One cannot but regret the fate of Russian youth in America. The more one gets acquainted with the life and aspirations of youth, the deeper is the anxiety for its future. In the youthful ranks one meets very talented youngsters who, under more favorable circumstances, would develop into valuable men in various spheres of human life. The great majority of the Russian youth is, however, satisfied with the niggardly thought, "When we grow up we will take the places of our fathers". This detrimental thought has become the general slogan for our youth. Without this slogan there is not one meeting, not one convention.

A speaker from the ranks of youth who concludes his speech with this slogan always can be certain that he will be rewarded by generous applause, and at times even by an ovation. Nobody from the grown-ups ever finds or considers 2it necessary to put the youth on the right path and tell the youngsters that their fathers' lives are ill-fated, that their efforts and labors in life very often have proved to be fruitless, and that their ways of life too often have led them into a blind alley.

Nobody tries to explain to the young generation that it should understand the causes of the fathers' failures, to think through the burdensome life paths of the fathers, and find new ways of life, that it should rise higher than the old generation, go farther. And when anything is said about it the new ideas are not put into practice and do not serve as guideposts for the young generation. This is why the activity of the Russian youth in America in most places is reduced to dancing parties only.

The Russian press created by fathers for the youth, or by the youth for its own purposes, could accomplish a great deal. In spite of its lack of material means and other handicaps, the press could push and direct the youthful thought along the right paths.

Having received the correct initial direction, and with proper instructions, the youthful mind would be able independently to find the new and better ways in life. But, alas, when we begin to review the press for "youth" anxiety enters into our minds. We find here everything but what the youth needs the most. It is sufficient to compare the subjects treated by the Russian press for the young Russians with the topics considered by the advanced juvenile press for the American youth, in order to be convinced that the American press serves its youth much better.

Thoughtful American youth of our days realize that their position in life is only that of an adopted child. This deeply realistic thought pervades the entire American press for youthful people. This section of American youth clearly understands that at the very exit from the high school or college unemployment is in waiting, and this curse will pursue them throughout life. Like the sword of Damocles, over youth there hangs the threat of war. Only a miracle can save millions of young lives from cruel extermination and only silly lightheadedness fails to think over the problems that confront 4present-day youth. Fascism and Bolshevism threaten to deprive the youth of what is most valuable in life--to take away from it the freedom of independent thought. All these and other not less weighty problems are in the order of the day of any convention or meeting of the young people. The same problems are being widely discussed in their press.

In the literature designed for the education and enlightenment of the Russian youth there are no articles on such topics. The most acute problems in human life are entirely absent in such press. They are being hushed or avoided in silence. Instead the Russian youth is offered a kind of amateurish melange made up of good-intentioned but indifferent articles either of the amusing character or some casual reading matter taken at random without any guiding idea or principle.

The Russian emigre youth on the other side of the ocean differ considerably in their spiritual aspirations from our Russian-American youth for the former find themselves under the strong influence of their reactionary parents, and, 5therefore, should not be set up as an example for our American youth.

However, one should not deny the fact that the spiritual aspirations of the Russian youth in Europe run higher than here. This can be seen from the letters addressed by the European youth to the men of letters of the older generation.

"We gather together," writes one youngster. "We discuss everything, for we want to know everything, to understand everything, and it is simply awful that we still know nothing. There is no answer to the most important problem that constitutes the basis for everything. And yet we all feel that an answer there must be."

"As long as our mind has not found any solution to the basic problems arising from world contemplation, [so] long all these monarchies, republics, dictators, Bonapartists remain wooden idols, deprived of life," writes another youth. This searching, gifted, and sincere youth has already succeeded in 6promoting to the forefront a number of very brilliant and talented leaders and has been able to create immature and unstable, but original and consistent, systems of ideas. Is there anybody among us who can point to similar sentiments observable in our American youth?

Leaders of our large organizations invite youth "to come to their own home".

The other day one of the leaders of such an organization appealed over the radio to our youth, and assured them that his organization is the beacon light and the cultural center of our people. But his appeal was nothing but words. Everybody knows that our organizations are neither beacon lights, nor cultural centers for our people. The question is--where can our youth find proper guidance in the chaos of modern life? The answer to this question is not easy to find.

Whether our youth will find such guidance in the leadership of our organizations, or has to look for it somewhere else, still remains a debatable question.

However, we should have enough courage to posit it.

Rassviet, it would seem to me, could render a great service to the Russian colony if the newspaper permitted a discussion of this important problem in its pages.