. Conservation. Forests and forestry. 1908 THE GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE 299 tically the only fuel, and what lumber was sawed was consumed locally, while the for- ests were regarded chiefly as obstructions to settlement and civilization. Such was the degree of progress to which civilized mankind had attained when this Nation began its career. It is almost im- possible for us in this day to realize how little our Revolutionary ancestors knew of the great store of natural resources whose discovery and use have been such vital fac- tors in the growth and greatness of this Nation, and how little they
. Conservation. Forests and forestry. 1908 THE GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE 299 tically the only fuel, and what lumber was sawed was consumed locally, while the for- ests were regarded chiefly as obstructions to settlement and civilization. Such was the degree of progress to which civilized mankind had attained when this Nation began its career. It is almost im- possible for us in this day to realize how little our Revolutionary ancestors knew of the great store of natural resources whose discovery and use have been such vital fac- tors in the growth and greatness of this Nation, and how little they required to take from this store in order to satisfy their needs. Since then our knowledge and use of the resources of the present territory of the Yet our fathers, though they knew so little of the resources of the country, exer- cised a wise forethought in reference there- to. Washington clearly saw that the per- petuity of the states could only be secured by union, and that the only feasible basis of union was an economic one; in other words, that it must be based upon the development and use of their natural resources. Accord- ingly, he helped to outline a scheme of com- mercial development, and by his influence an interstate waterways commission was appointed by ^Maryland and Virginia. It met near where we are now meeting, in Alexandria, adjourned to Mount Vernon, and took up the consideration of interstate commerce by the only means then avail-. DESTRUCTION OF A WATERWAY Formation of Silt Bar in a Navigable Stream United States have increased a hundred- fold. Indeed, the growth of this Nation by leaps and bounds makes one of the most striking and important chapters in the his- tory of the world. Its growth has been due to the rapid development, and alas ! that it should be said, to the rapid destruction, of our natural resources. Nature has supplied to us in the United States, and still sup- plies to us, more kinds of resources in a more lavish degree than has ever been t
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