mendous that the people engaged in fighting for it can afford to employ the highest legal talent and every possible legitimate means. It is very seldom, in my judgment, that a contest of this kind is so clearly defined as this one is this year, and it seems to me of all things the most fortunate that public attention is now being called to this water power question so that the American people are going to insist that this shall be settled and settled right when it comes up for settlement next winter. I should like to see every man and woman on the firing line when this comes up.

PROF. GEORGE E. CONDRA, of Nebraska: I do not presume for a moment to think that I feel myself competent to follow these able speakers, but I wish for a moment to call your attention to a matter that may do good, and I should like to mention an able article that was written by Mr. Whipple, Chief Forester of New York, showing the devastation of the forest in the Adirondack country.

I am one of the persons that are pretty close to the farmers of my State. I have travelled nearly 400,000 miles in my State, having been appointed by two governors, one a democrat and the other a republican, in connection with my work in the State University. I am pleased to know that we have given over the promotion of conservation to all the people, but let me ask you in the promotion of the cause of conservation to be true to the cause; to ask that you will not misrepresent the great eternal and underlying truths at the base of this undertaking. If you go out from here and practice a dogma that is false, you have been untrue to your trust, but if you can recognize the worth of the truths discovered by scientists and by the Departments of the Government and do not ignore their labor and the days and nights which they have spent in this cause, you will do this cause great good; and in my closing remarks I would ask everyone here to stand close to the Departments

at Washington and get from them the truth and to preach the real doctrine of conservation based on facts. Let us see that we all work together for the good of our times. Let us not say ill things of scientists or Governmental Departments. We Americans shall only be great as long as we are great in all our practical endeavors.

THE CONSERVATION OF THE NATION'S
NATURAL RESOURCES.

THE

MARGARET RUSSELL KNUDSEN, REPRESENTING WOMAN'S NATIONAL RIVERS AND HARBORS CONGRESS.

It is with deep appreciation of the honor conferred upon. me that I heartily thank this dignified body for the invitation extended to me to tell something of the active interest the women of America are taking in this great, far-reaching movement-the conservation of the Nation's natural

resources.

Surely the Psalmist was right when he sang in the days of old: "Oh Lord, the earth is full of thy riches." Because we recognize, even more fully than David did, the bounty of the Creator, have we the right to exhaust nature's rich supply of coal, oil, and other minerals, allowing the soil to be washed into the mighty deep by the swollen rivers carrying death and destruction in times of flood, leaving this fair land impoverished, a miserable heritage to our children's children?

From the depths of the darkest coal mine to the loftiest height of the brilliant snow-capped mountain, from the tiniest stream in the forest to the mouth of the greatest river, comes a voice to those who have ears to hear, "Conserve the vast riches within the earth, preserve the forests, control the rivers, so that in all times to come, you, the people of this great Nation can sing: 'I will lift up mine eyes

to the hills whence cometh my help.' 'Oh Lord, how manifold are thy works, the earth is full of thy riches.'"

This nation, through the inspiring influence of our great leaders, is thoroughly aroused to the great necessity of preserving and conserving the natural resources, for upon that depends the promotion and perpetuation of our national prosperity.

It has been said that this is a woman's age, and surely the signs of that fact are not wanting, for within these beautiful grounds of the Exposition are still echoing, one might say, the stirring words of eloquence and power of some of the foremost women of the world, who, in the last few weeks, have stood upon this platform; women who have journeyed not only from distant States of our own Nation, but from capitals of Europe, to discuss the great questions of the day, and to contribute by combined effort to the uplifting of humanity.

It is woman's place in nature to stimulate man to his best efforts. She has ever led him on to the higher things. For her sake, for home and happiness, he undertook to subdue the wilderness, and so for generation after generation our civilization has grown out of the Teutonic forests to our splendid great attainment.

Just as the wives and mothers of this great western march of civilization have stood shoulder to shoulder with the men in their struggle for material conquest in their advance through Europe and England, just so have the women stood physical hardships, privations, and dangers with the men as they have journeyed on with the spread of that same civilization through America and the Islands of the Pacific. As the women in this western advance have by their loyalty and devotion made it possible for the men to subdue nature and make a mighty Nation, just so shall the women stand as companions and helpmates in the great

questions that demand their most earnest thought and considerations-questions that will affect not only the present but the future prosperity of our fair land.

Without taking into consideration in these councils of the nations the result of woman's influence, men will be as far from the final solution as was frontier man, far from home, before woman came to help him in his struggles.

The mark of civilization was the arrival of woman on the scene. The mark of our highest civilization along mental lines is when women of the land are able to grasp the conditions confronting the Nation, and by their cooperation with men give them sympathy and help in their undertakings, never doubting men's ability to achieve.

The world is growing better. The stronger proof of this fact is that the women of this time are responding to the crying needs of the Nation, laying aside the conventions and traditions that have bound them since time began; they are glad to stand as helpmates to the men who are working for the good of this great land.

In no national movement has there been such a spontaneous and universal response from women as in this great question of conservation. Women from Maine to the most. western shore of the Hawaiian Islands are alive to the situation, because the home is woman's domain. She is the conserver of the race. Whatever affects the home, affects the very life of the Nation. So woman, with that feminine sense of caring for and protecting all that is sacred to her, is ready to join heart and soul in the work of adding to the security and prosperity of her cherished possessions.

In far distant Hawaii, while sojourning in the mountains of beautiful Kauai, far from the cares and struggles of the great centers of our Nation, a call came to me from Louisiana to join a small band of women organized to cooperate with the men in their noble efforts to preserve the

Nation's resources. This organization was formed in Shreveport, La. The Hon. Joseph E. Ransdell, President of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress, realizing that woman's enthusiasm and zeal are strong factors in bringing about desired results, urged the women. of Shreveport to form a Woman's National Rivers and Harbors Congress, to work in cooperation with the men's congress. A ready response was found in the minds and hearts of the women of Shreveport, who know, only too well, the waste and desolation caused by the Mississippi. An organization was formed. The presiding officer chosen is Mrs. Hoyle Tomkies, a refined and cultivated woman, whose enthusiasm has set aglow the hearts of many women to work in this great, comprehensive cause.

At the first convention of the Woman's National Rivers and Harbors Congress, held December 9, 10, II, in Washington, D. C., about twenty States were represented, and after the interesting sessions, each woman delegate returned to her respective State with the intense desire to arouse the women to be up and doing in this splendid work, by talking conservation, by coming into the organization, by educating the children to the responsibility that will soon be theirs in saving and conserving their country's natural resources. At this convention some of the strongest members of women's National and State clubs lent their influence.

Active work for bringing the idea of this organization before the women of Hawaii was taken up early in March. The Woman's College Club of Hawaii, consisting of about one hundred and fifty members, called a meeting of Honolulu's representative women at the home of Governor and Mrs. Frear. At that initial meeting, after the message had been given, the audience was addressed also by Governor Frear, Judge Dole, and the Bishop of Hawaii on the sub