Conservation Crusade

''Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans," blazed Cartoonist Jay Norwood ("Ding") Darling at 1,000 conservationists gathered in St. Louis last week, "know a damn thing about conservation." The conservationists were there because "Ding" wanted them to be, and ''Ding" wanted them there because he was still burning with anger and purpose. From March 1934 until November 1935 he had sat in Washington as chief of the U. S. Bureau of Biological Survey, pleading for funds to save U. S. wildlife, meeting with bland indifference or red tape on every side (TIME, Aug. 12, 1935 et seq.). Politicians from the top down told him that nobody could get Government money for wildlife or anything else unless a good strong group of voters put the screws on their Congressmen. Tossing up his job, "Ding" set out to organize such a pressure group, determined to teach both Democrats and Republicans something about conservation, and make them like it.

Last week'"Ding" Darling was a tired but happy man. Year ago, at a North American Wildlife Conference in Washington, nature-lovers and gunners who had hitherto spent their energies fighting each other agreed to get together and fight for wildlife. Sinking their crotchets in a temporary General Wildlife Federation, they chose "Ding" for temporary president. Then they went home to enlist women's clubs, garden clubs, camera clubs, Audubon societies and sportsmen's associations in State Federations. To the second North American conference in St. Louis last week went 800 representatives of 46 State Federations with some 3,000,000 members. Already they had secured enough State conservation legislation to make Founder Darling feel that his efforts had been worth while. Egged on by his eloquence, they now ratified a national Federation constitution, elected him president with a roar, planned an aggressive national crusade to convince the country's legislators of wildlife conservation's important place in the national picture of land utilization, forest preservation, water purification, erosion and flood control. This year will be devoted largely to propaganda and fundraising, climaxed by a Wildlife Restoration Week beginning Feb. 20, 1938. After that Congress can expect a high-powered Conservation Lobby to settle down in Washington beside Labor, the Farmers and the American Legion.

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