SIMPLER, FREER AND FRANKER LANGUAGE.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2747, 15 April 1916, Page 12

SIMPLER, FREER AND FRANKER LANGUAGE.

Sir, —You close an excellent contribu- 1 tion to journalistic literature in the matter of extracting some good out of the lamentable position in which the world finds itself to-day by stating that "it is vain to expect that tie democratization of foreign policy will neces- 1 sarily result in the abolition of war, but thero is a widespread desire for .friendlier relations between tho nations, and 1 that some way should be found by. which they would be able to speak to one another in simpler, freer, and franker language." You are thus arrayed on the side of many great and influential thinkers of the present and past generation whose names I could give you, but Professor Gilbert Murray, whom-you quote, declares that the means is already at hand, ■ given freely and without price by a- genius in the ranks of our great philologists. Our own lionoured Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, aiid Sir, Joseph AVa-rd hav;o expressed themselves on this subject with no uncertain sound, and I can give you their words from our own newspapers if you or any of your readers 'should desire same. Men like Max Mueller, Count Tolstoi, Sir Thos. Vesoy-Strong (late Lord Mayor of London), and the said Professor Murray do not speak on'such subjeots lightly, but they all declare that the means is at hand, and it only requires the awakening of the peoples to the possibility of such- a thing, to make all wars' impossible, and a closer relationship between nationalities a real-, ity instead of the dream it at present is. I. have seon printed sheets, published by the Governments of the belligerent nations of Europe in this new language, and which were distributed amongst tho neutrals, and I am informed that these sheets are still issued, each side giving its own views foe tho benefit of those who cannot road the present day atrocities of language which have developed out of the dark ages and become located in' certain -localities on tho earth. What I ask is the real cause of this terrible war? . Is it coinmerco, politics, religion? Is'it the real belief in the super-man? No, Sir, I submit it is nothing more nor less than language. If a Teuton intermarries with a Briton, the' next generation will bo just whatever its languago is.-Now at the risk of being charged with overriding a fayourito hobby, let me again say that our new language Esperanto does not aim at the. destruction of any existing 'national language; but to bo a common and'neutral, tonguek to be used by all. It is based principally upon Latin roots. It is phonetic, without exceptions or. : irregularities in its grammar, and the scheme of pronunciation is fixed so that a person learning it here in Wellington could go to any town on the earth and find someone to talk to and be sure of being understood. I have proved this to a considerable extent, having spoken to Russians, French, Germans, Turks, Spanish, Italians, and never once failed to m'ake myself understood or to understand them. If I could make you and your readers as conversant with tliis subject as those whose names I have quoted, there would be no doubt of the attitude you and they would take up in tho great problems of our future social relationship' with our present national enemies. 1 can show you.translations of our greatest literary works— from the ' Scriptures . downwards. Shakespeare and Dickens are now read in the remotest corners of the earth in this new language, and new books are in our libraries which have never ,been printed in any other language but Esperanto. Its literature is still growing, notwithstanding that the, world is in the throes" of a strugg'o the .'very antithesis of. that internal idea of Esperanto on w r hich alone it hopes-to finally succecd. Trusting I have not encroached too fully on your valuable space,—l am, etc., I W. L. EDMANSON, F.8.E.A., - ' „ President W.E.S. ■