Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-03
Plenty of Opportunity.


on the part of the young men of to-
day is to bewail their alleged lack of
opportunity to get along in the world;
but in this there is probably very lit
tie difference from the young men of
a hundred years ago. The tendency
to bewail lack of opportunity has al
ways been common not only to young
men but to old men as we'll.
The young man who wastes his time
bewailing the lack of opportunity
could be much better employed other
wise. If his own common sense and
reason do tell him so, he should
be able to learn from the experience OF
others that the idea Of opportunity for
advancement becoming scarcer, Is a
most absurd one. The world at large
is growing in every way; but in no
other one particular is it more pro-
life than in the production of oppor-
tunities.
The great trouble with the average
young man is that he has a false no
ton of what constitutes an opportu-
nifty for advancement. Too many of
them dream Of the fortune that should
be left them by the rich relative of
whom they have never heard; but
who might possibly be in existence.
Others think only Of the lucky chance
by which they may become the finder
of a gold mine, and still others are
fond of picturing themselves as be-
coming suddenly rich as the result of
a lucky speculation in margins, or
something Of that kind
But all this is silly, very silly.
There are very few people who attain
great wealth as the result Of chance or
accident, and a tremendously smaller
proportion of those who do, ever know
what to do with it. These are cold
facts; but not Of convincing value to
the dreamer, because he does not and
cannot know better.
1t would be quite ridiculous to as
sumo that wealth brings happiness or
that wealthy men are always happy.
Happiness always involves consider
ably more than the enjoyment of
prosperity, but this is a fact; the
man who begins at the bottom and by
honest endeavor, industry, economy
and business sagacity acquires a COM
petence, always enjoys the respect
and esteem Of a majority of those with
whom he is associated, and he comes
in time to regard that respect and es-
TEEN as Of more value than any other
possession.
But speaking of opportunity. Look
around in the country right about us
and pick out the men who have ap-
parently made the greatest success of
their lives in the matter of acquiring
property and engaging the conf
dence and esteem Of their fellows. In
nine cases out Of ten it will be found
that they began the struggle as empty
handed as any of the young men of
today. In many cases they lacked even
such education as is to be had in the
primary schools of today and the dis
contend were almost without limit.
We hear some of our young friends
replying: Yes; but those men had
something to make something of. They
had everything to themselves. We've
got more competition than they had.
That is all buncombe. Those men
had less out of which to make some
thing than the young men Of today
Just as the young man Of today ex-
cuses himself for lack Of opportunity
those men, seeing the teeming oppor-
tunities about them eXclaim: "Oh
that l could call back twenty-five OF
thirty years, and go into the things
see now with the energy and vim
had then"
No, there is no trouble with the op-
portunities of today. They are al
right. The young man who is willing
to work. who will devote himself alb
solutely to the business of getting
along and making the most Of things
will remain faithful to the. end, viii
be able to go further than any OF
those of the present generation have
gone But the young man who wastes
his time bewailing lack Of opportuni-
| ty will never improve his present con-
dition.