want working men upon this committee on resolutions, men who are willing to give their time and make a few sacrifices of their own pleasures and own enjoyment during the rest of the sessions of the Congress until the work of the committee is done and the resolutions presented to the Congress. (Applause)

Recording Secretary GIPE-Is Prof. Condra of Nebraska here? If so, he will kindly come to the platform.

Sergeant-at-arms-Ladies and Gentlemen: President Wallace desires me to make this announcement: "Cincinnati, Ohio, September 26, 1911. President Conservation Congress, Kansas City, Missouri. Will arrive on Alton, 7:45 tomorrow morning.-W. J. Bryan." (Applause)

President WALLACE-I would like to make one suggestion. We are going to be very short of time. We are now coming to the call of states. We want every state to be heard from, but we want you to confine yourselves to five minutes, and to tell us, not what your resources are, not what you are going to do (applause), but tell us what you actually are doing in the way of conservation. If you have a conservation association, as you ought to have in every state, tell us about it, or anything that bears upon it. Boil it down to five minutes. We will ring the bell on you if you don't stop at the end of five minutes.

Recording Secretary GIPE-I understand that some of the states reported last night while you were at the dinner given to the President, and I hope, that since I do not have the names of those states, that the gentlemen will advise me when I call the roll. We do not want any duplicates. The next state is Maine. The next is Mississippi. Is Dr. Lowe in the room to respond for Mississippi? Missouri?

President WALLACE-I now introduce to you Mr. George B. Logan, secretary of the Missouri Waterways Commission, who will speak for Missouri. We will hear from him for five minutes.

Mr. LOGAN-The Missouri Waterways Commission was created by an act of the General Assembly in 1909. This act provided for a commission of five members, who were to investigate "the various problems associated with the navigable waterways of the state and the reclamation of land subject to overflow; the construction of levees; the benefits to be derived from proposed navigable waterways, and the reclamation of lands subject to overflow or inundation." The result of these investigations, together with all obtainable statistics, was to be reported to the succeeding General Assembly. The commission was allowed $5.000 as expenses. None of the members were to be compensated for their services.

At the time the Missouri Waterways Commission presented its statement to the Second Annual Conservation Congress, the report which was last January submitted to our legislature had been prepared. The com

mission was very successful in obtaining information of a detailed nature pertaining to conservation of the state's resources, and from this information extremely valuable statistics have been compiled and were included in the report transmitted to the General Assembly.

Because of the small amount of funds, the commission was forced to do almost all of its investigating by correspondence, inasmuch as original research was not possible, and they were gratified to find a widespread interest in the state which caused its correspondents to answer promptly and fully. The investigations were conducted under four heads into which the subject of water conservation in this state seems to be naturally divided. The uses of the water being in the order of importance: First, water supply in which the water is consumed in maintaining life; second, agriculture in which the water is consumed in the growing of the crops yielding food and other necessaries of life; third, power in which the water is employed in aid of, or as a substitute for, human labor, and is not consumed; and fourth, navigation in which the water is used for commerce and is not consumed.

WATER SUPPLY.

Under the first head the commission delved deeply into the sources of the state's water supply, consisting of rainfall and watershed drainage. From this point of beginning, the commission went into the question of water supply of the various municipalities, considering the character of the water used, the state in which it was used, and the available quantity.

In the conservation of human life, which is the ultimate end of all conservation, the commission felt that nothing was more important than the securing of a permanent and proper water supply for the inhabitants of the state. Sixty-five communities in the state have been investigated, and from the findings presented to the General Assembly the commission hopes that much needed and beneficial legislation will result. As was to be expected, the investigations of these communities showed conclusively that the community water supply is nearly everywhere closely involved with community sewage disposal. The legislature will be asked to pass such laws as will encourage or compel municipalities to dispose of their sewage as not to endanger the lives of their own inhabitants, or of those who by geographical location are forced to have the same source of water supply.

AGRICULTURE.

While the quantity of rainfall remains approximately the same from year to year, the effects on the soil, and the subsequent benefits resulting to the soil from the rainfall, change materially. By improper methods of agriculture, hillsides and slopes have been denuded of trees and pasturage with the result that the soil on the hillsides is no longer

absorptive, and the rain falling thereon is lost to it. This is especially true in this climate where a very large percentage of the annual rainfall comes in hard or excessive rains, taxing the absorptive capacity of any soil to its fullest extent. By proper education and agitation it is hoped. that this natural fact will be borne in mind by the agriculturists of the state who have it in their power to be leaders in this work of conservation.

The converse of the problem of too little water is found in Southeast Missouri, where a very great area is burdened with an excess of water. The solution of this problem has been drainage which is being accomplished by drainage districts organized either in the county or circuit courts. Already 1,271,470 acres have been thoroughly drained and will be valuable agricultural land as soon as the heavy timber is cleared off. The average cost of drainage has been approximately $5.00 per acre, which is paid in small annual installments. The increase of the value of the land thus drained has been many hundred per cent, while the benefit to the health conditions has been great. Drainage is being fostered and encouraged by the state authorities, and as fast as the necessity for working laws is shown, these laws are forthcoming from the General Assembly. There is need for further drainage, but the energy and enterprise of the people in the communities where it is needed will probably suffice for the solving of this problem in the future as it has in the past.

NAVIGATION.

Missouri is blessed with magnificent opportunities for vast conservation of transportation cost, by reason of the presence on and within her borders, of the two greatest rivers of this country. Accepting the figures of unofficial investigators, the commission has estimated that the demand for water traffic indicates that the through freight movements between St. Louis and Kansas City alone would amount to four hundred and sixty-eight thousand tons annually, while that through the Mississippi in and out of St. Louis would reach a million or more tons. The surplus products of the soil and mines of this state aggregate fully ten million tons. If even forty per cent of these products could be moved by water at the large water cost of one-quarter that of rail transportation, the aggregate saving to the producers would amount to $11,250.000.00. This saving, or the adding to the wealth of the state, is too important to be disregarded.

The commission feels that the sentiment among this state's lawmakers is already strongly in favor of coöperating with the National Government in any systematic effort to permanently improve our water

ways.

WATER POWER.

From the investigations conducted under this head the commis