The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-26
THE CIVIL SERVICE AGE LIMIT


The civil service rules provide that
no man who has passed the age of forty
five shall be eligible for examination for
any position in the classified service. This
is one way. of saying; that a mansis old
and not of much use before he has
reached the age of fifty, and the fact
that the opinion is given official sanction
is being roundly denounced by the alleged
old men who think they are good for
many years more of efficient service.
They do not care so much for the gov
eminent service itself, but the setting of
the limit by law has great influence with
business men generally. The latter seem
to reason that If the government cannot
afford to hire a man who has passed the
age of forty-five, neither can they, and
there is an abundance of testimony from
| the old ensthemselves that it is next
to impossible to find a new position in
any line of business.
That this estimate of a mans capacity
is unjust ought to be self-evident. It is
absurd to fix hard and fast age rule,
when some men are broken down, largely
through their own fault, at the age of
thirty, while many are mentally and
bodily vigorous at sixty. The latter kind
certainly are justified in protesting
against being shelved, or sent out to saw
wood for living, as soon as they have
passed forty-five. The point is not that
the government and business firms should
not exercise Judgment and discrimination
In selecting employees, but that there
should not exist a rigid rule which works
Injustice in a majority of cases. If a man
pays any decent attention to natural
laws. he is In splendid condition physi-
cally and mentally at forty-hve, and IS
really capable for many years thereafter
of filing any position he could command
at the age Of thirty or thirty-five. "A
man is no older than he feels and if he
feels at the age of forty-five no older
than forty-ffve, he is far from being a
"has been"
Boston has an "oid rams" club, the
main object Of which is to protest against
this idea of premature business decay
and Chicago will have one shortly. Be-
cause of it's pernicious influence outside
of the government service, an effort Will
be made to secure the repeal Of
the age limit clause of the civil
service law. It is expected that
tbA agitation and discussion Of
the subject will have a desirable in
huence on private employers, and will
modify their prejudice against ''old"
men, The age limit in the law cannot
serve any good purpose that would not
be as we'll guarded by providing instead
physical examination in addition to
the mental one for all applicants over
forty-ive years old
The organization of trusts and the
concentration of enterprise make this
subject of particular Importance, because
many thousands will have to be employees
who might otherwise be able to COM
mand small business enterprises of their
own If the tendency toward cutting of
employment arbitrarily at a compare
lively youthful age continues. the result
must be to force the hobbledehoy into
absurd prominence. and cultivate busi-
ness precocity that will be hardly able
to endure. At the same time the army Of
"old" men out of employment viii in
crease and become something of a social
problem in itself. By all means. let US
listen thoughtfully and respectfully to