The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-09-14
STANDING ROOM FOR YOUNG MEN.
The following inquiry comes to us from
a city clergyman;
To In EDITOR:


general, for our correspondent does not
tell US whether his young friend has nat
ural aptitude for any special calling
Success in life depends upon other con-
ditious than a fine personal appearance
and a college education, and these are
the only facts which in this instance are
brought to our attention. What may be
the best occupation for one handsome
colIegian may be the worst for another,
| and one may succeed under social con-
ditions and in a section Of the country
where another would fail; so much depn9ds
upon natural capacity and the fitness of
things We take it that our correspon-
! dents friend is a type OF very large
class of young men, who, after leaving
| college, are compelled to earn their living
| and make their own way in the world.
! They have culture, sometimes deep,
oftener superficial; they have no special
training for business or professional life;
their available capital Is their educa-
tion---a security on which money Lenders
will make no advances. They are willing
ID work; but what shall they do? Where
-lall they begin? "Education," they
eason, lis powerful lever, and we
now how to handle it. Only give us a
place to stand and we can move the
world"
Ay! if the lever be long enough! Our
colleges lay the foundation ofgeneral Gull
ture, and upon these as a base the struc-
ture of professional or business success
can be raised A collegian may quote
a Greek verse about Hebe's sandal, but
he cannot make pair of shoes. The
colleges teach many things that widen a
mans intelligence, discipline his force,
and raise his intellectual tone, but they
do not teach him how to earn his living.
\ college graduate can teach school,
sometimes well, sometimes not so well;
but without supplemental training that
Is all he can do. In every other occupa-
tion he must begin at the bottom and
serve an apprenticeship. We DO not
disparage the advantages OF an academic
education. 1t has become the essential
condition of good workmanship in the
highest spheres of Enmsn activity. But
if men canT do as well without it as
they could years ago, neither can they
DO as much with it. Owing to the spread
of popular intelligence, the value of a
college education as a working capital
for a young man is less than it was fifty
years ago, simply because it gives him
less vantage ground. The educational
lever is a tool in common use.
"Only give Us a foothold," plead the
handsome collegians The lever may
be short, but we shall bring to bear the
power ofearnest purpose Only give us
place to stand An, this cry for
standing room comes from every quarter
been so many educated men out ofwork,
out eff pocket, out Of courage. The lower
tieIs of every profession and calling
are overcrowded with workmen and
idlers, who have little to do and have to
fight hard to keep the wolf from the
door. Valedictorians are becoming bar
| tenders, and their class mates are taking
| fares in the street cares. There Is a glut
/ of literary labor of the lower grades.
| From the west As well as the east, from
! San Francisco and Omaha as well as
/ New York, comes the same CRY, stand
ing room-only give us that" When
Mr.. GreelGy used TO advise Young men
to go west, Mere was a steady movement
OF immigration, settlement, and internal
development, which made success reason.
| ably certain to all who deserved it ano
to many who did not. a young mar
who settled in new town was borne
along on the wave of material progress
The rapid expansion of business and the
growth of population of the town gave
momentum to his own fortunes. He LET
behind him ranks that were overcrowdeC
and got footheld somewhere else before
the crowd came Education and energy
were forces that came into play at once
While young men abroad were hobblin;
along in wooden shoes Our young mel
wore winged sandals. But the trans
atlantic tide of immigration has ebbeC
and the currents of interstate migration
are running low. There was a temPorar,
suspension of immigration after 1887 an,
1857, but it did not have the deadenin
effect of the panic of 1878. Hard time
and high taxes are Ogres that frighte
away immigrants; the surplus population
of Ireland has been drained off; German
are content to remain in a united Ger
msny. The country Is still growing, bu
it is the growth of the oak aud not of tn
mushroom. Railroad construction la
been suspended in all the western state
except California; agriculture is bese
with terrible contingencies; the pOI
ulation Is stationary save in fe'
localities like the Black hills wher
there IS a sporadic developments; an
industrial enterprise has lost much of il
elasticity. Young men cannot settle t
day in a new town with the prospect {
! winning reputation and fortune in fe
| wears. They must struggle throug
deep waters; they will not be borne alon
, on the crests of the waves. Nor is tn
prospect much brighter in the soutl
In Tennessee there Is a slight develOI
ment of manufacturing interests;
Georgia improved methods of agricultur
t have been introduced; and in Texa
immigration has received.a strong imPul'
/ and the population is increasing quit
| rapidly. But in the south, as in tn
west, young men must fight for standin
room, and when they get a firm fOothol
, they must stand and wait for the turn
the tide The growth of our expo
trade is a sign of the return of CONNIE
cial and industrial prosperity. The tic
may be turning now, but it will strik
the east before it reaches the west an'
south.
What, then, shall our corresponder
do for thP handsome collegian? Civ
him an o.tft and send him to the BlaC
hills? College men do not make ver
good g.ld-diggers and pioneers. Pac
, him off to Texas as the most promisin
field in the south? Unless he has natur
4:.I E,r s4ock raising and p1aOfin