Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-12-28
AMERICAN LIFE.
One Of ITS BAD Phases-The Desire
to Get Something Rather Than to
He Something.

he Something.
[Charles Dudley Warner in Atlantic Monthly for
january.l
III one were asked TO name Characteristic OF
American life which is very prominent. he might
say 1t IS tie desire TO get something rather than
to be something This desire is not by any
means confined to Americans, but il is more
marked here than elsewhere because OF the alb
SeIce Oh traditions and because Of our flexible
social condition. 1t constitutes q special dlnrel
in view OF the coming struggle for material ad
vantage and prosperity. 1t Is desire which
cannot be too seriously considered By those vino
are getting the elements of their education and
preparing for career. This desire, which Is
| more than tendency, may be described as q
disposition to get place and rank, with little
regard to fitness for them. 1t reverseS the nat
ural order, and preSupposes that success in life
1t is to opportunity. Hence our many failures
OF all sorts, the direct result of our eager as
sumption OF Office. OF business, of trades with
out adequate preparation. The ambitious
tnouSht stirring In most young mems minds is
what career they shall choose; not how they
Shall train themselves for career. It Is the
AMBITION to do something rather than learn
now TO do something; as we said, the eagerness
10 get a place rather than to train ones self to
the duties Of that place 1t is unnecessary to
say how opposite this is to the method which
mas made the Germans strong in every depart
ment or human endeayor. The leading idea in
gymnasium and university is training-sOlid
preparation for the chosen career.
A familiar Illustration of the Sef-confidence
without preparation is that of the young lady
who proposes to go upon the stage with no
training, and seeks a manager when she should
go to an elocui0nist. 1t is the same in other
affairs. The young mans thoughts OF business
or OF an Office are not so much in relation to his
ability to perform it as to get into It. No doubt
all this would be better done-from cabinet
making VI 10 law makIng-if people had habit
of getting ready 20 do things before they began
II IS worth while TO stop and think to whom 1t
IS that We intrust the most delicate duty per-
formed in human SOciety-the making of our
made by our legislature. And who are the leg
tSlatoTs? These law makers are not the proper
cal machine. And here again the young man
ha the pTecoc0uS wisdom OF his generation.
III ne determines TO go into politics, or TO enter
The ciVi service OF his country. he does not pre-
pare himself Ior the duties OF the one nor for the
position coveted in the other: he makes himself
an adept in the manipulation OF caucuSses and
the securing OF the favor OF those who can help
nm. II he seeks a consulate at Naples, he does
not study italian: he carries his ward Here
again, the American is more eager to get some
'hlhg tllan 10 be something: and yet it should be
SAID ln respect 10 the civil service that there is
this excuse for the young man; there is no other
way TO get intOit than that named. Ourciyil ser
wee Is what the English was fifteen years ago.
and is about the most Hndemocratic in the world
III IS closed TO those who are not favored by the
accident OF political influence The English
service Until recently was almost exclusively
HuGd by the ariStocracy; il was the patronage
OF Pari1ament and the Ministry. Now. thrOus .il
the door OF competitive examination. it is open
TO the htmblest Lad in the land if he have
talent, ana we may be sure that the father of
The middle class will never surrender this priyi-
lege Tor his son. Nor win the American people.
when they understand the subject, consent thai
so honorable ard profitable career shall be the
OBJECT OF patronage and the perquislte of sue
cessful political patronage and the perquisfte OF
successful POLITICAL manipulation. They viii
insist Jhat il shall be open to the fair ambition
OF those willing to fit themselves for it. Ii VIII
become legitimate career, like law Or medicine:
ana one advantage OF opening it to public COM
petition-and il is not uni1nportant-is the slim
illus it will give to education.
such are some of the present aspects of Amer
lean life. The topic is fruitful of suggestions,
which we have no space to follow, and it is use.
less TO moral1e. Long ago the philosophers
decided that it is important what a man is, not
Wlat he has. IL was an apOthegm of Scion that
= Safety is generated by wealth, and tnsolence
by safety, and, again. that members OF a
community are more effectively deferred from
injustice ''if those who are not injured feel as
much indignation as those who are" Or. to
pnt TINS In modern phrases. we see the danger
OF national habit that estimates success by
possession, and not by character and nurses
me deiusion OF equality without sympathy be
tween classes.