The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1908-11-28
INFLUENCE OF A "PULL."

One of the greatest delus1onS that
ever crept into youths head is that
his advancement depends upon hav
ing ''pull" with people who are in
fuential.
His future is wrapped up i'll him
self the opportunity he is looking
for must be born in his own brain !;
his future must be wrought out from
his own mind and with his own hands.
1t is wholly question of self help,
resolution, self-faith and grit.
Everywhere we see young men who
seem to be waiting for somebody to
discover them. They feel that they
have ability; but they seem to think
that some condition, circumstance,
or person is going to take hold of
them and give them boost. They
think that they could make progress
# somebody would only give them a
push; but they do not seem to be
able to start themselves.
How many people there are who
are just waiting for something to
happen-they do not know what, but
anything that will change things and
give them start.
If there is any fact which nature
emphasizes more than another, it is
the fact that inertia is always death.
Not to move oneself, to stand still, is
paralysis-paralysis of faculty, ambi-
ton, or ability.
Isn't it shame to see strong, we'll
educated young people in this land of
opportunity waiting for something to
help them, many of them idly stand
ing around for years hoping that
somebody will give them a boost?
Even while they are waiting, poor
boys with fewer opportunities and
advantages forge their way unaided,
and reach the goal first. No other
lesson youth ever learns is as valu-
able as the one that, whatever he
makes, whatever he becomes, he will,
in the main, make himself. If we
analyze the success of self-made men,
we find that very small percentage
of it has come from outside help.
They have blazed their own paths,
forged their own way. Self-help is
the key to all power. Help yourself
and be strong; wait for others to help
you and be weakling.
It is pitiable to see the sons Of
wealth lifted into position which they
have no strength to hold, because
they have not developed the necessary
mental and moral muscle by climbing
to them. And there is no other way
of developing mental and moral mus
Gle but by climbing. For one to be
lifted into position without any pre-
vious training or preparation for it, is
positive cruelty. 1 know young men
who are nominally heads of great con-
Germs, who are constantly mortified
by the consciousness that men below
them deserve the positions which they
hold, and are infinitely more capable
of filling them.
Nothing in this world can compen-
safe for the loss of self-respect and
no man can respect himself for accept
ing that which he has not earned.
No man can feel that he is quite hon.
est when heis given, througha pull" "
or influence, position that others
have honestly earned. He can not
help feeling mean every morning
when he goes to the Office or factory
to take a position which some one
else ought to have. His sense of
justice is outraged, his sense of fair
ness protests; his self-respect is wound
ed, his independence crippled, and
he is so much less a man than he
would have been if he had squarely
and honestly earned the position in
equal competition. .-Me0O Century.