The Press: Grand Old Man

"I could still sack the lot if I were not satisfied."

Charles Prestwich Scott, octogenarian owner of England's great Liberal daily, the Manchester Guardian, chuckled happily. He had just, last week, announced his retirement as the Guardian's editor, after 57 years.

He could still "sack the lot" because, hale at 82, he was retaining his majority of Guardian stock, and his office of "governing director" (publisher). Nor was the editorship passing far from his touch. To fill his shoes Editor Scott had trained up his son, Edward Taylor Scott, now 45, a quiet,...