In the second great crisis, the Civil War, a part of our own people strove for an end which would have checked the progress of development.

Another such attempt has become forever impossible.

If there be danger, it is not from a division of our people.
In the third great crisis of our history, which has now come squarely upon us, the special interests and the thoughtless citizens seem to have united together to deprive the Nation of the great natural resources without which it cannot endure.

This is the pressing danger now, and it is not the least to which our National life has been exposed.

A nation deprived of liberty may win it, a nation divided may reunite, but a nation whose natural resources are destroyed must inevitably pay the penalty of poverty, degradation, and decay.
At first blush this may seem like an unpardonable misconception and over-statement, and if it is not true it certainly is unpardonable.