The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1952-07-18


| c S t remembered of the famous
Adams family of Presidents, diplo-
mats, and scholars, at the height of
his intellectual maturity trained the
brilliance of his legal mind upon the
study of civilization, in an effort to
evolve basic understanding of the
ebb and flow, the rise and decay of
social organizations. First published
at the turn of the century, his THE
LAW OF CIVILIZATION AND DE-
CAY has within recent years been
re-issued with an introduction by
Charles A. Beard.
Striking indeed is the incontrover-
tible conclusion that throughout his
tory world powers have shown a re-
markably similar pattern of rise and
fall, and further, this pattern reveals
that "centers of concentration" the
mighty empires of all ages, flourish
ed where there was an abundance of
natural resources but moved else
where, often through great social up
heavals, when these resources were
exhausted. Thus, his studies led
Brooks Adams to stress geography in
relation to economics and history
(thereby anticipating the Nazi "geo-
politicians" by many years..
But the lesson of. our own best
thought is obviously unheeded. Year
after year the powerful rivers of our
land lay wanton waste to the country
side;. exploited forests and soils re-
ceive but scant nod, and bold visions
for the future enhancement of our
resources are not countenanced by
those who WELD power. For example,
a comprehensive plan for the overall
development of. the Missouri valley
land and water resources, created by
the U. S. Department of Agriculture,
gathers dust in some pigeon-hole. Per-
sonal greed is permitted to shackle
the scientific knowledge which could
prevent the depletion of our natural
resources, while puny souls argue
outworn cliches to arrest the future.
When it became clear, at the turn
of the century, that America had be-
come the dominant world power,
Adams expressed great fear that the
ruling power-our apitalists-woul1 /
be morally and intellectually made
Iuate for dealing with the complex
ties of our developing democracy,
and through this inadequacy would
from our shores to more hospitable
soil. Recently, under Washington
iateline, it was reported that a big
business organization-the Commit
zee for Economic Development, whose
directors include corporation farm
ne interests as we'll as leading in
lustries- recommended cuts in
ederal expenditures for conserva
ion, rural identification, new hos
,itals and schools, river and harbors
evelopment, flood and irrigation con- +
roll Now Brooks Adams was called a r
essimist by many of his contempt +
aries, yet his worst fears of the !
hortsightedness and cupidity of our l
usiness leaders are here more than l
Justified.
His painstalling study of conditions G
l Europe during the last part of c
ne nineteenth century led Adams to II
he conclusion that England and r
rance were definitely on the wane +
5 world powers; that Germany, des- r
lite her dynamic energy, lacked the r
for world domination. But n
f the vast potentials of Russia he u
rote at the turn of the century: Y
What social revolution in Russia Z
Guild portend transcends human fore L
ght but probably its effects would U
e felt throughout the world" We L
ear of great plans of reforestation G
the USSR today; of mighty canals r
hiking distant waterways; of gigantic r
ydro-electric plants; of vast projects r
reclaim the frozen wastelands and n
exploit the unbelievable wealth 4
regions once considered barren. 1