I was a warm believer in reclamation and in forestry, and, after listening to my two guests, I asked them to prepare material on the subject for me to use in my first message to Congress, of December 3, 1901.

This message laid the foundation for the development of irrigation and forestry during the next seven and one-half years.

It set forth the new attitude toward the natural resources in the words: "The Forest and water problems are perhaps the most vital internal problems of the United States." On the day the message was read, a committee of Western Senators and Congressmen was organized to prepare a Reclamation Bill in accordance with the recommendations.

By far the most effective of the Senators in drafting and pushing the bill, which became known by his name, was Newlands.

The draft of the bill was worked over by me and others at several conferences and revised in important particulars; my active interference was necessary to prevent it from being made unworkable by an undue insistence upon States Rights, in accordance with the efforts of Mr.Mondell and other Congressmen, who consistently fought for local and private interests as against the interests of the people as a whole.
On June 17, 1902, the Reclamation Act was passed.