Presidential addresses and state papers, Volume 2 (of 7)Roosevelt, Theodore
History
Presidential addresses and state papers, Volume 2 (of 7)
Roosevelt, Theodore
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919; United States -- Politics and government -- 1901-1909
Our aim should be to get the fullest use from the forest to-day,
and yet to get that benefit in ways which will keep the forests for
our children in the generations to come; so that, for instance, the
country adjoining Puget Sound shall have the lumbering industry as
a permanent industry. Recently the trade journals of that industry
have been dwelling upon the fact that its very existence is actually
at stake, and nowhere in the whole country can the question of
forestry be handled better than in this region, because nowhere else
is it so easy to produce a second crop. You are fortunate in having
such climatic conditions, such conditions of soil, that here more
than anywhere else the forest renews itself quickly, so as in a
comparatively short number of years to be again a great mercantile and
industrial asset. The preservation of our forests depends chiefly
upon the wisdom with which the practical lumberman, the practical
expert in dealing with the lumber industry, works with the men who
have studied forestry under all conditions. I am glad indeed that such
co-operation is more and more being accepted as a matter of course by
both sides.
FROM ADDRESS AT SEATTLE, WASH., MAY 23, 1903
There is no other body of water in the world which confers upon the
commonwealth possessing it quite the natural advantages that Puget
Sound confers upon your State. There is no other State in the Union,
and I include all of them, which has greater natural advantages and
a more assured future of greatness than this State of Washington.
Phenomenal though your growth has been, it has barely begun; and your
growth in the half century now opening will dwarf absolutely even your
growth in the immediate past.
I am speaking in the gateway to Alaska. All our people, even those
from the locality whence I come, are beginning to appreciate a little
of Alaska’s future. The men of my own age whom I am addressing will
not be old men before we see Alaska one of the rich and strong States
of the Union. I thank fortune that the National Legislature has begun
to wake up to the fact that Alaska has interests of vital importance
not merely to her but to the entire Union. Alaska contains a territory
which will within this century support as large a population as the
combined Scandinavian countries of Europe; those countries from which
has sprung as wonderful a race as ever imprinted its characteristics
upon the history of civilization. Exactly as the Scandinavian peoples
have left their mark upon the entire history of Europe, so we shall
see Alaska with its mines, its lumber, its fisheries, with its
possibilities in agriculture and stock-raising, with its possibilities
of commercial command, with the tremendous development that is going
on within it even now, produce as hardy and vigorous a people as any
portion of North America.
AT SPOKANE, WASH., MAY 26, 1903
_Senator Turner, and you, my Fellow-Americans_:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account