ESPERANTO EXCOGITATIONS.

NZ Truth, Issue 81, 5 January 1907, Page 7

ESPERANTO EXCOGITATIONS.

Sir Joseph Ward's Proposal KE WANTS P'UHHfEBSAL" LANGUAGE. Would He Object to the "v.BJjud" Language ? Why Doesn't He ftoposs :.:. ;...sinational Commission i l Something for tsie New Zealand Premier's Consideration, It appeal's that the and political authorities of New Zealand are very much fascinated with the new international language Esperanto, which can be learnt m ! a few months, it is said, and which it is therefore proposed should be taught m certain of the schools of New Zealand. The Premier of New Zealand, m speaking at a High School function at Napier the other day, is reported by the "Sydney Morning Herald" to have made a statement m favor of the teaching of Esperanto, the "universal language." Sir Joseph Ward made a point of the fact' that he had recently attended a great International Congress (the Borne Postal Convention), at which there were ISO delegates from all parts of the world. Men from China had to have interpreters who understood French <and Chinese; those from Austria required men who spoke Austrian and French; those from Cuba had to have interpreters who understood Spanish and French, and so on. Those delegates who did not understand the French language MISSED A GREAT DEAL of what was being said. He was of opinion that it Vas highly desirable that Esperanto should be introduced in±o the curriculum of the State schools. Though literary men might not altogether agree with it, he was satisfied m his own mind that considering whab was being done m the way of bringing the different nations together some language of a general and common nature thai might be used by the people of all countries ought t6 be taught, so that peopleWho were unable to speak French or German would not be quite at sea. It could be mastered easily m six months, whereas French, Latin, and German could not be mastered m less than three years even BY SMART LINGUISTS.

He was strongly of opinion they should do what they could to assist m teaching a language that would-be of such value throughout the world.

This is all very well ; but it happens that there is no finality about this "universal language" matter. Since "Esperanto" was invented, several new languages have been put upon the market, which are said to be better than Esperanto. If the Governments of the world 6hould, as has been suggested, send representatives to a congress to adopt, a universal language, and if they should adopt some language other than Esperanto, what apology could the Government of New Zealand make for having caused pupils to waste time and money m the sbudy of Esperanto? This matter of the international adoption of the "universal" language is ably dealt with m an article m a recent issue of the London "Clarion." The writer, however, omits to mention that an international language, called Alwato, was invented by THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER, Stephen Pearl Andrews. Here is the "Clario6" article :—

JH^Z 250 T e ar s have passed sine* Bisfcop Wilkins, m 1668, published his''Essay Towards a Philosophical Language* A voluminous 'Histoire de la Langue Uai. verselle-,' has since accrued recording a veritable Babel of ingenious linguistic inventions and exultant Eurekas! Bui yofc the Universal Tongue simmers and hubbies m the stew pot of the gods. Our own generation has produced Volapnk, la Langue Catholique, die Weltspraohe, Nuove Roman, Neo-Latin, Nov-Latin, Lingua Latinesce, PasiHngua, Lingua Komun, C'oiumunia, Myrana, Esperanto, ' '

AND THE DEVIL, ; father of linguistics, knows how many more. "And the cry is, 'Still they come.' Esperanto claims the vogue of the moment, supplanting the sometime auspicious Volapuk; but a crowd of assiduous linguists dispute its claim to finality. They criticise ita redundancy of alphabet, its circumflex ao> cents, its revival of the accusative case, and its inexact polysyllabic compound words, all of which defects or demerits one or other of them claims to have corrected m later inventions.

' "Dr. Molenaar \ IS STILL POLISHING ', his Pan-Roman or Universal Language. The ' inventors of- the Idiome Neutral have been working together under the title of the Akademi International de Lingu Universal for the ; last .15 years, and it is claimed that 1 whilst Volapuk was the Sedan Chair of ideographic vehicles, and Esperanto . tho Stage Coach, the, Idiome Neutral deserves ' to rank as the Motor Car. Pursuing this ; comparative simile still further, the 'Courrier Europeen' bestows the title of Electric 1 Locomotive to THE LANGUE BLEUE, named by tihe author after the color of Lhe sky, which he adopts, by the way, not mii aptly, for the Flag of Humanity. 1 'Tending further advance to the wirelesit telegraphy of -thought-transmission, which j won't be reached this century, the Eurof pean Governments ought now to be urged >■ to formulate proposals for tho appointment of an International Commission of Linguists to examine the claims of tihe various Junguages already invented, and authoritatively establish one of them- as the neutral ultra-national tongue. "Thousands learned Volapuk: SCORES OF THOUSANDS have learned Esperanto. Thousands more . are doubtless learning the 'Idiome "Neutral and the Langue Bleue. The time has come to stop this foolishness. Continued incoherent and unofficial searchings after finality are mere waste of time to the inventors and to tiheir disciples. The ingredients and conditions of the scientific ultranationaJ tongue are sifted. The pioneer work is finished. AH that ia wanted now is to pick the best of the products (which should noli be difficult) and give it the seal, of official recognition a?id permanence." In the heading of its article the "Clarron" suggests that action might be taken by llir. Jowett, a Labor members of the British House of Commons, for the purpose of bringing about the appointment of a commission. In any caso, there does not seem any good reason why Sir .Joseph Ward, should not, before spending money m the teaching of Esperanto, suggest to the Colonial Oiiicu that tho British Government should taJto steps to bring about the appointment of j an International Commission io decide what really is the besfe language for International I purposes. ,__^«^^