Checking the Waste: A Study in Conservation

Goldsmith predicted the certain downfall of lands "where wealth accumulates and men decay," but, in the truest, broadest definit

ves in mind and body; if they are to get the most comfort and happiness out of life and to become in

ginning of the nation these have been the inheritance not of a people slowly learning the use of tools and materials, and eme

e that with the natural increase of population which is to be expected, we shall, if the present rates of use and waste continue, find ourselves no longer rich, but facing poverty and even actual want. But it is not too late to save ourselves from the results of our past extravagance. We are only begin

he beginning of our history as a

d all the commerce. Wind and water were the only powers employed in running the few factories. Only a little iron was used in this countr

ntry only as a hard black rock. Bitum

, but they needed so little that it grew much faster than it could be used. The man who cut down a tree was a public benefactor. The trees, t

necessary to every community for carrying their commerce, and turning the wheels of their

ion to draw on all these riches, careless habits of using were sure to spring up. Our forefathers took the best that the land offered, and that which was easiest

ailroad, the telegraph, and the telephone, all the nations of the earth are bound more closely to one another now than

less miles of wilderness there now stretch endless

the rivers, for swift railway trains penetrate every part of the country. The stage-coach is replaced by the trolley-car, and the horsebac

e, and birds are largely gone and in their place are the animal foods raised by man. Modern houses, fil

rican men and women, aided for the most part by American invention

be had easiest and cheapest, even if it meant great waste in the beginning. Labor was scarce and high in this country, abundant and cheap in Europe. In

iron, will last much longer, but when they are gone they can never be replaced; and so far as we can now foresee, the country will cease to prosper when they can no longer be had for use in manufacturing. The length of time they will last at the present rate

history, and surely this great rich nation can not so soon face actual need. But we must remember that no other nati

use every particle of a resource. This would be too expensive,

low-grade ores, to use all lumber waste and to practise many other economies that may sometime become necessary. But in the case of the forests we should provide en

that there might be an abundance for future generations, it would be both an unwise and u

r resources, nor a hindrance to real progress i

s we are doing at present. It means, too, that we shall take better care of articles manufactured from it, and most of all, it me

the rich top-soil drain off into our rivers, because we have cut away the trees whose roots held the soil in place. It also me

y harmful insects and thus invite the insects to dest

aste in the mine as possible, and shall use what we take in the most economical way. This means a saving of money to the user, as well as a conservation of resources

air every day to light all the large cities in the United States. It me

e true con

we have wasted, what remains to us, how long it will continue at the present rate, how it may be used more wisel

ry to the highest possible point, how we may rise far above our present level in comfort, con