我们军队的同志可以回想得起来，一九六四年开政治工作会议，我就提出军队干部年轻化的问题。
Comrades from the army may recall that I brought up the question of lowering the average age of army cadres at a conference on political work convened in 1964.
当时年轻化问题并不算很迫切，但是已经出现这个问题了。
Although the question was not yet very urgent then, it had already surfaced.
那是六十年代初期。
But that was in the early sixties,
现在的情况同那个时候完全不同了。
and the situation today is completely different.
总之，这个问题我们越来越感觉到十分迫切就是了。
In short, we have become more and more aware of the urgency of the matter.
所以，在前一段时间，中央曾经设想，将来除了新的中央委员会以外，再设两个委员会，一个是顾问委员会，一个是纪律检查委员会，容纳一批老同志。
Therefore, the Central Committee has recently been considering the establishment of two central commissions under the new [Twelfth] Central Committee, an advisory commission and a commission for discipline inspection, to absorb a number of veteran comrades.
中央委员会成员比较年轻一点，这是为后事着想。
The members of the Central Committee would be somewhat younger, which would be good for the future.
解决干部年轻化这样一个大问题，我们老同志要开明，要带头。
We veteran comrades should have an enlightened attitude and take the lead in solving this major problem of reducing the cadres' average age.
不这样，解决不了问题。
Otherwise, it will be impossible to solve.
如果不是老同志带头，选人也不会积极，你就是勉强下命令选了，也不一定选得那么准，其中有一些同志还是考虑，看哪一些人是拥护自己的。
If the veteran comrades don't take the lead, the others will hesitate to select younger cadres.
And even if you issue orders that younger cadres are to be selected, there is no certainty that the right persons will be chosen, for some comrades will still be considering which persons support them personally.
我们可要谨慎，“四人帮”的骨干分子和打砸抢分子，他们的能耐之一就是吹呀，捧呀，实用主义呀，有利的事情就干哪，可相当灵活哩！
We must be cautious, because the hard-core elements of the Gang of Four and those who engaged in beating, smashing and looting during the “cultural revolution” are clever and opportunistic, and they know how to brag about themselves and flatter other people.
老同志很容易上当。
Our veteran comrades are liable to be taken in by them.
所以，问题的关键是老同志带头，真正要开明，真正要从大局着眼。
Therefore, the crux of the matter is that veterans should take the lead, really be selfless and keep the overall situation in mind.
去年十二月中央工作会议以后，陈云同志更尖锐地提出这个问题。
After the Central Working Conference last December, Comrade Chen Yun put this question more sharply than before.
原来我们还是手脚小了一点，陈云同志提出，选拔中青年干部不是几十、几百，是成千上万。
We had been rather timid at first, but on that occasion he suggested that it was not scores or hundreds of young and middle-aged cadres who should be selected for promotion but thousands and tens of thousands.
成千是个形容词，上万是实质，实际上是一万、两万、几万。
And what he really meant was “tens of thousands” -- the “thousands” was just thrown in for rhetorical effect.
现在我们选择的人中间，有些看得不准的，经过考验之后，还会淘汰下去的。
Some of those we select now will be removed from office when it becomes clear that they are not the right choices.
比如说现在先定他五万。
For the present we may begin by selecting, say, 50,000.
这五万，是准备三五年之后，七八年之后，到领导机构的，就是到省、市、部这一级（大的工矿企业也相当这一级）准备将来接替的，其中突出表现好的要到中央来。
They should be recruited into the leading bodies after three to five, or perhaps seven to eight, years of work.
That is, they will be prepared as successors to comrades now working at the provincial, municipal and ministerial levels (or at corresponding levels in large factories, mines and other enterprises), and the outstanding ones should be brought into the central organizations.
老干部第一位的任务是选拔中青年干部
THE PRIMARY TASK OF VETERAN CADRES IS TO SELECT YOUNG AND MIDDLE-AGED CADRES FOR PROMOTION
本来今天是来听会的，但是选拔培养中青年干部这个问题太大了，还是讲几句。
My original intention in coming today was only to listen to what our comrades had to say.
But the question of selecting and training young and middle-aged cadres is extremely important, so I have decided to say a few words about it myself.
我们历来讲，这是个战略问题，是决定我们命运的问题。
We constantly stress that it is a question of strategic importance on which the very destiny of our Party depends.
对我们这次六中全会，外国人反映说，是用和平方式解决交接班问题，解决中央人事的大问题，称赞我们很稳定、很顺利地解决了这样的问题。
Foreigners have described our recent Sixth Plenary Session of the Central Committee as having arranged for the transfer of leadership and settled the question of top personnel without friction, and they have praised us for having dealt with these matters in an orderly way.
但是，全国范围的干部接替问题，如果再过三五年还不解决，那就可能造成一种混乱。
Nevertheless, if we don't solve the problem of succession on a nationwide scale within three to five years, chaos may ensue.