New-York tribune., 1922-05-21
The Author of ''Peter Pan" Conn.
sells the Establishment Of
aLeague of Youth

'ast one ever had a beginning That
'he time has arrived for Youth 70 do.
mand partnership. That to pain
courage is what you come to St. An
orews Tor. With some alarms and ex-
curslons into college life. That is what
propose. but. of course. the issue lies
with McConnachie.
iour hetters had no share in the i'm.
meo'ate cause of the -7ar~-we knor
what nation has that blot to wine ou,.
but for fifty years or so we heedcd NOT
'he rumbllngs of the distant drum
oont mean by lack Of military nrena.
fations-and when war did come we
told Youth. who had to get us ONT of Il
'a'i tales of what it really is and the
clover beds it WOULD lead to. We were
not meaning to deceive. most of ne
were AS honorable and as ignorant az
| the Youth themselves: but that doss
not acqu't us of stupidity and jealousy.
the two black spots in human nature
which, more than love of money. are
at the root of all evil If YOU prefer
to leave things as thew are we shall
probably fail you again. Don't be too
sure that we have learned our lesson
ana are not at this very moment dod-
derAng down some birthstone path.
am far from implying that even
worse things than war may not come
! 10 a state. There are circumstances
IN which nothing can 80 we'll become a
land as I think this land proved when
the late war did break out. and there
was but one thing to do There is a
form of an@mia that is more rottinp
| than even an unjust war The end will
indeed have come to our COURAGE and
k to US. when we are afraid in dire mis-
chances to render the final appeal to
the arbltrament of arms. suppose
all the lusty Of our race, alive and
. dead join hands on that.
But II YOU must be in the struggle,
the more reason you should know why,
before it begins. and have say in
the decision whether lit is to begin.
he youth who went to the war had no
such knowledge, no such say; | am
sure the survivors. of whom there NAV
b. some here to-day. want you to be
wiser than they were, and are GER
| tainly determined TO be wiser next time
themselves Perhaps the seemlv thing
would be for us. their Betters. to elect
one of them to be our Rector. He
ought now to know few things about
war that are worth our hearing. II his
theme were the Rector's favorite. Dill
I gence, | should be afraid of his advis-
ing us to be diligent in sitting still
and doing no more harm.
OF course he would put it more
suavely than that-though it is not,
think, by gentleness, that you will get
your rights; we are dogged ones at
sticking to what we have got, and SO
will you be at our age. But don't call
us ugly names. we may be stubborn
! and we may be blunderers. but we love
you more than aught in the world.
urge you not to use ugly names about
anyone. In the war it was not the
fighting men who were distinguished d
for abuse as has been we'll said, "Hell
hath no fury like a noncombatant" :"
Never ascribe to an opponent motives
meaner than your own. There may be
students here to-day who have de-
cided this session to go in for i'm
mortality, but would like to know of
an easy way of accomplishing it, That
| is way-but not so easy as you think
Go through life without ever ascribing
to your opponents motives mcaner
than your own Nothing so lowers the
moral currency. Give it up, and be
great
| Another sure way to fame is to
know what you mean. 1t is solemn
thought that almost no one-if he is
| Look at the great ones of the earth
the politicians. We don't discuss what
they say, but what they may have
meant when they said it. In 1922 we
were all wondering and as are they
what they meant in 1914 and after.
ward. They are publishing books try
ing to find out the men of action as
we'll as the men of words. There are
exceptions. 1t is not that they are
"sugared mouths without minds there
frae;" many of them are the best mer
we have got. The explanation seems
just TO be that it is difficult to know
what you mean, especially when you
have become swell. Those doubts
breed suspicious. a dangerous air
Without suspicion there might have
been no war. When you are called te
I Downing Street to discuss what yot
want of your Betters with the Prime
| Minister he won't be suspicious-no'
as far as you can see; but remember
the atmos phere of generations you are
in and when he passes you the toast
rack say to yourself: "Now wonder
what he meant by that?"
Passive Attitude Of
Distrust Won't iIelp
Even without striking out in the way
suggest you are already disturbing
your Betters considerably. | some.