The Saint Paul globe., 1905-02-25
KILL ALL MEN
OVER SIXTY YEARS
DR.. OSler's Remarkable Ideas
About Killing Off the
Old and lnfirm

If the reported sayings of Dr. Osler.
late of Baltimore, are correct his re-
moval to England can be borne by us
with equanimity. He is very fa-
nous physician and knows a great
deal, but if all his learning and re-
search have only imbued him with
contempt for the old and desire to
put them out of the world his knowl-
edge is of little avail. The devotion to
science when carried to extremes seems
TO result in a hardening Of the arteries
which lead to the heart. DR.. Osler is
exceedingly erudite, but is apparently
a person of but one idea; the perfec-
tion of the race and the doing away
with disease. Very laudable doubt
less, but not the only thing in life. 1t
is reported that DR.. Osler said that
after a man is sixty he is of no use in
the world, that all the great things
were done by men between the ages Of
twenty-five and forty, and that the So
cial and political mistakes Of the world
were made by men of old age DR.. Os-
ler's knowledge of history seems to be
ct fault, for history does not justify
him in his assertions.
Mr.. Depew answered him very well
and disproved his contention. If the
learned physician suggested putting
out of the world those men who had
lived longer than he thought they
should, he suggested very wicked
and absurd thing, which, though it will
not be taken seriously, yet will do
much harm. Heaven knows there is
little enough reverence for age in this
country as it is, without advice Of this
sort from men who are supposed to be
examples. The idea of numbering use
less people is not new; 1t has often
been advanced in connection with rid
ding the world of idiots and criminals.
To kill off the old is perhaps a more
novel idea, but not less ridiculous or
criminal. If all men over sixty were
chloroformed there would not be many
good men left in the world. If DIR. Os-
Ter knows anything of the troubles and
miseries of life he ought to be aware
that too many of them are caused by
bad sons. Many fathers have made
themselves poor in their old age by
having to buy their sons out of scrapeS.
The records of the colleges of the
country bear out this assertion. The
penitentiarieS are certainly not filed
with old men. DR.. Osler made the fur
ther assertion that the tendency of old
age is toward evil. 1t is granted right
here that there does not seem to be any
2ge at which a man cannot make a
mistake, but that the world is only for
the young is nonsense. Old age when
accepted gracefully and borne cheer
fully is beautiful and commands re-
Spect and veneration. If notable
achievement here is the end and aim
of living why not chloroform all men
who have not done something for the
worlds advancement?
How about old women? The learned
doctor said nothing about them. but
one cannot expect a great scientist to
bother his head about women. 1 sup
pose he thinks they are not worth the
chloroform. 1t is to be hoped that DR..
Oslers father and mother died natural
deaths before he enunciated his theo-
ries, although the fact that they had
given to the world such a remarkable
man might have saved their lives.
What a pleasant circumstance it is
that the world is not managed by sci
entiStS. We have much to be thankful
for in that regard and never realized
it as fully as when hearing the opinion
of this learned man. There would be
no idiots under scientific dispenSation
that is, no idiots who could be caught
no criminals in prison-no old peo
pie Isn't it strange that there are
persons so benighted as to prefer the
world as it is? Who prefer not to
murder their old fathers, and who do
not think that physical perfection is
the end of living. The question might
arise as to who and what were to be
the judges as to the age limit. and the
degree of idiocy which would make
murder permissible. Now there are
those who might think DR.. Osler has
almost reached it. At all events, ac-
cording to his own reasoning he has
nearly come to the end of his useful
ness, for he is past fifty. Scientists
are useful and have shed much light
upon vexed questions, but science gone
mad results in the very idiocy which
they so much deplore. There is little
in history which bears out the conten-
ton of DR.. Osler, and indeed there is
great deal which bellies his assertion.