States aggregates approximately 1,400,000,000,000 tons. At the present increasing rate of production this will be depleted and will approach exhaustion before the middle of the next century; and the additional 1,600,000,000,000 tons of inferior coal and lignite not now available economically will approach exhaustion before the end of the next century. The known supplies of high-grade iron ores in the United States approximate 4,788,150,000 tons, which at the present increasing rate of consumption can not be expected to last beyond the middle of the present century. There are also estimated to be 75,116,070,000 tons of low-grade iron ores which may hereafter be available. The known supplies of petroleum, natural gas, and high-grade phosphate rock can not be expected to supply the nation's needs through the present century. The losses from fire in the United States during 1907 were approximately $450,000,000, of which some $400,000,000 was preventable waste. . The extension of the supply of our more important mineral resources is absolutely essential to the future welfare of the nation. How to accomplish this is a problem demanding the consideration of the best science and statesmanship the country affords. First of all is the prevention of unnecessary waste; and for this the individual and the State and Federal governments must cooperate. All unscientific or inefficient use of resources is waste; and the most important element in conservation is the fact that the necessary waste of to-day may, through inquiry or research or through economic conditions, become the avoidable waste of to-morrow. . . . The duration of our mineral resources may be still further extended through investigations looking toward the substitution of common mineral substances for those which more rapidly approach exhaustion because of their rarity or greater importance, as, for example, the substitution of concrete for structural steel; of low-grade coals or lignite for those of higher grade; and of water power for steam. Furthermore, in the case of certain supplies which are now being largely exported, or in the use of which waste is excessive, the duration may be extended for domestic use through such ownership or control as will prevent both sending out of the country and unnecessary waste. Again, the prevention of waste, and hence the extension of the life of supplies, may be secured through such increase in the price of materials as will render practicable their more complete extraction and efficient use. B. National Vitality: Its Wastes and Conservation, 19091 In discussions of conservation attention has usually been directed only to the problem of safeguarding and rationally using the natural resources of the country. But the development of the human resources is even more important. The importance of preventing disease and accident, of increasing vitality, 1 Report of the National Conservation Commission. 60th Cong., 2d Sess., Sen. Doc. No. 676 (Washington), 623. |