he people in earnest cooperation"; and that
"this cooperation should find expression in suitable action by the
Congress and by the legislatures of the several States."

It is, of course, not with Conservation, but with Rural Life, that we
are here directly concerned; but it should be borne in mind that the
chief of all the nation's resources is the fertility of the soil. More
than one competent authority declared at the Conference of Governors
that this national asset was the subject of the greatest actual waste,
and was at the same time capable of the greatest development and
conservation. This interdependence of the two Roosevelt policies--the
fact that neither of them can come to fruition without the success of
the other--makes those of us who work for rural progress rest our chief
hopes upon the newly aroused public opinion in the American Republic.

To my knowledge this view is shared by President Roosevelt, who always
regarded his Conservation and Rural Life policies as complementary to
each other. The last time I saw him--it was on Christmas Eve, 1908--he
dwelt on this aspect of his public work and aims. I remember how he
expressed the hope that, when the more striking incidents of his
Administration were forgotten, public opinion would look kindly upon his
Conservation and Rural Life policies. I ventured upon the confident
prediction that he would not be disappointed in this anticipation.
Already the authors of the Conservation policy have been rewarded by a
general acceptance of the principle for which they stand. The national
conscience now demands that the present generation, while enjoying the
material blessings with which not only nature but also the labour and
sacrifices of their forefathers have so bounteously endowed them, shall
have due regard for the welfare of those who are to come after them.

Americans, who are accustomed to rapid developments in public opinion,
will hardly appreciate the impression made by the story I have just told
upon the mind of an observer from old countries, where action does not
tread upon the heels of thought. But surely an amazing thing has
happened. In the life of one Administration a great idea seizes the mind
of the American people. This leads to a stock-taking of natural
resources and a searching of the national conscience. Then, suddenly,
there emerges a quite new national policy. Conceived during the last
Administration, when it brought Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Bryan o