We have had, and shall continue to have, a special interest in the welfare of our veterans.  Over 14 million men and women who served in the armed forces in World War II have now returned to civilian life.  Over 2 million veterans are being helped through school.  Millions have been aided while finding jobs, and have been helped in buying homes, in obtaining medical care, and in adjusting themselves to physical handicaps.

All but a very few veterans have successfully made the transition from military life to their home communities.  The success of our veterans’ program is proved by this fact.  This Nation is proud of the eagerness shown by our veterans to become self-reliant and self-supporting citizens.

Our third goal is to conserve and use our natural resources so that they can contribute most effectively to the welfare of our people.

The resources given by nature to this country are rich and extensive.  The material foundations of our growth and economic development are the bounty of our fields, the wealth of our mines and forests, and the energy of our waters.  As a Nation, we are coming to appreciate more each day the dose relationship between the conservation of these resources and the preservation of our national strength.

We are doing far less than we know how to do to make use of our resources without destroying them.  Both the public and private use of these resources must have the primary objective of maintaining and increasing these basic supports for an expanding future.

We must continue to take specific steps toward this goal.  We must vigorously defend our natural wealth against those who would misuse it for selfish gain.

We need accurate and comprehensive knowledge of our mineral resources and must intensify our efforts to develop new supplies and to acquire stockpiles of scarce materials.

We need to protect and restore our land-public and private—­through combating erosion and rebuilding the fertility of the soil.

We must expand our reclamation program to bring millions of acres of arid land into production, and to improve water supplies for additional millions of acres.  This will provide new opportunities for veterans and others, particularly in the West, and aid in providing a rising living standard for a growing population.

We must protect and restore our forests by sustained-yield forestry and by planting [p.5] new trees in areas now slashed and barren.

We must continue to erect multiple-purpose dams on our great rivers—­not only to reclaim land, but also to prevent floods, to extend our inland waterways and to provide hydroelectric power.  This public power must not be monopolized for private gain.  Only through well-established policies of transmitting power directly to its market and thus encouraging widespread use at low rates can the Federal Government assure the people of their full share of its benefits.  Additional power—­public and private—­is needed to raise the ceilings now imposed by power shortages on industrial and agricultural development.