The Iola register., 1886-10-29
JUST CRITICISM.

| JUST CRITICISM.
rhe Young Ma. Of To-day Srercilsssly
Shown Up In His True Light.
There are ten articles and essays
written Oh the ''modern young woman
where there is one that treats of the
young man of to-day. We are apt to
criticise the tendencies and weaknesses
! Of the young woman, forgetting that
the young man offers an equal abun-
dance of material for the critical seal
pei. The absurdity of modern fashions
for women 10 universally decried, but
only here and there is protest made at
the masculine fashion-plates that parade
through our principal avenues and
streets. The cry is that the modern
young woman u shallow in her CONVEX
sation. with all her thoughts centered
on her apparel But is the young man
of the present day so infinitely her su-
perior? Is he SO studious. so scholarly
in his conversation? Arc his tendencies
for dress and pleasure less marked? 1t
is well sometimes tc oriticise the critic.
The young men have, with much pro-
priety. been dcnominated the flowers of
q country. More and more the young
man of America is establishing himself
in the commercial interests of our
country and in the high places of all
professions, until one is at times
amazed to find the interests and
responsibilities of great commercial
houses and professional enterprises
resting upon youthful shoulders, and
propelled by young idea and brains.
1t is highly creditaLle to the young
manhood of America that these in
stances of ambitious progress can he
found; yet these cases are still in the
minority. Take the average young
man, and there is room for vast i'm
provement. To what shall be attribu-
ted the scarcity of our young men in the
public libraries, their meagre attend
ance at societies and associations of in
tellectual and practical purposesp One
of our prominent cities boasts of not less
than twenty first-class literary societies,
yet the combined attendance weekly is
but 226! The same city has within its
limits eighteen other educational asso-
Citations of art, science and music. and
the average attendance at each is but
fourteen! In business circles there is
much the same condition of affairs.
Nine out of ever ten of our young men
perform their duties in q mechanical
manner, glad when the clock points to
the hour which means the end of an
other day. 1t is not an uncommon
thing for young clerks to begin to watch
at three o'clock for the approach of five
p. m. The period of life through which
they are passing has scarcely any mean
ing for them. They are forgetful of the
important fact that they are standing at
the opening gates of life, that they are
pass ng through a season of their exist
ence that should be crowded full of plans
and actions. An interest in sporting
matters takes the place of an interest in
what most concerns them and their flu.
ture. 1t is much easier for thousands
of our young men to remember the
name of every member of the leading
baseball mines in the country than to
recollect the names of the customers
with whom their firm has daily
dealings. The scores of baseball games
take the place of the discounts allowed
certain customers in their minds. An
intelligent interest in all games of ex-
ercise is healthy, but, like all things, it
can become too absorbing and business
and the practical things of life become
secondary matters. Every young man
is in himself parcel of tremendous
possibilities, and these he realizes in
proportion to his efforts to developing
them. In country which holds out so
many opportunities for young men as
that in which we live, it is remarkable
that such little effort is made to en-
brace them. There is no excuse, ex-
cept in the most extreme of unfortunate
cases, for respectable young man IN
America to fail of commercial and So
cial success, if he will only look about
him and employ the opportunities as
they present themselves before him.
This thousands of our young men fail
to comprehend. and here lies the secret
of the standstill at which they find
themselves. The inclination is too much
toward pleasure and not enough to
labor. 1t is in youth that we should
work if when we arrive ut manhood we
would have our burdens easier. The
young man of to-day is not, to our
mind, what he should or might be.
There is tendency to look too lightly
upon the practical things of life. and to
pay too much attention to things that
are interesting in themselves, but that
serve as poor foundation stones upon
which to build a successful career
brooklyn Magazine.