Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1937-06-10

about the youth problem, about the
lost generation. There is, I believe,
a danger that these tragic years will
leave a deposit of false notions and
alarms which may prove to be a
serious handicap to young folks if
they really entertain them.
One of these false notions is that
there is a surplus of trained men and
women and shortage of opportun-
tiles. For a young person to enter
tain such an idea is nothing short of
tragedy. 1t is as foolish as was
! the United States Patent officer who
in the year 1874 resigned his job
because he said that very little, if
anything more, remained to be in
vented.
My friends, our country is still
young; compared to many European
nations it is still very young. There
: are great natural resources for our
needs and service. New fields of
interest, endeavor and challenge,
open up to young people as never
before. The days of opportunity are
not over We still spell the word
in the plural form-opportunitieS. OF
course, this does not mean that a
person can sit down, fold his hands,
close his eyes and be lazy. 1t means
vigilance. patience and above all,
hard work.
Agriculture is still the most i'm
portant industry in the United States.
It might we'll be called the economic
cornerstone of our nation. There is
big field for developing non-food
uses of agricultural products. With
the aid of science, alcohol may be
produced from agricultural products.
Another false notion, which l find
to be all too common among the
young people of today, is that to
get anywhere one must have a pull.
Pull gets no one anywhere for long.
Friends can help at times to open
the doors of opportunity and ones
reputation and good name helps
nightly toward this same end. But
the greatest key of all to success
in any line of endeavor is for one
to love his work and to try to do
little better job than the other fell
low. 1t still remains true that there
is usually a place for those capable
of adjustment who are industrious,
faithful, and efficient. 1t is always
disappointment and tragedy when
the doors of opportunity open and
one is not prepared, either through
lack of training or lack of character,
to enter them.
Another admonition 1 would leave
with you is this, don't be afraid to
begin at the bottom. Some young
folks, just because they have had
the opportunity for an education, ex-
pect to begin in the middle of the
ladder or at the top. They have
such great expectations that they
brighten possible employers and mis-
Judge themselves. There are no short
cuts to skill or knowledge. There
are no easy ways to substantial
achievement. The pathway to that
great end is long, straight and mar
row. To attain the heights one must
begin at the bottom and strive to do
the humble task as well and thor
oughly as the more spectacular toll
Another danger which confronts
youth in starting out, it seems to me,
is that of placing too much emphasis
upon money or property accumulated.
In the Occident we have override
veloped the acquisitive instinct and
the inevitable result has been the
undue fostering of selfshness, greed
and conflict
Of course, money is not to be
scorned. One should have enough
of it to be comfortable and to provide
the means of self-improvement in
ones work. However, very few Of
the men and women of history who
are honored from generation to gen.
Grafton have accumulated much prop
erty or wealth. They are esteemed
because they have done a worthy
work, served a good cause greater than
themselves and contributed more to
the welfare and happiness of man
kind than they would or could have
done merely by amaSSlng great
wealth.
In this connection, such a person
as Helen Keller, deaf and blind,
might we'll be mentioned. She is con-
stantly working to benefit the blind
and is wonderful example of what
will-power, patience and love of fell
bowman means. The late Jane Adams
of the Hull House in Chicago is an
other person who has not amassed
fortunes but has done much for the
public welfare. She goes down in
history as an ardent peace advocate.
There is one other point l would
make before 1 close. We live in an
uncertain time and in a troubled