WILL RUSSIAN BECOME THE WORLD’S LANGUAGE.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 27 July 1901, Page 4

WILL RUSSIAN BECOME THE WORLD’S LANGUAGE.

(New York Independent).

Russia, last of European nations to rise out of barbarism, occupies half the territory of Europe, She also possesses the vast fertile plains of Siberia. Every decade carries her possessions farther south. Already she reaches Afghanistan, and casts covetous eyes on that country and Persia. To the cast she lias just taken Manchuria, and her next step will he the Chinese provinces in the latitude of Peking. All this territory which will produce the hardiest of mm, will support many hundreds of millions of people. A rejuvenated China may raise a barrier to the southern progress of Russia, hut no European Power can. All this territory, from the Ba tic to the Yellow Sea, from the Arctic to the Persian Gulf, is likely to bo dominated by the Russian Empire will, 50 years from now, be by far the strongest in the world, even as now it can raise far the largest armies. And the Russian language will be spoken by half of Europe, and the best half of Asia, that half which raises the hardiest of men. And they will be no rude people ; men of ability of genius, of culture, in a country of railroads and universities. Already scholars lament that they must miss so much of research because it is published in the Russian language, a language which hitherto it his not been thought necessary for scholars to learn ; English and German and French, with a bttlc Italian were enough.

The conflict of the world is to be between the KngliJi and the Russian languages. "When half of Austria goes to Germany, it will bo a German gain politically', but not linguistisally. But when the other half of Austrian Empire goes to Bus ia, and Houmania and the other Balkan provinces go to Russia, they will be Russified in language. France will make insensible progress in imposing her language on her African possession ; the Arabic will hold its own where France can send no cottiers. The Arabic to. guc is quite as likely to invade France, The rivalry of llie world will be between the English and the Russian tongues.

It is the part of high statesmanship to help the spread of the Jingli h language, for language is the most powerful of all unifying forces. Those whose longue we cannot understand are barbarians to us. Perhaps not a million people in India y T ot talk English. The British Government ought in every way encourage the use of its own tongue. Its study should be required in all schools above the lowest grades. We should do the same in Porto Rico and the Phillipines. The building of the Nicaragua Canal ought to lead to the prevalence of English in Nicaragua and Costa Rico, and we should hope that its use may spread in Mexico.