large corporations to keep for the inspection of the government full records of all their acts and expenses, and (2) forbade corporations to contribute money to any political party or candidate for office. These laws helped cure some of the worst evils of big business.

Food laws. Other abuses also needed the attention of Congress. Many kinds of food and drugs were often adulterated. Fruit jellies sometimes contained no fruit. Articles as different as coffee, pepper, spice, vinegar, and maple sugar were commonly adulterated. Those who profited by adulterations or cheaper substitutes had been strong enough to delay for twenty-five years the passage of a law that remedied such abuses. Congress has no power to control such matters directly, but it can do so indirectly, through its regulation of interstate commerce.

Roosevelt, with popular opinion supporting him, helped secure the passage of two laws (1906): (1) the Meat Inspection Act, which ordered that only healthy animals should be killed for food to be transported from one state to another; and (2) the Food and Drugs Act, which prohibited any interstate commerce in adulterated or misbranded foods and drugs. A package is misbranded if its label is "false or misleading in any particular." Since this time, inspectors of the United States frequently examine packages of food and drugs to see if the contents agree with the label.

These two laws have protected both the health and the pockets of the public. Some patent medicines made people feel more vigorous (for a time) because they contained a large amount of alcohol. Under the law of 1906 all such preparations were required to carry labels stating plainly the percentage of alcohol used. When this became known, some well-known nostrums were driven off the market, but not until after many people had acquired the drink habit from their use.

Conservation.-Roosevelt fought to save the country s natural resources, such as its timber, coal, oil, water power, land. He convinced people that our natural resources were not so

nearly inexhaustible as was then generally believed. He consulted experts, who said that our petroleum might not last through the twentieth century; that the United States would soon need to import part of its lumber; and that the supply of our high-grade iron ore and coal was much smaller than most supposed. Lumber threatened to become so scarce and high that the masses could not be well housed.

The interests fight conservation.-Roosevelt found that private persons and corporations then owned four fifths of the nation's forests. He began to withdraw millions of acres of the remaining fifth and to add them to the national forest reservations so that they would be safe from speculators and corporations. Congress opposed him at every turn. It would not grant him money for the expenses of the National Conservation Commission that he had appointed. He then used the scientific bureaus in Washington to help him look after withdrawals of various natural resources. The speculators that were steadily getting possession of valuable public lands were strong enough to secure the passage of a law that kept him from using such help. In spite of all obstacles, he kept on putting various government lands beyond the reach of the speculators.

Congress plans a knockout blow. In the last part of Roosevelt's administration, Congress passed an appropriation bill for money to run the government and tacked to the bill a clause forbidding the President to withdraw any more forest lands in the six northwestern states. This was planned to leave sixteen million acres of timber for the speculators to seize.

Roosevelt was ready to dodge the blow aimed at him. He had the necessary papers prepared in advance, and he withdrew these sixteen million acres before he signed the appropriation bill which forbade more withdrawals. When the land-grabbers found that this vast tract was beyond their reach, he says that they "turned handsprings in their wrath."

Results of the fight for conservation.-Roosevelt called together the governors of all the states to meet at the White House

(1908) to discuss conservation. This historic meeting was the cause of more interest in the subject in every part of the country.

Roosevelt approved plans for seven thousand miles of canals to bring water to dry fields. The Roosevelt Dam, which stores

This dam, 280 feet high and 1,080 feet long, impounds the waters of Salt River, Arizona, which are used to irrigate more than 750,000 acres.

the waters of one river for use in arid fields of Arizona, helps us to remember his interest in irrigation. He withdrew from sale to private interests 80,000,000 acres of coal lands in the United States and Alaska. He tried to save for public use the water power that had not passed under private control.

All of the administrations preceding Roosevelt's withdrew from private entry for the public good 46,000,000 acres of forest lands. Roosevelt alone withdrew 148,000,000 acres. He also withdrew enough coal lands, water-power sites, drainage areas, and phosphate lands, to have his total amount of withdrawals

reach nearly 250,000,000 acres. He thus locked the stable doors before all of the horses were stolen.

Students of conservation say that Roosevelt did his most important work in this field, that it "has been commended by all parties alike," and that it entitles him to rank "as one of the greatest statesmen of the nation."

Summary of Points of Emphasis for Review.-(1) The many-sided Theodore Roosevelt, (2) the new aims, social justice and the " square deal," (3) Roosevelt as a social worker, (4) new note in presidential messages, (5) how he ended the coal strike, (6) the evils of trusts, (7) prosecution of trusts, (8) laws to control corporations, (9) the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Hepburn Act, (10) pure food laws, (11) necessity of conservation of natural resources, (12) Roosevelt's fight for conservation, (13) opposition of Congress, (14) what Roosevelt did for conservation.

Activities.-Theodore Roosevelt received a valuable part of his training on the frontier. The teacher should read to the class parts of Chap. IV., Cowboy Land, in Roosevelt's Autobiography. The class may describe the activities of the Wild West of Roosevelt's early life (pp. 103, 108, 110, 116, 117, 132-136, of his Autobiography).

Give a four-minute talk on "Roosevelt's Fight for Conservation." his Autobiography, pp. 435-448.

See

What is meant by "the square deal for everybody?" Talk for three minutes on this subject.

If certain people owned the coal mines, did Roosevelt have any right to interfere with their private property?

Which is the better course, to destroy big business or to make it obey certain rules?

What is meant by "publicity" for corporations? Would the giving of rebates by railroads to favored shippers become known, if their accounts could be inspected?

Name a law that protects you, passed during Roosevelt's administration. References for Teachers. Howland, Theodore Roosevelt and His Times; (Chron. of Am.); Roosevelt, An Autobiography; Riis, Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen; Washburn, Theodore Roosevelt, II., III., V.; Fish, Development of Am. Nationality, 502–504, 519-525; Ogg, National Progress, 1907-1917, pp. 58-66, 96–115; Latané, Am. as a World Power, XIII., XVIII.; Paxson, The New Nation, XVII-XIX.; Recent Hist. of U. S., XXVIII.-XXXV.; Van Hise, Conservation of Natural Resources in the U. S.; Beard, Contemporary Am. Hist., X.; Bogart, Economic Hist. of the U. S., XXXIII.; Garland, Cavenagh, Forest Ranger (fiction).

For Pupils. Hagedorn, Boy's Life of Theodore Roosevelt; Wheeler, Boy with the U.S. Foresters; Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children; Price, Land We Live In; Boy's Book of Conservation.

CHAPTER XXXIII

INTERESTS IN LATIN AMERICA

What is Latin America?-Latin America is the name given to twenty republics in the West Indies and Central and South America. All of them use languages derived from the Latin, and it is for this reason that they are called Latin America. In eighteen of these republics the white people are of Spanish origin and speak Spanish. For nearly three hundred years, these countries belonged to Spain. Nearly all rebelled and secured their independence in the first quarter of the last century. Spain lost her remaining possessions in America at the end of the nineteenth century when the United States took control of Cuba and Porto Rico.

The other two Latin American republics are Brazil, first settled by the Portuguese, and Haiti, formerly a French colony. The Portuguese and French languages, like the Spanish, are derived from Latin.

All of the countries on the mainland of South America are republics except three. These are British, Dutch, and French Guiana, which are colonies under European control.

Service. What service does Latin America perform for us? It raises four fifths of the world's coffee, more than half of which comes to us. We hold the world's record for an average annual consumption of nine pounds of coffee a year for every person. Latin America furnishes part of the rubber used in our automobile tires, overshoes, and baseballs. It sends us each year millions of feet of hard woods, such as mahogany and rosewood. We take about one fourth of the world's cacao, out of which chocolate and cocoa are made, and we get most of this from Latin America. These are only a few of the ways in which Latin America serves us.