The suburban citizen., 1900-04-07

.& NM have difficulty in
~ getting along
/ ] | ]. ! !. !. /. /. ! i. . !. |. |. |. .
n IE-H these days?" is
tE k1IUN. q question which
NJ AA has recently been
m S(MlbIE put to number
FISTEBS{-sIls; OF professional
lI WMNsll ! and business men
p NNgLbRl by New York
HLIf iALI~~ Evening Post re-
vi U.s. porter. For the
~ y most part, the
sis'S' persons talked
with (men Of position in professions
and business) had little hesitation in
answering. They answered in way
hardly complimentary to the young
men concerned. One after another Of
them accounted for the majority of
present failures by single word
iaziness. Though the Importance of
intelligence aud education as essential
factors in a successful career was not
overlooked, the general opinion ap-
peared to be that the one indispens-
able quality was industry, willingness
and ability to work. And this, accord
ing to the statement of several of the
leading business men of New York, is
the quality that is most lacking in
young men to-day.
The first person interviewed was u
successful lawyer in large practice.
young men complain that there isn't
any chance to get ahead in law nova
days." suggested tho reporter, and
the reply came quickly;
"That all depends upon the young
mon. used to be a young man my
self, and 1 have been watching young
men ever since that time / have
made up my mind TO one thing; that
is, that the chief trouble with a great
many young men is that they are
afraid of work. This is true of every
occupation, and ] have seen illustra-
tions Of it many times in my own pro-
fession, Here is a case in point. You
noticed that / was interrupted Just
now by a young man, who came in
and asked me question, and you
perhaps observed that l said No
rather impatiently. The reason was
that the question was too silly for any
man 10 ask who had ever get a place
in law Office. In point cf fact, that
young man has had the best advan-
tages. He went for three or four
years to one of the finest fitting
schools in the country then he had
four years in one of the largest col
leges, aud afterwards three years in
what 1 consider tho best law school.
Yet I sometimes think that lie does
not know any more law now, after he
has been some time in this office, than
he did when he left home for the pre-.
paratory school.
"And the chief reason is because he
never was willing TO work hard, and
there is not the slightest reason to
suppose he will begin at this late day
OF course, there are other reasons
why young men do not succeed as
lawyers than laziness. For example,
I know of man whose legal learning
is extraordinary, and who obtained a
good place in leading law firm, but
after he had been there dozen years
his employers said that he was not
worth S25O0 a year. The trouble in
this case was because he could not
utilize his great learning, and he
could never get on with clients, But,
after making due allowance for all ex-
ceptional cases, l am convinced that
laziness is the chief obstacle to sue
cess in the legal profession, as in every
other walk Of life"
''What do 1 think is the reason why
young men don't get ahead faster in
the railroad business?" 1t is the
President of an important railroad,
which has its offices in this city, who
speaks now. "AIy opinion is that the
great trouble with most of these young
fellows is that they are not willing to
work as hard as they must if they are
ever going to amount to anything.
Let me tell you my own experience
and observations. 1t is, let me see,
fifteen years since / left college, and
decided to go into railroading. The
FIRST chance L got was a job at $40 a
llOnln III tlO OAAlCt VI ~ AhAAAOlNA buA III
the Rocky Mountain region. There
were n number of other young men in
the office. I soon observed that the
rest of them seemed to be chiefly in
ferested in seeing how little work
they could do in return for their pay,
and how early they could get away
from the Office, in order to have more
time for cards, billiards, the theatre
and other amusements. was inter-
ested in my work, and after I had
done my days duty in the Office
would go to my room and devote the
evening to reading railroad pubioa-
tions and studying all the books bear
ing on railroads that / could find. Oh
course, my superiors soon noticed the
difference between me and the rest ol
J the fellows. It was not long before 9
I hard Job Of work was to be done, not
at all in my regular line. was given
a chance to try my hand, and did
the work so we'll that 1 was soon
promoted. 1t was not long after that