state, from change or destruction.” We do not, of course, desire to keep our ore and coal in their existing state, because they must be used, but this does not mean that coal deposits and ore deposits should be exploited in excess of need, nor that the processes of mining should be wasteful. With proper care, soil and timber can be so conserved that neither the farm nor the forest will be destroyed. The conservation of such resources as these is not my subject, and the attention of the country is well aroused to the importance of proper care of these great primary sources of prosperity.
To all the processes of industry and commerce, the service of transportation is essential, and it is a plain duty of the people of this country to keep the railways from “loss, decay, or injury,” and to preserve them from destruction. This duty falls first upon those charged directly with the ownership, administration, and management of the railways, and in these recent years of rising expenses and taxes they have been obliged to skimp at every corner in order to make both ends meet, while at the
