Daily Republican., 1886-10-27
OUR BOYS.

In glancing over the possible open
ings for boys, one is forced to admit
that unless lad have genius, perse-
verance and good physical constitu-
ton, he will find the beginning, of q
professional lite almost insurmounta-
bly, difficult, If he be obliged from the
start to depend upon his profession for
living. So large is the competition,
even in our own comparatively new
country-and still more so in England
and on the Continent that the induce
n,ents to enter the so-called learned
professions are financially very small.
The satisfaction of ultimate success,
and the intellectual pleasures which
ouch course makes possible, are re-
garded by any true student as more
than compensations for the early dis
comforts, and we would never urge
considerations OF financial nature
against boys following his natural
bent. That is a fatal policy which
advises him to choose his calling
simply for the money returns it promi-
ses, for he will learn sooner or later
that money is but small factor in
true success. But we would very
strongly urge such considerations in
attempting to dissuade those who have
no qualifications tor professional life
from entering upon SO unpromising a
career. There are many whose
scholarly abilities are too meager to
permit the hope of successful competi-
ton when pitted against their more
gifted brothers. 1t is certainly unfor-
tu' ate, if not pitiable, that these yonng
men should, through mistaken notions
of what is respectable and what praise
worthy, rush into course which can
bring only failure and modification.
Each year Thousands of young men
are graduated from our universities
and schools of learning, only very
small proportion of whom are ever
heard of afterward in the real contest
of life. And it has become notable
fact that an advertisement for man to
fill any but a manual position will
bring a number of college graduates
out Of all proportion to the total num-
Der of applicants. This proves moth
ing against our schemes of education,
for the contrary evidence is over
whelming The men of whom as d
nation we are most proud-the bright
est minds in science, literature, med
icine, theology, and the arts have
been for the most part educated in uni
versities and colleges. But the failure
of such large proportion of college
bred men to attain even ordinary use.
fulness in the events of life does prove
that, for them at least, some element
was lacking which should have con.
tributed TO their preparation for subse.
quent duties. Had they been blessed
with the three qualifications already
enumerated, success would have been
possible in almost any direction. But
unfortunately very few have genius, q
smaller proportion than should have
good health; and Of the three, perse
= verance onlyappears to be cultivablt
quality, and even this is largely limi
ted by physical endurance. A very
successful man of affairs quoted by ar
English contemporary, Industries
when asked for the secret of his sue
cess, replied: II had the physica
constitution to begin work at O'Clock
in the morning, and keep on till s,
or 10 at night, and that for 20 years. y
One would say that his success wal
well deserved.
1t is not a Utopian tenet that teaches
the possibility OF success for all regu
larly constituted men. The essentia
condition is the right choice OF voca-
ton. 1t is serious vocation, what tt
do with our boys, for it is just her,
that so many fatal blunders are made
The parent or guardian, actuated by
the BEST motives in the world, is very
apt to lay out plan of life framed en-
tirely from his own point of view, anC
unmindful that what may prove emf
nently successful in one case may b,
equally disastrous in another. Ant
very often the decision is rendered
more difficult by the necessity lait
upon the boy Of earning his daily breat
as he eats it. Then, too frequently
circumstance usurps the place of de
cision. and what should be the result
of careful thought is left to mere acct
dent. Though one be of optimists the
most extreme, it is impossible to deny
that the plan of life pursued by the
majority of men does not lead to sue
cess. And since this plan, whether il
be of design or the mischievous fatal
istic drifting which is no plan, begins
when the man is still boy; it is in
-, the boy that our hope for the future
lies. How is he to be trained, and his
skill and character developed
! We are accustomed 10 believe that
demand and supply regulate them
selves, but in this very problem of the
future of our boys we are brought face
to face with a curious incongruity.
! we see on the one hand the over
crowded professions, and hosts OF
clerks who are ready to apply for any
vacant position. however low the sal
AIRY, while on the other hand We see a
market for labor which is so far from
being glutted that its supplies must
be brought from foreign countries, But
between these unequally balanced
classes little or no exchange is possible,
! for it is . Characteristic of the latter
class that its members must be able to
use their hands and eyes as we'll IS the
brain, and must have 4 manual dex-
terity SUFFICIENT to place them among
the ranks of the great industrial army
of producers.
INT