The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-04
THE "ERA OF YOUNG MEN,"
Not More True Now than in Former
Periods of History.

| Springfield Republican.
| The Schwab episode in the history Of
| the steel trust did much to spread the
| idea that this is 1.-The era of young men. -
Here was a man not yet forty at the head
| of the greatest corporation in the world.
| Even Mr.. Schwab's rapid collapse has done
little to shatter the impression that the
world is for young men and that young
men shall run the world. 1t is now noted
in some quarters as significant of the
| young man era" that the new head OF the
| Carnegie Steel Company, the greatest of
| the subsidiary companies in the trust, is
| only thirty years Of age Whenever a
| young man rises to a high place in in
dustry. commerce or public affairs. there
are those who say that this indeed is the
| era Of young men.
Whatever may be the truth In the steel
| the era of young men than many eras, So
called. in the past have been. In all Pc
the the progress '' Of mankind Alexander com
quered the civilized world before he was
| thirty Pitt was prime minister of Eng
| land at twenty-four; Alexander Hamilton
| thirty-two. Some Of the celebrated exam
| plies of enormous activity at an early age
in life, In past times. really make the
achievements of our modern youth seem
small. Compare the illustrious Schwab
with Napoleon, who conquered Italy at
| twentysix. If the Napoleonic age, includ-
| ing the leaders of the French revolution,
was not an era of young men, then there
cial demands upon the activity of the
never was one in the history of the world.
1t may be that special periods make spe-
younger generation in times of revolu-
tionary change or very rapid expansion Of
the energies of the race. Undoubtedly there
are tasks for which the vigor of youth are
peculiarly adapted, and by natural selec-
| tive process those tasks are often per-
formed by men not yet in middle life. Yet
1T would be fallacious to assume that only
in our own time has the special quality
of youth been recognized In certain lines
of work and under certain conditions it
has always been easy TO believe that the
very errors of strong and ardent youth
were more instructive and profitable than
the wisdom of older minds.
Nor is il true that the present time is
| really dominated by young men in any such
sense as some superficial observers sup
pose. In the most noted illustration of the
supremacy of young men, the steel trust
what is the actual situation? Are not the
real masters of that concern men of adj
vanced years-men like Mr.. Carnegie and
| Mr. Morgan, who can make and unmake
managers, superintendent and presidents
at will? All through the business organ
| ization of America who are the masters,
| young men or old? Mr.. Rockefeller can
| hardly be called a young man. The presi-
| dents of the great New York banks are not
| young men. The presidents of the great
railroad systems are not as a rule, under
| forty-ive. Mr.. Cassatt, of the Pennsylva-
| MIA Railroad, is sixty-four. In politics
| the top; yet, despite Mr.. Roosevelt. IL will
be conceded that the most powerful group
| Of men in the United States Government
| are a number of United States senators
! whose ages range from sixty to seventy
| five. The Roman Catholic Church one OF
| the most remarkable organizations on earth.
| has lately lost pope at the age of ninety
| three. and gained new one whose years
number almost seventy. Old men, so-called,
| run the papacy.
| 1t is a false assumption, too. that, in the
| past, periods of action have always brought
| young men TO the front. The creator of
| modern Germany, Bismarck. was by no
means young" when he contemplated the
results of Sedan: nor was Won Moitke, the
| great soldier Of the modern German en-
| pire. Cavour was by no means In his
| teens when he liberated Italy from the
| Austrian yoke. Robert +. Lee the pre-em-
| inent soldier OF the confederacy. was nearly
sixty in the war: and Farragut fought his
| battle Of Mobile Bay at sixty-three. Christie
| pher Columbus. 10 be sure, discovered
| America when he was approaching fifty,
but evidently forty IS now considered the
dead line between youth and old age by
some OF our modern interpreters OF life.
II is with no purpose TO discourage youth
| that these observations are made. Youth
| Is glorious In It's strength. its optimism,
| Its bouyancy But sometimes IL gets a
"sweiled head" This Is very apt 10 be
| the case with young men who achieve con-
l spicuous worldly success without the long