HEROES OF TO-DAY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume LXI, Issue 3168, 22 June 1931, Page 5

HEROES OF TO-DAY.

Young Men Have to Shoulder Burdens and Work Harder than Previous Generations. By Caroline. If, by some scientific process, I could change my sex at will, I should turn aeaf ears to the crbakings of my elders. It is fashionable at the moment to deplore the failings of the modem young man, to tax him witn instability and lack of backbone. It is all rather unfair, because he suffers from comparison with his elder bro thers who died in the War. For a change, let us consider his virtues, and the almost insuperable obstacles he has to surmount before lie can make even a decent living. Today the percentage of achievements of young men under thirty is far higher than it was in the youth of our fathers. Fierce competition is the lot of all those engaged in every profession, industry and trade. Those of middleage, with years of experience behind them, are the first to groan about this competition. What, then, does it mean to the youth leaving school, with his future before him? On all sides he hears expressions of pessimism, of bad ti ade, of failure, and Industrial depression. Fortunately, however, youth Is full of hope and buoyant optimism. And the young man of to-day needs both qualities in abundance if he is going to make headway. The more one listens to pessimistic utterances the more liable one becomes to infection. That is why I should turn deaf ears to them if I were a modern young man. On the whole, the present generation of young men is as estimable aa any which have gone before. True, there are exceptions. There are some who prefer to spend their time in drawing-rooms and cocktail bars. But these have been blessed —or cursed — with a sufficiency of this world's goods. Their manners, their physique and their brains would be improved considerably by a few years' honest toil. To me, it is amazing how the average young man manages to make such a good show on so tittle. The standard of living has gone up in inverse ratio to the standard of wages.

The modern young woman expects a great deal from her "boy-friend." She Is not content with an occasional vis!t to a cinema, a ride on a bus, or with any of those simple pleasures which satisfied her mother. She i 3 very sophisticated, and sophisticated tastes are expensive to gratify. Amongst other failings with which the modern young man is taxed is unwillingness to assume responsibilities and to marry. At the risk of being thought disloyal to my own sex, I maintain that the modern girl is responsible to a large extent for the young man's apparent unwillingness to marry.

She derives little or no pleasure from his unrelieved company. The engagement period must be enlivened with all sorts of diversions, and these cost money.

He is quite unable to save. He doesn't want to be thought tight-fisted, and he wants to give his girl as good a time as possible. His dream of a home and domesticity remains a dream.

To add to his bitterness, there seems to be no method of making money In this post-war world. In fact, there is every probability that amalgamations and other activities of "big business" will result in the cutting down of staff and the loss of his Job. It Is easy to preach about looking for adventure and the kind of bilge that was so popular before the war. "Specialise" is the cry nowadays, and it you've specialised in one particular craft or trade, how are you going to switch over to another? I admire our modern young men intensely, because they face the future with such magnificent disdain and self-confidence.

If I were a modem young man I should just grit my teeth in 'face of criticism. When taxed with being pleasure-loving, I should retort that the only people who can afford to pay for real pleasures are obese, middleaged men, who stick to their Jobs (while others do the work), and draw salaries which rightly should go to the younger generation. Bui go on. young men, and win. The country has come to a sorry pass.

It's not your fault. No wonder you are bitter and. disillusioned. But it's made you men, anyway.