The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1886-09-24
OUR i boys.


ment is concerned, is the loss of interest on
due par OF the bonds.
OUR BOYS.
In glancing over the possible open
ings for boys, one is forced to admit
that unless lad have genius, per-
severance, and good. physical con-
stitution, he will find the beginning of
professional life almost insurmount-
ably 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
ments to enter the so-called learned pro-
LESSONS are financially very small. The
satisfaction of ultimate success, and the
intellectual pleasures which such 4
course makes possible, are regarded by
any true student rs more than compen-
sations for the early discomforts, and
we would never urge considerations OF
financial nature against boys fol-
lowing his natural bent. That is n
fatal policy which advises him to choose
his calling simply for the money returns
it promises, for he will learn sooner or
later that money is but a small factor
in true success. But we would very
strongly urge such considerations in at
tempting to dissuade those who have no
natural qualifications for professional
life from entering upon so unpromising
a career. There are many whose schol-
arly abilities are too meager to permit
the hope of successful competition when
pitted against their more gifted BROTH
ers 1t is certainly unfortunate, if not
pitiable, that these young men should,
through mistaken notions of what is
respectable and what is praiseworthy,
rush into n course which can bring them
only failure and modification.
Each year, thousands of young men
arc graduated from our universities and
schools of learning, only very small
proportion of whom are eyer heard of
afterward in the real contests of life.
And it has become notable fact that
an advertisement for man to fill any
but u manual position will bring a
number of college graduates out of all
proportion to the total applicants. This
proves nothing against our schemes of
education, for the contrary evidence is
too overwhelming. The men of whom
as q nation we are most proud, the
brightest minds in science, literature,
law, medicine, theology, and the fine
arts, have been for the most part edu-
Gated in universities and colleges. But
the failure of such large proportion of
college-b bred men to attain even ordinary
usefulness in the events of life does
prove that, for them at least, some ele-
inent was lacking which should have
contributed to their preparation for sub
sequent 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; n
smaller proportion than should, have
good health; and of the three, per-
severance only appears to be cultiva-
bic quality, and even this is largely
limited by physical endurance. A very
successful man of affairs, quoted by an
English contemporary, Industries, when
asked for the secret of his success, re-
piled, 81 had the physical constitution
to begin work at six o'clock in the
morning. and keep on till eight, nine,
years" One would say that his sue
cess was we'll deserved.
1t is not Utopian tenet that teaches
the possibility of success for all normally
constituted men. The essential condi-
ton is the right choice of vocation.
1t is serious question. what to do with
our boys, for it is just here that so
many fatal plumbers are made. The
parent or guardian, actuated by the best
motives in the world, is very apt to lay
out plan of life framed entirely from
his own point of view, and unmindful
that what may prove eminently success
full in one case may be equally disas-
trous in another. And very often the
decision is rendered more difficult by
the necessity laid upon the boy of earn
ing his daily bread us he eats it. Then,
too frequently, circumstance usurps the
place of decision, and what should be
the result of careful thought is left to
mere accident. Though one be of OPP
timists the most extreme, it is impossible
to deny that the plan of life pursued by
the majority of men does not lead to
success. And since this plan, whether
it be of design or the mischievous fatal
istic drifting which is no plan, begins
when the man is sal boy, it is in the
boy that our hope for the future lies
How is he to be trained, and his skill
and character developedp
We are accustomed to believe that de-
mand and supply regulate themselves,
but in this yeiy problem of the future of
our boys, we are brought face to face
with curious incongruity We see on
the one hand the overcrowded profess
ions, and hosts of clerks who are ready
to apply for any vacant position, how
| ever low the salary, while on tho other