disregard the future, and it
has led us to look upon all our natural resources as inexhaustible. Even
now that the actual exhaustion of some of them is forcing itself upon us
in higher prices and the greater cost of living, we are still asserting,
if not always in words, yet in the far stronger language of action, that
nevertheless and in spite of it all, they still are inexhaustible.

It is this national attitude of exclusive attention to the present, this
absence of foresight from among the springs of national action, which is
directly responsible for the present condition of our natural resources.
It was precisely the same attitude which brought Palestine, once rich
and populous, to its present desert condition, and which destroyed the
fertility and habitability of vast areas in northern Africa and
elsewhere in so many of the older regions of the world.

The conservation of our natural resources is a question of primary
importance on the economic side. It pays better to conserve our natural
resources than to destroy them, and this is especially true when the
national interest is considered. But the business reason, weighty and
worthy though it be, is not the fundamental reason. In such matters,
business is a poor master but a good servant. The law of
self-preservation is higher than the law of business, and the duty of
preserving the Nation is still higher than either.

The American Revolution had its origin in part in economic causes, and
it produced economic results of tremendous reach and weight. The Civil
War also arose in large part from economic conditions, and it has had
the largest economic consequences. But in each case there was a higher
and more compelling reason. So with the third great crisis of our
history. It has an economic aspect of the largest and most permanent
importance, and the motive for action along that line, once it is
recognized, should be more than sufficient. But that is not all. In
this case, too, there is a higher and more compelling reason. The
question of the conservation of natural resources, or national
resources, does not stop with being a question of profit. It is a vital
question of profit, but what is still more vital, it is a question of
national safety and patriotism also.

We have passed the inevitable stage of pioneer pillage of natural
resources. The natural wealth we found upon this continent has made us
rich. We have used it, as we had a right to do, but we have not s