Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-02-02
LEADERS IN AFFAIRS ARE OLD MEN
ny FREDERIC j. HASKIN

| line Of work YOU are In. or anything
that depends primarily on the muscles,
the OLD idea IL pretty nearly true To
maintain Your fun efficiency for four
on I'VE working decades your work
must be brain work Certain clasyes nr
brain work differ from others i'm m.
point ~ which the worker natures Al
anything calling for the judicial atti
tud. OF mind. the Weighing and bal
ancinE of possibilities. II man is not AT
his hest until he is in the sixties Tho
axe ol most OF our judges shows to
what extent this In true. Some OF IN.
greatest pieces of philosophical think
ms have been done when the thinkers
W:ic even older. sucn as the "kosInos"
%! humboldt, which Was begun when
The author was seven,y-siA and fniabeu
when he was ninety, or Rank,'s fnpnu
mental history OF the world. begun n,
eighty and finished at ntncty.one. on
the other hand. little worth-whiI,
work aIo"r such lines ha. been done
by young mon.
!! your work is one which calls for
constructive rather than selecuve man
'ai eHoFt. the period OF greatest chi
+, 'lchcF comes somewhat earlier-say in
the mites This has been the cas-. in
the HreateAt number OF artists ana
literary men, who lived 10 see tina, ara
~ all Another point which enters I'm
calculation Is the age q, which mental
activity begins. The earlier YOU nnd
your true limo and begin TO hammer
away NJ II. the earlier >-u Will resrh
The hiehes, point OF your powers and
begin 10 go down hin. OF course. some
men nave a longer working life than
others but speaking in general. the
man who begins earliest Ia soonest
through.
Ripe Judgment Needed.
The requisites for success In modern
bNtlrCSS W..
professions whose time OF creates, Gill
cheney lies late The record OF the
Older Vanderbilt. who made a fortune
estimated ~ 500, 600. 600 between his
seNcntieth aud his cIshty-thrd year
is tho most remarkable case in point.
bnt almost all our captains of industry
are well along in life. and the same
iilc holds In the lower ranks or the
industrial! army. The reason is that
commerce to-day Is matter Of ju,Ir-
ment primarily, ana OF enterprise only
~ secondary degree, When tho coun-
Try was new. with vast undevnlcped
resources. enterprise was what was
needed a daring man with creative
i'm" Eination could penetrate far places
ana max" fortune or the turn cf
chance II he Lost II, he could pitch
IN and make another one. Nowadays.
success and wealth are matter OF
slow accumulation 4 man does not
{
power until pretty late in life. and II
lie loses them once. there is not much
chance for fresh start
The Level Of Intelligence"
This does not alter the fact that tho
old man often has as much or moro
potential value 10 an employer RS the
young, IL this work is some variety
of brain work. Another question that
arises. however is whether a man can
change his line OF work when nc is
past forty. The answer seems 40 no
that while il * not advisable, II is
quite possible. The old idea along this
line was that a mans general intelli-
gcncc was meaningless term ecOnom-
ically speaking. lie might develop a
high degree OF ability and intelligence
along one line. and he next to useless
| If he changed 10 another.
The advanced psychologists toll us
now that each of us has a certain level
Of intelligence which applies to every
thing we do, and is tho true index Of
our value. largely irrespective OF age.
| To arrive at 81 true estimate of this
, level of intelligence numerous tests
are being devised, which it is hoped
| that employers will adopt as soon IA
they have become standa r1izcd. when
this has been done. the applicant for n
! position will nc hired according to
| the showing his Intelligence makes In
the tests. and the old man will have
an equal chance with the young
| Science is daily increasing the length
OF the average life. Such an increase
would he doubtful benefit. however,
| If the changing conditions Of tho
| modern world did not give the old man
an evcr-increasine field of usefulness.