material and so strengthen his statement. The facts of 1917, when they become fully available, will be more forceful in support of the positions taken than those of 1915 and 1916.

It is not supposed that the lecturers will use in the spoken addresses all the statistics which are included in the outline; but it seemed best, in order to make the arguments clear, that full statistics for the more important commodities be included for three years before the war.

The material herewith includes four chapters. This is to be followed by chapters upon The Organization of the Food Administration and Results Accomplished, upon The Organization of the Fuel Control and Results Accomplished, and a closing chapter.

At the time the material herewith was prepared, the middle of August, 1917, the law authorizing the organizations named had been enacted for only a few days, and several months must elapse before even an approximate estimate can be made of the achievements which will result from the passage of the law.

It is planned to have the outline of the lacking chapters ready for distribution in November, the presumption being that this material will not be needed by the various institutions until about that time.

To give the lectures concreteness, it will be advantageous for the lecturer in any given institution, after covering the general outline, to devote one lecture to the accomplishments of the State, county, and city in which the institution is located. Such a lecture would give concreteness to the arguments and drive home by illustration many of the principal conclusi ›.

CHAPTER I.

CONDITIONS ANTECEDENT TO THE WORLD WAR.

CONSERVATION BEFORE THE WAR.

It has been the history in world settlement that as great tracts of land occupied by dispersed tribes have been displaced by civilized peoples there is in each case a period of exploitive use of the natural resources. There are lands for all; mineral deposits need but to be taken; apparently illimitable forests invite cutting. As the land is brought under cultivation, food is abundant and manufacture develops. In the earlier stages of the settlement of a great virgin region there is little thought of conservation on the part of anyone.

Such was the situation in the United States until comparatively late in the nineteenth century. The rapid cutting of the forests, combined with enormous losses through wastes and fires, led to a fear of a shortage of timber upon the part of a few of the more thoughtful. This possibility of lack of timber first raised the question of the exhaustibility of our natural resources. As a result of a movement of scientific men, through the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academy of Sciences, the policy of forest reserves was established during the last decade of the nineteenth century.

The appreciation that conservative use was not only necessary for the forests but for all of the resources, including the lands and minerals, was only brought before the Nation in 1908, when President Roosevelt called a conference of the governors of the States to consider the situation. The facts presented at this conference in regard to the natural resources available, and their rapid exploitation, showed the certainty that many of them were exhaustible and would be exhausted at the present rate of use within moderate periods. This led to a country-wide campaign for the conservative use of the natural resources.

This movement was taken up with great enthusiasm by the governors of the States, by educational institutions, and by enlightened citizens; and the more intelligent people of the country were led to appreciate the necessity for conservative use of resources.

Many States established conservation commissions. A number of States created State forest reserves. The vast tracts of mineral land belonging to the Government which gave promise of coal, petroleum,

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natural gas, and fertilizers were withdrawn from entry until they could be appraised or until appropriate laws could be enacted regarding their use. The same was true of water-power sites. The agricultural colleges and schools emphasized more strongly than before the necessity of preserving the fertility of the soil.

While prior to 1914 the public interest in conservation had somewhat waned, there were many permanent and very important results achieved in consequence of the conservation movement inaugurated by President Roosevelt.

Thus, while the Nation had been once aroused in regard to the necessity for conservation, it had partly fallen to sleep again before the year 1914.

THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS BEFORE THE WORLD WAR.

Before the world war, the United States was upon the whole in a more fortunate situation than any other nation. Our fundamental available resources were vastly larger than those of any other country. For each of the necessities, it was easy to produce not only an amount sufficient for our own uses but for an increasing export, in consequence of which we received in return the less essential articles which we could not readily produce. Illustrations are below given for these general statements.

FOOD PRODUCTS.

Cereals. Of the foods the cereals are of the greatest consequence For the cereals which are most widely used in Europe and America, the total products of the United States are vastly greater than those of any other nation. The only important cereals in which the production of the United States is not very important are rice and millet, foods mainly used in Asia.

For meats the situation is the same as for the cereals. The total meat product for the United States outclasses that of any other country.

A similar situation obtains for the very important dairy products, butter, cheese, and milk. Likewise for the less staple products, fish, poultry, and vegetables, the total production of the United States is

enormous.

Fertilizers.--For fertilizers necessary to produce food, the resources of the United States are vast. Not only enough phosphate fertilizer is produced to supply the needs of agriculture, but great quantities are shipped abroad. The only essential fertilizer not abundantly available in this country is potash.

Textiles. The situation in regard to the most essential of the textiles is as favorable as for food. The textile which far outclasses all others in importance is cotton; and of this commodity our pro

duction is more than half of that of the entire world. Wool is only less important than cotton. For this important textile, the production of the United States is very large, although not in a leading world position.

Coal. The coal supplies of the United States are not only immeasurably greater than those of any other country, but the fields are distributed so as to make coal available to almost every important part of the United States without an unduly long haul. Thus there are great fields in the Eastern States, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland; there are great fields in Ohio and Illinois; there are large fields in Kansas and Nebraska; there are important fields in Colorado and Wyoming. In fact, the only part of the United States which does not have thick seams of coal developed relatively near at hand is the Pacific coast group of States. Anthracite coal, it is true, is confined to eastern Pennsylvania, and this results in a long haul for much of the country for this commodity.

Before the war the vast coal fields had been so developed that they were able to produce all the coal demanded by industry and commerce, and in addition there was a surplus capacity.

Petroleum.The situation in regard to petroleum and its products, kerosene and gasoline, was similar to that relating to fuel. The United States is not only the chief producer of these products, but produced more than half of the world supply.

Metals. For all the fundamental metals-iron, copper, lead, zinc-a similar situation obtained. The United States is by far the greatest producer of iron and iron products in the world. The same is true of copper.

In short, for many of the products essential to a highly developed civilization the United States is the greatest world producer.

On subsequent pages the statistics for production of a number of the more important commodities of the United States are to be found (pp. 23–29).

ABUNDANCE OF ESSENTIALS.

Thus, before the war there was an abundance of all the essentials to meet the needs of all of the people of the United States; and not only so, but very liberal amounts of each of these fundamental products and the commodities manufactured from them were shipped abroad; indeed, in most cases all the foreign markets could absorb. In consequence of these exports, we were able to bring into the United States those less important but very desirable commodities which this country does not produce, and, in addition to these, certain luxuries. Coffee and tea are imported in their entirety. Many tropical fruits come into the country-illustrated by bananas and pineapples. Luxuries are illustrated by silks, furs, diamonds. Also

it should be understood that many commodities in large quantity were exported which were manufactured from the fundamentals mentioned, and a portion of the imported goods were made, in whole or in part, from raw material from the United States.

CONTROL BY LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND AND COMPETITION.

PRICES BEFORE THE WAR.

Under the above condition of abundant raw and manufactured products, the prices of commodities in this country before the war were not high, although in many cases they were higher than perhaps was justified because of combinations and cooperation, to be later mentioned.

For control of prices the United States was dependent upon the so-called law of supply and demand in connection with competition. If the supply of any article was somewhat short, the price did not become unduly enhanced, because in most cases substitutes could be found. Thus, if there were a shortage of one of the fruits, while the price might rise, it was not necessary for everyone who had been accustomed to use this fruit to have it. Other fruits would be used as substitutes, and thus the increase of prices was kept within reasonable bounds.

From the foundation of the Nation it has been the accepted theory that if competition could be kept free the law of supply and demand would adequately control prices and quality. However, long before the war the inadequacy of the law of supply and demand and unregulated competition to control prices had been recognized. As a result of rapid and cheap transportation and instantaneous communication, there came the period of concentration of industry under which the modern great corporation arose. With concentration, cheap transportation, and swift communication it became easy for the different organizations producing the same articles to unite or to cooperate and thus control the market. This they did. These concentrated organizations, whether a single corporation or cooperating corporations, are popularly called trusts.

THE ANTITRUST LAWS.

In consequence of the facts presented the Sherman antitrust law was passed by Congress in 1890. By the statement of this act, every contract and combination in the form of trust or otherwise in restraint of trade or commerce was declared to be illegal, as was also monopoly. The enactment of the national antitrust law was followed shortly by the enactment of antitrust laws in almost every State in the Union.