Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-06-12
THE MAN OF ABILITY. ss.I
10 He Under n Handicap In the hat.
tie of Lifef

|
With reference to ability, experience
hourly confirms two CONGRATULATIONS: a
man of ability will sooner OF later make
his way. There never was 50 urgent and
so general n demand for every form OF
ability us there is now
| Unfortunately the rcatioA, CT these
two facts to certain other f,tcA are little
understood. 1t is generally assumed, for
instance. that ability is distinct adynn-
tagc to u man. Is it not, instead, n hand.
icap?
Let it be stated again. and with en-
phasis, that ability is very much in de-
mand. The market groans for it, But
this does not mean that ability will be
recognized. Capacity to discern ability
in others, az distinguished from capacity
to discern ability in ourselves. is the rur-
est OF all capacities. Uncrring acumen,
exquisite discrimination. can alone meas
ure ability. siit it, choose one form and
adapt another. No one would value a
clodhopper's opinion OF Plato, but every
Tom, Dick and Harry feels qualified to
Sit in Judgment upon ability. III
could only get hold of nan with abil-
ity! cries the fatuous employer. to whom
1t never occurs that capacity to distin-
guish ability from its scmblance is the
most exquisite Of the faculties.
For over $500 years one man has
stood pre-emincnt as Il judge OF human
utility. Tint man was Periclcs. His
gift in this direction was little less than
divine. 1t enabled him to lift the Athe-
mans to heights of achievement above
which he intellect has never reached.
That was ability's golden age, for it then
had patron who not only sought it, but
discerned ii.
Washington possessed this heavenly
endowment. AT the risk of seeming pa
trlotlcaly partial we may say that he
eqnaled Pcricles in his unerring percep-
tion. In those years of ordeal from 17TG
To 1850. and again from 1859 to 1897, we
never ind Washington astray in his csti-
mate of ability. He could choose lnen--a
thing Infinitely harder to do than to
choose pictures or pianos or potatoes.
ana i'll choosing them he was in very
truth a father to his country.
Abili'y's first handicap. therefore, Is
the rarity of capacity trained to discern
it. The absence OF this capacity in the
man who chooses men ruins great enter
prises every day. Eut the man who
makes botch Of choosing men never
dreams that The fault is his own There
never WAS such Il demand for ability as
there is today Say rather there never
was such a need of men capable OF esti-
mating ability.
There is no such thing us ordinary abil-
lily. All ability is extraordinary: hence
whcnit discloses itself nicaipcrity-- always
in the majority combines against it.
This is ability's most mortifyng handi-
cap. Mediocrity does not detest ability
1t simply has no use for IT, There is the
same natural antipathy between mcd-
ocrity and ability that there is between
truth aud vested interests or between
dog and u cat
Bourgct kecnly remarks that when sew
eral suitors WOO maid he who loves her
most will lose her. The very excess of
true love throws the unfortunate into u
fever. He loses his self command in the
crisis OF the game. A cooler rival, with
out sentiment, controls his faculties and
wins. The same phenomenon is witness
ed when ability completes for favor with
mediocrity. Ability loves to work and is
excited by prospect. Mediocrty re-
CARDS nll prospects colby. Ability per-
fects itself IN seclusion. Mediocrity pulls
wires. Ability breaks its heart in the
pride OF conscious capacity and is not
even asked to the wedding when mcdi-
ocrity mnrries the only child OF the head
Of the firm. Ability is compelled to Gre
atc its own environment. This means d
long obscurty of hunger and humiliation.
Think of Columbus. obliged to pass Il
decade in teaching that the earth is
round before he could begin his life work!
There is one sweet that mediocrity new
er tastes. Soon or late ability comes by
its own. Columbus climbs TO the deck in
tile gray dawn. and his heart leaps at the
cry of Land" IL mefliocrity be without
tragedies, il is also without ecstasies.
Certainly. ability is too often a handi-
cap The only consolation we can srg-
gest is that it hanaicaps very, very few
OF us.-New York Jourual
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