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<br /> <br />.' . <br />" <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />From that d~, whenever it was, to the d~ in which we live, the <br />history of man has been a record of a persisten struggle to achieve that <br /> <br />mastery. <br /> <br />Those primitive ancestors of the race had to find means of sub- <br /> <br />duing the beasts of the field. They shaped their crude clubs, their spears <br /> <br />and javelins, their bows and arrows and after years which we can not <br /> <br />number that portion of the problem of mastering environment was reasonably <br /> <br />well achieved. <br /> <br />By degrees and over centuries, the number of which we can but <br /> <br />va.guely guessj that part of t.he problem of m8stering environment was. <br /> <br />likewise reasonably well solved. <br /> <br />Of course, even now, the majority of the human family live in <br /> <br />dwellings with earthen floors and of those having wooden floors the <br /> <br />percentage which has floor coverings in the form of cahpets and rugs is <br /> <br />infinitely small, but shelter in some form is av$ilable to almost all. <br /> <br />Humani ty had a third problem in its search for mastery of en- <br />vironment, the problem of finding a reasonably adequate and dependable <br /> <br />supply of food. <br /> <br />We have staved off food shortages 9Y substituting mechanical <br />power for the food consuming dO<:lestic animals and by the application of <br /> <br />fertilizers to the remaining acres and by the use of better seeds. <br /> <br />It is with such a baCkground that we seek to evaluate the <br /> <br />national program of reclamation. <br /> <br />There are divergent opinions as to the basic causes for the <br /> <br />magnificent achievements of the American people. One group, generally <br /> <br />referred to as "on the left," ascribes our success to an accidental <br /> <br />event by which we become the possessors of vast natural resources. In <br /> <br />,2480 <br /> <br />2 <br />