The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1946-03-22

ter from the continent of Europe.
Here in the pine forests along
Lake Pontchartrain our trails
had crossed, and we could see
that, though continents and
countless centuries had divided
the basic tribes of humanity, theiI
basic human traits had remained
as much a part Of them as their
common flesh and bone. We were
a group of boys upon the white
road of eternity, walking in the
traces where another people had
passed, and leaving our own
where others would follow down
the long vistas of the years.
"AnfhropoIogY" and ARCH
geology" are rather forbidding
terms to the average person.
From our readings of school
books end Sunday newspapers
we usually learn to, associate
these sciences with dry and
dusty museum backgrounds.
and with odd and freakish
scientists who in the old days
used to take expeditions into
the Cobb desert looking for
djnosaur eggs. or who some
times spent g whole lifeline
scratching around the old set.
Elements end graveYards of .hs
Mediterranean. a n d W h o
thought they wer well reward
ed If thew turned up a few
pots and pans and old bones
in thirty or FORTY years of Ia
hor. Activities Of this nature
lie outside the range of ex-
p~erience end understanding of
the average person To the
solid citizen they seem like a
waste of time. and rather silly.
In actually, however, the
study of mans long and varied
record as an inhabitant of this
planet is one of the most inter
esting and useful of all the sci
ences-the golden science which
gives value and meaning to al
others. 1t is only by mans study
of man that he car ever Learn
to correct the evils and f~allacies
of his own existence; it is only
by learning and understanding
the errors, iniustices and follie:
of his past that he may repair
them in the future, and SomedaN
bring a life of reason and happi'
ness to pass upon an earth tina
has been torn by violence, greco
and ignorance since the dawr
of time. And the scientists whC
spend their lives digging patient.
lv in the Cobb desert or the is
land of Crete have performed fol
mankind afar more practical ser.
vice than mankind on the whole
realizes. Each fragment of an.
cient law or custom that they
bring the light from the past, eaef
vase or statue which tells us %
the skill of craftsmen and th'
dreams of a vanished people
each discovery adds 20 our knowl
eye of ourselves, and helps u
evaluate the hopes, the fears anC
the aspirations of our own times
The events of modern histor,
plus the more ancient lore o
"anthropologys and "Archaeo
logy's are the prime raw mater.
ials which feed the thinkin.
processes of political philosoph
efs. And what the latter thinl
about such institutions as Law
and government, war and peace
is what dictates. in the long run
actual day to day existence o
each of us.
Thomas jefferson, for example
was a good philosopher. anC
many of the laws which govern
our daily lives we're the produc
of his studies and beliefs abou
mans past. Hitler vas an evi
one, torn between systematic il
norance and insane genius, an.
what he believed about man an,
human nature has covulsed tn,
world with war and bloodSheC
for a decade. So let us never un
derrate the importance of science
like "anthropology' and "archa
eology' because they seem tht
work of dry and mustv seien
fists, and of no obvious interes
or importance to the average
man. These sciences are of tn.
greatest Importance. We may no
see them discussed very otter
on.the front pages of our news
papers: but they produce the ba
sic views Of human nature. Law
and society which underlie III.
political and military conflict
which make the headlines il
| Washington, London, Moscow anC