The New York herald., 1922-06-18

! Europe. These exports went by rail
not seem to be doing anything at ALL
/ gether with any kind of program.
| They do not seem ready to adopt
Barries candid advice to ignore their
'betters." to scrap the "old men" and
leap into the saddle of life with good
gallop to the open country.
| confess l have been disappointed
myself ! thought after the war all
those boys who escaped from the
trenches by a fluke of luck would
very quickly take up a kind of leader
ship and oust the old men from their
high perches by a spiritual ardor for
something cleaner, sharper. more vital
in the conduct of life. The idea that
it was up to youth" took a strong
hold on the public ina agination of Eng
land
Some enterprising fellow even or
ganized a league of youth, which was
backed by great names. l was asked
TO speak to them and went down with
carefully prepared Grafton in the
Barrie style, without touch of his
genius which is no fault of mine
expecting TO be confronted with the
/ flashing eyes of youth, with rows of
boys with the cleancut face of youths
/ imprint. Alas. 10 my distress, | looked
/ down upon line upon line of bald
heads and old ladies in bonnets. They
were all there to support youth in its
JOYOUS claims, but youth itself stayed
away
/ 50 far as England is concerned
| there is no self-consciousness in youth,
and the young men of to-day now in
college. factory and shop have not got
together with any kind Of program.
They do not seem to have formulated
anv kind of philosophy or faith con-
seouent upon the lessons of war. Old
men are still in command of the ma
chine and there is no revolt of youth
against them or their senihty. rms
is distressing TO those who looked for
Quick change, quick action, tremen-
dous psychological results from the
adventure of war in which most of the
hovs of the British Isles were deeply
engaged. =
The same thing is true. nnd' II
France and otEer countries. lhere
are leagues of youth in France, Ger
many and Czecho-Slovakia' whicI
seem promising. but do not amount te
very much in actual influence. ] thinF
those who like myself We're impatient
IN see youth marching in legions tC
nev, spiritual victories were expecting
= great deal too muck, forgetting then
= own boyhood. trying to put the ourder
Of responsibility on young shoulders
not vet ready to carry such welght.
English boys are intensely lndi'
vidualistic, like most others IN th'
world. and youth is the time wEef
solitary walks. day dreams alone IN
/ little bedroom. doubts, bewilderments
intuitions. aspirations, the enormous
|, illimitable hopes and desires of boy
! hood. are not to be replaced by COZ
lective action. Rowing, adventurous
talk Illogical. absurd and fantastic. be-
tween a few comrades in a college
room are more productive OF future
good than self-conscious societies o.
Young men with political and socia
programs all cut and dried for the sal
vation of the world.
AT oxford and Cambridge / find the
/ undergraduates apparently untouched
bv the past tragedy of war or future
peril. They talk i'm exactly the same
way as those who were in the same
, old rooms in 1913. They are just as
, careful about the color of their SOCKS
far more interested in the affairs o.
tte university and sports than in th'
affairs of the world. And that is tht
right mood after all.
Changes There but Not Evident.
on the other hand, it is only
superficial observation which would
, write them down as unchanged by al
that has happened. There is a whole
world in mentality between the under
, graduates Of oxford now and those o
, the year before the war. So IL is alsC
i'm other parts of the world as far n:
, my own observations go. For thu
thing that happened in 1914 has no
lust touched the intellect of mankind
as thing with a passing shadow j
has furrowed deep into the conscious
ness OF all mankind and the man is &
fool who thinks that soon 1t will b'
forgotten.
II is not being talked about so much
II is put outside immediate thought
but it is there always in the back
ground of the mind and is a tremen
, dous warning OF experience. In Grea
Britain and all over Europe as | an
profoundly convinced. the young mer
, to-day who are not saying much, no
doing much outside their usual worl
and sport, have as their guiding spirit
as IL were. the inner peace in order tc
save civilization. That is az far al
they go. and IL is far enough mt pres
ent. When their time comes they will
make blunders. passion will blind theii
eyes. there will be gusts of bad temper
there will be periods and places wher
blood will be spilled again. That II
human life
But steadily youth In this generation
and the next will get away from the
old vendettas. We shall reach higher
ground. because of what the boys ar,
thinking now in those college rooms
In tho lonely hours, az they lope abou
the countrysides or as they raise theii
heads from the books. So American
visitors now TO England and Europe
need not go back with tales Of nothing
doing There is "A lot doing in the sou
OF youth