THE CRITICAL YEARS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1948, 3 January 1914, Page 15

THE CRITICAL YEARS.

» — SIR EDWARD GREY ON MAN'S LIFE. PERSONAL AMBITION NOr ALL. Sir Edward Grey and I/ord Hugh Cecil were the speakers at tho Manchester meeting of tho Cavendish Association—a meeting ..which, says tho "Manchester Guardian," was able for its emotional intensity," and was attended mainly by young men.. "Sir Edward Grey said that tho most critical years of a. man's lifo were those between 20 and 25. If a man was idle and wasted thoso years the probability was that lie would not get into tho stream of life at all. What a man read and did and what habits ho formed during those years influenced and perhapo decided his future life. All men had their home life and tlieir recreationtwo most important departments of life, not necessarily contradictory, but rot entirely coincident. "A man who was not obliged to work for his livelihood, after ho had attended to thoso two tilings, obviously had an enormous surplus or time which ho could and ought to devote to public work. Most men had to work for their livelihood moro or loss. They, too, must givo to publio work each according to his opportunities. Without that nobody was really a citizen, for citizenship consisted not in the possession of rights, but in tho performance of obligations and tho rendering of scrvico to tho State. What He Is at the End of It. "What matters most in a man's life," Sir, Edward Grey continued, "is : not what he has done in tho' way of succesn ~or. failure, but what ho is at. the end of"it. No dbubt-liis work has a great effect upon what ho is, but tho measure of the real success of a man is not whether- lio can point to this or that great achievement, but what ho himself is as the result of his work. "The Cavendish Association lays stress upon the motive from which people should work, and that I think has more to do with what a man becomt-a than tho actual work which he undertakes. The motive which the Cavendish Association [juts beforo people is the Christian spirit. Tho man who has been a real success in lifo is the man who lias made people feel that his life has been regulated by n desire to give service, ana to do nothing which fell below the .moral standard which ho hau set up for himself. That sort of motive it is which clears away from people thoso faults which impedo public work, Porsonal Ambition Not Everything. "Personal ambition is a quite honourable motive. The desire for approval and praise is something which nobody should despise. But a man should not stake everything upon those; otherwise, when his work fails to got recognition, he is disappointed. He should have; in himself as Jiis primary motive something which makes him indep'end-ent-of thoso things,'- souiothiiig which, 'makes, his work not egotistical, something which prevents mhrfrom doing all thoso little things which impede public work, and make it diflicu't for men to work with others. "That is something on which the ; Cavendish Association lays stress. It .appeals especially to young men who have more or less leisure. Nearly every young man when he is starting upon lifo has some praiseworthy aspirations. If they, get 110 help, 110 stimulus, 110 guidance, 110 object, they lose thema river los^itself sa'pdj <05 Evaporate altogether. JuiHiMft incti at that time, when their aspirations are fresh find now, the Cavendish. Association ought to appeal, by providing,'them with work, small at'first, but increasing afterwards; by providing them with tho iestilts of the experience of other people who have done public work, and by giving them that start in life which will put them in tho main stream of public work and enable them in the fullest senso of tho word to become useful citizens of tho State. • To Make Life Tolerable. _ "Tho need of the State for public service (Sir Edward Grey said) is greater than ever, and will bccojtic increisingly great. Wo live in a very crowded country. Masses of men of different classes are. packed together in tho. small compass of these islands, and they havo got to learn that they are dependent upon each other, pnd that what one man and one class does affects liis neighbours more and more as ,tho population increases and the community is bound closer and closer together. That, of course," has been felt tremendously in municipal work, which is already dealing with tho problems of crowded communities, and that is one of the. great and obvious fields of public work. Wo havo in these days to solve a problem which presses upon us with increasing urgency, and it is how a crowded industrial community is to make lifo not only to be but to seem tolerable to thoso who carry on our industrial work. Standard of Exgcstation Raised. "1 say not only 'be' tolerable, but seem tolerable because the whole standard of oxpectation has been raised. It is no good pointing to tho fact that things are much better than they were two or threo generations ago. What would havo seemed tolerable to previous generations does not seem tolerable to tho present generation. Wo have had great prosperity lately in this country; there lias undoubtedly, been very great progress. But,. I suppose, restlessness, and discontent have been and; arc still a very marked feature of the'cbrnrauii='ity. 'Why? Not because thero isohore. misery, or • moro suffering _ than there, 1 was generations ago —I believe there is less —but bccause men's expectations | havo been raised, and tho standard of what they think lifo ought to bo is-! higher than it was. "These problems are only going' to bo solved by people who cot to understand tho conditions and the point of view not merely of one class, but; as far as they can, of all classes. Those who stand aside from nulilio work are not coins to understand either the nature of tho problems or the way in which they may bo solved. People with leisure who stand aside from public work will find that they arc left 011 one side, outside tho main stream, as spectators, and tho.y will bccomc, what peoplo who are mere spectators of public affairs so often do become, cynical, critical, and therefore unhappy spectators. If people nro to cot to understand these problems they must do it by public wojk. Tho Case of Industrial Unrest. "Take the case, for instance, of industrial unrest," added Sir Edward. "You arc not going to find out tho causes of industrial unrest from the newspapers -or from political meetings or from mass meetings. You hear that tens or perhaps hundreds of thousiinds of men are out 011 strike for perhaps ■ a trivial cause; ,that' is tho rillencd cause. You may bo quite suro • that tens or hundreds of thousands of men do not go out on striko really for a trivial causo, What is_ stated to bo tho cause, when it is trivial is not the real cause. You are not going to find out that by reading or hearing what a few peoplo say, hut by getting at what many peoplo think and feel. "But what we want to get at, if wo nre to find tho causes of _ unrest and discontent, is not what is in the front nf people's minds, but what is at the back nf their minds. That is a very difficult thing even for the individual who has something at tho back of his mind to find out. still more to express: and it is oiilv to be found out, I bo-

lievc, not directly hut indirectly,' bv. sliaiin;; in public work. "Dopend upon it," conclinioi!'; Sir ,' Kdwanl, "the first tiling lor-.:r:nian;;;to; do to net his own point of view under-:-! stood is to betjin by learning, tlsn^'pqilit^[JV of view of others. Only, I iliiiikl> bei»s mixed up in public work. -'.miiii- l ! ; cipal work, social work, and fo i'ortli j. can you got that undorstanding bet»;cenil| clilferent classes which is ncressary to j ninko n- solid and opinion." .