Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-04-18
THE DAY OF OPPORTUNITY.
Brighter Now Than Ever Before In
the History of the World.

the History of the World.
To the Officers and Members OF the
Farmers Union:
/ have no patience with the COM
plant that, In our day, opportunities
for the young man are disappearing.
1t Is the cry Of ignorance or laziness.
In every line opportunities are
greater, and rewards more promising,
than at any time In American history.
The only individuals with cause for
grievance are the boys who will not
equip themselves for success, In its
highest sense, or those parents who
are guilty of criminal neglect In see
ing that the boy Is properly equiDped.
During the past several years have
visited every section of this country,
and directly and indirectly investi-
gated conditions in practically all
branches Of commerce and industry.
Everywhere the demand Is for young
men of ability to do the worlds work,
and the supply is far below the de-
mand.
The great fortunes that have been
made In this country, and the luxuries
of the age In which we live combined
with lack Of parental discipline, have
done one wrong to our boys-many of
them have grown to have a contempt
for humble beginnings.
That Is the secret of the complaint
that the doors OF opportunity are
closing" and the success Is only for
the chosen few.
The boy of twenty years ago was
willing to work his way to success. He
was willing, and anxious, to begin with
the most unpretentious labor, and ap-
ply himself and deny himself IL he saw
rewards at the other end.
The hoy OF our day-too often
wants to begin at the top instead of
the bottom.
He wants to have success ready
made for him.
He wants to step into a snap" an
easy BERTH" without once rejecting
that, save In exceptional instances.
such positions are held by men who
have demonstrated their fitness by
long training, concentration and expe-
rience.
The sort of opportunity that mat
ters most is the opportunity for the
proper kind of education
And educational advantages are
more plentiful, and cheaper, today
than ever before.
1t Is the educated, the equipped men
who rule this country, and who reap
it's greatest rewards In every branch
Of endeavor.
1t is those whose education is insult
ficient whose training has been neg
lected, that feed the army of failures
and the band of maIcontents.
The boys, or men, who are now COM
planning of lack Of opportunity" and
giving that as an excuse for their in
different success, would have done no
better twenty, forty or sixty years ago.
Conditions have changed, Of course.
Business Is oreaniZed upon different
lines, competition has grown keener,
and the qualifications for success more
exacting.
That Is why We cannot over-em-
phasZe the value of education, adapt
ing ii in every case to the peculiar
needs and abilities of the individual.
In the battle for success and dis
tinction, the odds are all on the side
of the boy who is equipped. The boy
who is not equipped, and who thinks
to reach the top without hard work. is
practically whipped at the start!
AS long as the world lasts, the great
principle Of success will
survive all changes In business or in
dustrial methods of administration;
and that Is, you must earn success be-
fore you get 1t.
You may complain that you have no
chance against the rich mans son, or
the young man with pull and inf1u-
ence.
If you have kept even a casual watch
on the drift Of affairs in this country,
you will have discovered that today
rich mems sons and young men with
pull are required to make good
Just as he who rises from the ranks.
If the scion of wealth can't make
good" they relegate him from the world
of active affairs, back to his task Of
merely spending money, and dawdling
in society.
The call ever goes up for ability!
1t Is better paid today than ever be-
fore, and those who are anxious to
reward 1t cannot find enough able
young men to fill the positions that
demand competent handling.
The farmer who does not equip his
son for success and for progress Is
him, as against the son
of the man who Is prepared Tor lltes
battles.
He must, some day. face reckoning
for sending his boy into the world
pre- doomed to failure for lack OF prep
aratiOn.
This does not mean that every boy
should he given a college education.
I am aware, too, that the financial
Of some families mill
tate against their giving the boy the
suuarest kind Of deal.
But i'm this day of democratic educa-
tional facilities, and medium prosper
ity. it is indeed a poor farmer who can
not find a chance to at least begin his
boy in the right educational path.
And it Is poor boy who is not will
ing to pay the price of success by hard
work, by burning the midnight oil II
necessary, instead Of cigarettes. in or
der that he may compete with the 9TH
ar fellow upon terms at least partially
equal. Chas. 5. Barrett.
Union City. Ga. April II, 1911.