Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1920-09-17
FACING THE ISSUE

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FACING THE ISSUE
AT this hour in every COM
munity may be found group
of young men and women, be-
tween the ages Of fourteen and
nineteen years. Today, aside
from the outward diff erences
of physical appearance, tone
and manner Of speech and
other minor characteristics
there is little about any of
them to- distinguish him from
the others. To the average
adult they are all lust boys
and girls" But if we could only
push aside the curtain of the
future--what a marvel we
might behold; Forty years
hence these men and women
will be groupedainto three fair
ly definite classes. At the top
will be a. comparatively small
group which, incredible as it
may seem today, will be the
great personalities. the mighty
doors of their generation. In
the middle will be found vast
body called the massesj those
who while not conspicuous as
individual successes, still man
age to accomplish much that
is useful and who form the
substantial Backbone of So
ciety. And finally atthe bottom
of the column will be found an
other group, small like the first
forming the ranks of the fail
ures the ftdown-and-outers" of
civilization. 1t must not be
thought that these groups are
clearly differentiated, and it
must be born in mind that the
man who finds himself in one
Of them today may be i'm an
other some years hence; never
the less for the purposes of this
very informal article the class
ifications will do well enough.
The big point that we wish
to impress upon the minds of
the young men and women
who read the Booster" is this !:
Whatever your present station
in life, remember that you are
starting practically on a level
with every other young man
and woman of the nation.
There may be surface differ
ences, such as wealth, or social
position but in the big deter
mining factors the differences
are so slight as to be almost
unworthy of consideration.
We need only to point to the
great outstanding examples of
history to see that the big fac
tor determining the leadership
of the future is the problem of
getting the right start. "A little
more than a hundred years ago
an almost unlettered pioneer
woman in the mountains of
Kentucky breathed the fire of
ambition into the soul of an un-
couth boy, and that fire grew,
in spite of opposition until the
boy, Abraham Lincoln became
the preserver of the nation in
the time ofsits greatest trial ; in
more recent times that same
fire was stirred in the. soul of a
''neWs-butch" on an eastern
railway, and as a result the
whole world pays tribute to
the achievements of Thomas A.
Edison. A difference OF three
or four inches in the start OBJ
tanned by the two runners, may
determine the worlds champ
ionship in the hundred yards
dash. In the. same way a start
atlthe wrong kind of schooling
or a delay of two years, a year
or even a few months in enter
ing school that is equipped to
help him to get the right foot
ahead" may permanently, keep
a young Of today out of the
class of winners.
In a lecture delivered at the
BY. III. in Provo, Utah, a3feW
months ago, DIR. Fred j. Pack,
one of Utah's successful writ
ers and educators said in sub
stance. as follows: I'VE are all
successes or failures on very
small margins. The man, who
succeeds is often the man who
does his work just a little bet
ter than the average. There