The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1951-12-27
RippHng
of the Rivers

heartfelt thanks, to the gentle
man but have been unable to
contact the right party to de-
liver the message.
Christmas eve a telephone
call informed them that a BIZ
cycle had been purchased at a
local hardware store for the
Hart children, and that they
should call at the store for it,
but that the purchaser desired
to remain anonymous.
The family also received other
anonymous gifts, but the Hart
children - all nine of them -
had been wanting a bicycle for
quite some time. Several months
ago they entered a magazine
selling contest with their eyes
on the prize of a bicycle, but
they failed to win. Since Santa
Clause visited, however, their
hopes have been fulfilled and
come spring we're betting the
machine will really get a work.
out.
It was showing, one of those
thick wet SHOWS that cling to
the windshield, and the car had
narrowly escaped several coils
ions.
wouldn't it be a good idea
to wipe off the windshield"
asked the anxious passenger.
Not worth the bother" re-
sponded the driver, cheerfully.
II left my glasses at home" T
"For a Moral Revolution is
the title of the following ex-
tract from an address by the
Hon. Spruille Braden before the
American Political Science as
ISOLATION in New York City:
So consistent is the record of
history, that I dare say it
could be stated as a natural
law of Socistal behavior that:
1.-The measure of morality in
public office will be in inverse
ration to the amount of state
interventioniSm which may ex-
ist."
There is nothing new in state
interventionism. It is as old
and reactionary as Societa1 or
g~anization itself. Always, when
it permeates the body polite, it
kills the nation.
This assertion repeatedly is
confirmed by history. The Ham
murabi Code, promulgated ear
ier than 1000 B. c., by imposing
controls over wages, prices, pro-
duction, consumption, and all
the rest of the economy, wreck
ed Babylonia. Governmental
extravaganza and a bloated bur-
eaucracy killed individual in
it1dIve and led to the fall of
ancient Greece. A planned econ
omy of state maintenance for
the Slothful - plus excessive
taxation - brought the collapse
of the later Roman Empire and
the repression of a civilized Soc
iety into the Dark Ages.
The Welfare state of the In
cas- became so dsbilitated as
to become easy prey for Pizarro
and his aConquiStadores." In it's
turn, the great Spanish Empire
broke when the throne so reg
imented every activity that no
one could earn a living except
by being a public employee, a
priest, or a sailor. For the same
reasons the British Empire is
now dissolying before our eyes.
You are all too sadly ac-
quainted with how low the eth
ical standards of a few public
servants have sunk. Equally bad
and even worse occurrences
have been uncovered in many
of our state and municipal gov
ernments.
Almost everywhere politicians
and "do-gooders," by camou-
flaging ill-considered or bad
enactments as welfare or de-
Tense measures, are enticing
their peoples down the path of
dalliance into systems of state
interventionism. They are lead
ing them to eventual deStruc-
ton. They are concentrating
power in Washington under a.
bureaucracy already expanded
beyond manageable dimensions
and which increasingly resorts
to uncontrolled extravaganza
and extravagant controls. They
are numbering the nation. Can
there he greater treason? 4
Too many laws create con-
fusion, unwiSe laws corruption.
Together they nurture abSOlut-
ism and criminality.
There are, for example, many
enterprises which could not OPP
crate profitably were they to
obey, to the letter, a complex1ty
of laws and regulations, which
sometimes almost seem to have
been enacted with malice afore-
though. As a result, these bus
mess men are easy prey for
gangSters and crooked officials,
both high and low, who exact
tribute for what they call PRO
lection" In these cases the
quickest prophylactic would be
to do away with the unWise
laws and regulations.
Jefferson once remarked that
a rerolution every so often is
a good thing. This country des-
perately needs a moral revolu-
ton right now. I pray that it
comes soon, before it is too late.
I pray that it will be brought