on of the
resources which can be renewed, such as the food-producing soils and the
forests; and most of all it stands for an equal opportunity for every
American citizen to get his fair share of benefit from these resources,
both now and hereafter.

Conservation stands for the same kind of practical common-sense
management of this country by the people that every business man stands
for in the handling of his own business. It believes in prudence and
foresight instead of reckless blindness; it holds that resources now
public property should not become the basis for oppressive private
monopoly; and it demands the complete and orderly development of all our
resources for the benefit of all the people, instead of the partial
exploitation of them for the benefit of a few. It recognizes fully the
right of the present generation to use what it needs and all it needs of
the natural resources now available, but it recognizes equally our
obligation so to use what we need that our descendants shall not be
deprived of what they need.

Conservation has much to do with the welfare of the average man of
to-day. It proposes to secure a continuous and abundant supply of the
necessaries of life, which means a reasonable cost of living and
business stability. It advocates fairness in the distribution of the
benefits which flow from the natural resources. It will matter very
little to the average citizen, when scarcity comes and prices rise,
whether he can not get what he needs because there is none left or
because he can not afford to pay for it. In both cases the essential
fact is that he can not get what he needs. Conservation holds that it is
about as important to see that the people in general get the benefit of
our natural resources as to see that there shall be natural resources
left.

Conservation is the most democratic movement this country has known for
a generation. It holds that the people have not only the right, but the
duty to control the use of the natural resources, which are the great
sources of prosperity. And it regards the absorption of these resources
by the special interests, unless their operations are under effective
public control, as a moral wrong. Conservation is the application of
common-sense to the common problems for the common good, and I believe
it stands nearer to the desires, aspirations, and purposes of the
average man than any other policy now before the American people.

The danger to the Conser