We have a limited supply of coal, and only a limited supply.

Whether it is to last for a hundred or a hundred and fifty or a thousand years, the coal is limited in amount, unless through geological changes which we shall not live to see, there will never be any more of it than there is now.

But coal is in a sense the vital essence of our civilization.

If it can be preserved, if the life of the mines can be extended, if by preventing waste there can be more coal left in this country after we of this generation have made every needed use of this source of power, then we shall have deserved well of our descendants.
Conservation stands emphatically for the development and use of water-power now, without delay.

It stands for the immediate construction of navigable waterways under a broad and comprehensive plan as assistants to the railroads.