THE VOICE OF UNDER THIRTY
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—As a Scotsman of under 3o, may I thank you for your very interesting series of " Voices " ? I myself move daily among many of the voices of our country's youth, from the slums of Edinburgh (where I have spent much time during the last five years), to the Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. The first articles in the series certainly mirrored well the helplessness and apathy with which my generation very largely awaits its oncoming destruction.
I am particularly grateful for Voice Number 12—the only one, in my opinion, who faces the real issue and proposes an adequate solution. An earlier contributor defined the problem. What is needed, he said, is action, to " sweep away the filth and decadence " (in universities and in slums), and at the same time " to safeguard what is worth safeguarding." Number 12'S
challenge to us to a " positive patriotism " supplies that action, and in it we of under 3o have a vital part.
The abrogation by youth of our responsibility for daring leadership is, I believe, a fundamental cause of our national weakness. Pitt, at 24, was Prime Minister, taking full respon- sibility for the whole country ; today, with our educational facilities, we have the material for a whole cabinet full of Pitts ! Yet no youth steps forward to lead.
It is, as Number 12 puts it, the hour to switch over from " getting " to " giving," from " rights " to " responsibilities."
Concretely, what is needed is to fight the real enemy, which is not, I am convinced, either " Fascism and war " or any other system, but the apathy, fear and selfishness in ourselves. My own confidence lies in the responsible front of youth whom I see at last beginning to rise against these very real enemies.
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