Problems in American Democracy - Part 55
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Part 55

3. What is the relation of lavish use of natural resources to the cost of living?

4. What part has monopoly played in the history of our natural resources?

5. Describe the origin and early development of the conservation movement.

6. Outline the conservation of forests and water power.

7. How is land being conserved?

8. What is the purpose of the Reclamation Act of 1902?

9. What measures have recently been taken to safeguard our mineral deposits?

10. Why may the present outlook for conservation be said to be optimistic?

11. Outline our conservation needs.

12. Why is cooperation essential to the conservation movement?

13. Give the chief arguments for and against Federal administration of conservation.

REQUIRED READINGS

1. Williamson, _Readings in American Democracy_, chapter x.x.x.

Or all of the following:

2. Coman, _Industrial History of the United States_, chapter xi.

3. Reed, _Form and Functions of American Government_, chapter x.x.xiii.

4. Van Hise, _Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States_, Introduction.

QUESTIONS ON THE REQUIRED READINGS

1. Into what two cla.s.ses may natural resources be divided? (Van Hise, page 1.)

2. Discuss the sale of the public domain under the early land acts.

(Reed, page 382.)

3. Outline the destruction of fur-bearing animals by the early settlers. (Coman, page 377.)

4. Explain the effects of depleted pasturage in the West. (Coman, pages 381-382.)

5. What are the aims of the Inland Waterways movement? (Coman, page 394.)

6. What part did Gifford Pinchot play in the Conservation movement?

(Van Hise, pages 4-5.)

7. What is the origin of the National Conservation Commission? (Van Hise, pages 7-8.)

8. What is the nature of the North American Conservation Conference?

(Van Hise, page 9.)

9. Describe the character of the National Conservation a.s.sociation.

(Van Hise, pages 12-13.)

10. Why should the Conservation movement be carried forward as rapidly as possible? (Van Hise, page 14.)

TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT

I

1. Interview an old resident with regard to the relative abundance of forests, cheap land, and wild game in your locality a half century ago.

2. Extent and utilization of forests in your state.

3. Draw up a comprehensive plan for the prevention of forest fires.

4. Extent of unused land in your state. What is being done to make this land more productive?

5. Cla.s.sify the mineral deposits of your state. By whom are they controlled?

6. List the water-power sites in your locality. Draw up a plan for reforestation which would include constructive measures for the conservation of land and water power as well as forests.

7. If possible, visit a lumber camp or a mine, and observe the methods of work.

8. Outline a plan for a local conservation club, to be affiliated with the National Conservation a.s.sociation.

II

9. The principles of conservation. (Van Hise, _Conservation of Natural Resources_, pages 359-362.)

10. Relation of population to conservation. (Van Hise, _Conservation of Natural Resources_, pages 375-380.)

11. The use of our forests. (Van Hise, _Conservation of Natural Resources_, pages 218-260.)

12. Water power. (Van Hise, _Conservation of Natural Resources_, pages 106-185; Huntington and Gushing, _Principles of Human Geography_, chapter ix.)

13. Irrigation. (Van Hise, _Conservation of Natural Resources_, pages 185-202; Huntington and Gushing, _Principles of Human Geography_, chapter xvii.)

14. Inland waterways. (Huntington and Gushing, _Principles of Human Geography_, chapter vi.)

15. Federal control of water in Switzerland: (_Annals_, vol. x.x.xiii, No. 3, pages 113-121.)