The Organized Farmer

BEAUTY AS A NATURAL RESOURCE

The Backus-Brooks company is a large and powerful

business organization which has made millions in profits

out of the natural resources of northern Minnesota. To

further increase the wealth already extracted from this

region, the company proposes to build a number of power

dams whereby large tracts of public lands will be flooded.

Claiming that this will spoil the beauty of the country and

destroy its attractiveness as a summer playground and

tourist center, the proposition is vigorously opposed by the

Isaac Walton league, the American Legion and other organ-

izations. A congressional committee is touring the region

affected this week and its investigations appear to have

turned the members against the project.

This matter is significant of a change in public opinion

and shows that we have entered upon a new era of develop-

ment. Material utility and monetary profit were the only

considerations in the early pioneer days with the result

that individuals were enriched while the country was rob-

bed of its natural beauty. The exploiters of our national re-

sources left wreck and ruin behind them.

Something similar characterized the action of the early

pioneers in other activities. They came here to make money

and because accustomed to look upon everything from a

utilitarian viewpoint. If a thing didn't pay in dollars and

cents it was no good.

But the spirit of the time has changed. The increase

in wealth, leisure and education has now created a demand

for and an appreciation of the esthetic values of life. Peo-

ple do not only want to live in beautiful and comfortable

homes, but they also want the natural beauties of their

surroundings perpetuated and enhanced.

The small cities are gradually eliminating their ugly

spots and small towns and villages are building parks and

beautifying their streets. Outdoor beauty is something

that rich and poor can enjoy and, therefore, is something

everybody is interested in.

The Backus-Brooks company is still actuated by the

spirit of material acquisition regardless of consequences.

Had its proposition to build these dams been made even as

short a time as twenty-five years ago, it might have gained

permission to go ahead with the project without opposition,

but today it has encountered a different public feeling

Values are no longer measured by the yardstick of the dol-

lar—Milan Standard.