Let  me  give  one  illustration.  We  are  living  at  a  time  when
there  is  a  very  strong  and  almost  world-wide  revival  of  faith  in
some  form  of  communism — ^both  communism  as  to  social  rela-
tions and  communism  as  to  the  possession  of  property.    If  the


NICHOLAS  KUBRAT   BUTLBB.  1^81

modern  oommuniflt  weie  asked  to  read  Plato's  ^'  Bepublie/'  and
find  out  abont  it  all,  he  woxQd  be  surprised.  If  he  were  asked
to  read  Governor  Bradford's  '^  History/'  and  to  find  what  hap-
pened at  Plymouth  among  a  people  as  intelligent  and  as  high
minded  and  as  united  in  sjniit  as  were  ever  together,  he  would
probably  wonder  why  we  asked  him  to  *give  his  time  to  ancient
history.  But  the  fact  is,  that  human  experience  has  tried  all
these  things.  Human  endeavor  has  traveled  on  all  of  these  roads.
If  we  would  avoid  unceasing  and  exhausting  intellectual  and
social  waste,  it  behooves  us  that  our  leaders  of  opinion,  those
who  are  so  instrumental  in  formulating  our  law,  those  who
guide  us  through  their  interpretation  and  make  their  decisioils,
those  who  occupy  a  leading  place  in  the  development  and  forma-
tion of  puUic  opinion,  should  know,  not  merely  guess  at,  but
know,  what  has  been  done  in  the  world  in  the  way  of  social  and
economic  experimentation.
Therefore  I  would  have  the  preliminary  education  of  the
lawyer  lay  the  greatest  possible  stress  upon  the  fimdamentals  of
economics  and  upon  the  history  of  social  organization,  social
endeavor,  social  success,  and  social  failure.  The  material  is  at
hand  and  abundant.
