, 1880-12-31
Ola Men.

tHe a;,,Gt io,Gt of his authority to the olin-
the Won ,t 90 men ont of 100 become sim
ION t'i"t ta'hi"strnctives after they reach the age
ply o' md speaking for his own domain
ot oy' ;onre he is reported to have eX-
ol ,ssad cad the wish that any man who had
pfeSSeU onv part in science might be
'aAen .,aI atIy as soor. as he had reached that
age. ..,,,ae lilo an oytreme
,,,,;nion. and Its nature wholiy, at
vaariance with that dispasslonate modefa
t;nn which marks the true philosopher
t5o porsons who have not been excited by
~ soorch for molecules and protoplasm
s oiI, snrgest that old scientists and all
VIZ V.har oIstructives might be retired on
'ono;ons o.n with strict orders to prevent
tp%an, from publishing any of their re-
Snor'hes Superficial readers will OBJ
iect that even if the majority OF seXagen-
11rions are obstructions, ,and consequently,
Ietrimental to the cause OF progress,
vet these are exceptional casesof senescent
S1roncement and that it would be un-
90, ',;sa to obliterate their contributions by
now Herydian slaughter OF the first
born.
Rut there Is lOBlcal i''ii''>S ~ "'nti"S
that the few and unimportant contrlbu-
tions Of the exceptions shonld be made
an eycnse for enduring and perpetuatlng
+ho distractions of the great majority.
We do not insist upon strangulatlon as
,he only means of properly ridding the
mnrlJ Of those who lag superfiuous on
;ts stare but we do insist that when
oyor a man in any department OF work or
cnlture or progress begins to be an OBJ
str,,ctive he should b made away with,
Tbe greater his servic in the past, and
the higher his reputation, the more
,1rgent is the necessity for his annihila-
lion rs soon as he has begun to turn
backward like Hczekiah's shadow; the
mischief of great name perverted or OF
a great reputation misused and mlsap-
pIied is merely an aggravation of the
mischief wrought by lesser men, and
there could be no greater mistake IN
heneyolence than to allow the world to
he darkened by the shadow of old age
merely because in youth the world was
enlightened by its light. -, -
In every department Of life the men
who are unable to learn anything new
think there is nothing new to learn, and
the men who have ceased to grow think
that the world has reached its limit of
growth. In nothing is this instructive
obstructiveness more clearly discernible
than in matters OF business. If the old
fogy in science deserves to be strangled,
the old fogy in business should be
kicked to death by II mule. lie Is ter
rible inAiction on the community. he
has long since been left behind by
Younger men of more active habits and
newer WAYS, but he still holds on to his
capital, his custom, his good will, and he
divides his energies pretty evenly be-
tween keeping in the old ruts himself
and preventing everybody else from get
ting ont of them. We should not like to
strangle all the business men OF st.
Louis who have passed the age OF sixty,
but il some Athenian ostraclsm could
banish them all at one fell swoop, 1t
would produce change which we can
safely leave to the imagination OF our
In journalism it is not so essential to
strangle the antique obstrlctlyes, for the
calling is Il merciful one, and usually
brings the happy release of death or
public office by the time that the age OF
usefulness is passed. But if there are
any who survive they should be knocked
on the head forthwith, to the great i'm
provement of their newspapers ana the
delight of the public. The supemnnu-
ated journalist may he recognized by
his horror of sensations, by his oblec-
ton to publishing criminal news if he
has to pay for collecting it, by his pref
erence for long.winded communications
from constant readers, and by an unfalI-
ing instinct which guides him in omit
ting all the news that the people want to
read, and in publishing news that no
man could read if he were condemned to
solitary confinement without labor for
life. Fortunately, though he will not
improve his own paper, he cannot pre-
vent younger men from publishing bet
ter papers, and thus his capacity for mis-
chief is limited. But, ut the same time,
1t would be an incalculable benefit to the
journalism of this country if all of the
journalists who have passed HuXley's
climacteric should be submitted to Hux-
ley's ordeal.
In the army we believe that superfu-
Gus veterans are retired at 62, and per-
maps the ease OF an army life, especially
in peace, may he favorable to the conser-
VatiOn of the faculties, but we should
not allow any one, under any circum-
stances, to remain in politics after the
age of 60. This rule should be made
imperative and without any allowances
or exceptions. The superannuated bust
ness man is hopeless, the superannuated
Journalist il foSSiliZel but the Sunernn-
nueted politician is an obstructive whose
instant and merciless demolition is de-
manded by the highest interest of society.
We are happy to think that the applica-
ton of HuXley's law would tell with the
greatest severity on the democratic party,
but We are prepared to apply it, even
though the consequences should be such
reiuyenescence of the antiquated nui-
ssance that its own mother would not
know it, The disapDearance of war