The record-union., 1899-07-29
OUTLOOK FOR YOUNG MEN.

AouDtiess the wise man who first
! SAD There is always room at the
Top. did not mean that every person
couio De accommodated with conspic-
uous seat. We all understand life and
as conditions we'll enough to realize
now Few Of us are fitted to be exalted;
i.ioeed, common sense turns away the
.nougnt that every aspiring man ana
"o.iian can force a way to supreme
eininence; and upon the whole 1t is
.;ot desirable that there shall be very
large number of those dangerous
~ gifted people called geniuses.
Inc healthy view to take of what lie
oiiers 10 young men has regard to the
average. A youth has no right to as
sumo at the outset that he is above
the lair mean of his generation; but
ne Is morally bound to accept the task
VI making the very most of himself ana
MS honorable opportunities.
said great financier, the late Joseph
H. Brown of Georgia: 1.-The secret OF
wealth. getting is honesty. In the first
place, be honest with your own heart. =
lie was an honest man. He began as
the driver of an ox-cart in the Chero-
kee Hills, hauling pine-knot fuel to
peddle on the streets Of Canton, the
county seat. When he had saved few
dollars he read law, first having picked
up little education by studying at
night. He was not a genius; his mind
was slow to degree; but he had the
prime gift Of persistence in a single line
of purpose. Integrity, simplicity and
cool judgment won cases Tor MIN
against the splendid eloquence of far
passed to the bench, from the bench
to the Governors seat, which he held
for several terms; then he was chosen
United States Senator.
The outlook for the young man now
is far better than it was sixty years
ago when Senator Brown began with
the fund earned by driving token. The
other day young man, barely thirty
five years old, announced himself a
candidate for the Senatorship in IN
diana. He was poor had worked his
own way through college, had won
an ,oratorical contest, and had been
frequently called upon for public adj
dresses; but no. one was expecting him
to step from a rather obscure law office
to the place of national honor second
only to that of the President. Pluck,
energy. honesty, Agood address and
manly earnestness won.
The opening of a new century now
near at hand will probably bring to
young men unusual opportunities for
successful careers. The whole world
is expecting great changes in the activ"
tiles of trade, commerce, invention;
politics will have a new basis: agricul-
ture will feel the impetus of a wider
range Of foreign demand; the stimulus
of competition will give attractiveness
to labors and pursuits which have
hitherto been neglected, and the host
of young men who are now cudSeling
their wits to find an open course to
making a competent livelihood will find
not a gate closed across the path of
him who has conscientiously trained
his head and his hand.
1t is easy to do what one is absolutely
master of. Indeed, this absolute mas
terry commands the fighting deck of any
trade, profession or labor, and to be
best in anything honorable is to be
secure of continual success.
There has been too much stress laid
upon the examples Of such men as
Napoleon and Caesar Ambition is
necessary, but INSCRIPTIONS thirst for
power Is another thing. The beautiful
careers to young men of average force
and excellent training are far prefer
able to the feverish life of those who
torture themselves and unsettle an age
with a mad desire for personal ag-
grandizement. The youth who under
stands his own time and fairly eSti-
mates his own abilities is the one who
safely builds for happiness. On the
farm, in the shop, at the counter of
trade, along the ways of average activ-
tiles, the large majority of us must ind
our career These are the roads that
can never be shut up, and they are
roads of honor, profit and happiness TO
the sincere worker who has mastered
the details of his vocation.
Room at the top" then, means room
for the conscientious, persistent, cheer
full plodder, as we'll as for the brilliant
and lucky plunger who breaks the bar
riers half by accident. The old story
of the hare and the tortoise can never
grow stale while the heavily trudging
feet of the average toiler at details pass
the wrecks of chariot and car once the
seats of rushing ambition. 1t IS not
for the few that life is made. but for
the many. The outlook for young men
is not from the grandstand built for
exceptionally endowed observers; nor
should the rank and file Of our youth
understand that immensities of fame,
power and glory are open to all.
. Our present generation Of coming
men, youths of from fifteen to eighteen,
can have not the least ground for fear
ing the temper and promise of the
times into which their lives are going.
Never before in the worlds history has
there been such a call from the near
future to rising army of eager work
ers. Science has probed the secrets OF
things, and the practical application OF
knowledge to all the lines of labor has
lifted even mental services to place
of dignity, provided always that the
operator is master of what he takes
into hand.
1t is true that competition has les
sened, and must yet lessen, the wages
of skill; but combinations of capital
that can afford to accept very small
dividends on immense investments
have lessened, sand will yet lessen, the
price of necessary articles, so that
there will be scarcely any decrease in
the purchasing power of incomes.
Moreover. activities bid fair to null
tiply in almost every field of industry.
Discovery never flags. vast schemes Of
Improvement and reform continually
change the currents of effort, and with
every new movement of capital and en-