Richard Bartholdt and A. Christen - Esperanto: Hearings before the Committee on Education
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Richard Bartholdt and A. Christen >> Esperanto: Hearings before the Committee on Education
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
The Esperanto alphabet contains 28 characters. These are the
characters of English, but with "q", "w", "x", and "y" removed, and
six diacritical letters added. The diacritical letters are "c",
"g", "h", "j" and "s" with circumflexes (or "hats", as Esperantists
fondly call them), and "u" with a breve. Zamenhof himself suggested
that where the diacritical letters caused difficulty, one could
instead use "ch", "gh", "hh", "jh", "sh" and "u". A plain ASCII
file is one such place; there are no ASCII codes for Esperanto's
special letters.
However, there are two problems with Zamenhof's "h-method". There is
no difference between "u" and "u" with a breve, and there is no way
to determine (without prior knowledge of the word(s) involved, and
sometimes a bit of context) whether an "h" following one of those other
five letters is really the second half of a diacritical pair, or just
an "h" that happened to find itself next to one of them. Consequently
other, unambiguous, methods have been used over the years. One is the
"x-method", which uses the digraphs "cx", "gx", "hx", "jx", "sx" and
"ux" to represent the special letters. There is no ambiguity because
the letter "x" is not an Esperanto letter, and each diacritical letter
has a unique transliteration. This is the method used in the ASCII
versions of this Project Gutenberg e-text.
However, in the discussion of the name "Washington", "W" and "sh" were
indeed used in the original document. "Esparanto" and "flexbility" were
also found in the original document and retained, along with a "than"
where a "then" was probably intended.
In addition, the 7-bit ASCII version of this book uses the German
"-e" convention to represent characters with umlauts. The 8-bit ASCII
version uses the ISO-8859-1 character set to represent these German
and Volapuek characters. The HTML version uses Unicode and therefore
displays properly all the characters for the languages... including
Esperanto!
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ESPERANTO
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HEARINGS
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SIXTY-THIRD CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
H. RES. 415
A RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE STUDY OF ESPERANTO
AS AN AUXILIARY LANGUAGE
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STATEMENTS OF
HON. RICHARD BARTHOLDT
A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI
AND
PROF. A. CHRISTEN
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MARCH 17, 1914
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WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1914
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SIXTY-THIRD CONGRESS.
DUDLEY M. HUGHES, Georgia, Chairman.
WILLIAM W. RUCKER, Missouri. JAMES F. BURKE, Pennsylvania.
ROBERT L. DOUGHTON, North Carolina. CALEB POWERS, Kentucky.
JOHN W. ABERCROMBIE, Alabama. HORACE M. TOWNER, Iowa.
J. THOMPSON BAKER, New Jersey. EDMUND PLATT, New York.
JOHN R. CLANCY, New York. ALLEN T. TREADWAY, Massachusetts.
THOMAS C. THACHER, Massachusetts. SIMEON D. FESS, Ohio.
STEPHEN A. HOXWORTH, Illinois. ARTHUR R. RUPLEY, Pennsylvania.
James L. Fort, Clerk.
ESPERANTO.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION,
Tuesday, March 17, 1914
The committee this day met, Hon. Dudley M. Hughes (chairman) presiding.
STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BARTHOLDT,
A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
Mr. BARTHOLDT. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I do not wish to occupy your
time, for the reason that I can be here almost any time, while Prof.
Christen has made a special trip from New York for this purpose, and I
should like to give him all the time you can afford to devote to this
bill.
I merely wish to say, in explanation, that I have not, as you will
notice, introduced this bill by request; I have assumed responsibility
for it personally because I thoroughly believe in it. I first introduced
the bill in the shape of a request to the Committee on Education
to investigate the subject; that is, as to the practicability and
advisability of introducing Esperanto as an auxiliary language in the
public schools. That resolution was referred to the Committee on Rules
and, of course, I could not get any action in that committee, and for
that reason I introduced the bill in its present form, which merely
provides that Esperanto be taught as a part of the course of study in
the schools of Washington, this being the only jurisdiction we have in
the matter of education.
We Americans are known the world over as being deficient in the
knowledge of languages. I think we might as well admit that. While
every other nation is teaching two or three languages in its schools we
have failed to do so, and yet the requirements of international trade
and commerce make it absolutely essential that our young men should be
taught at least one language or two languages besides their own. Now,
this being the case and Esperanto now being taken up by nearly all the
civilized countries as an auxiliary language, how easy it would be for
us, instead of compelling our children in the schools to learn Spanish,
French, and German, to simply take one lesson a week in Esperanto and
thereby enable this nation to correspond and communicate in a common
language with all the other nations of the world.
The CHAIRMAN. Your idea would be that the various nations would
understand Esperanto, and that whenever they would use that language all
would understand and comprehend it? Is that your idea?
Mr. BARTHOLDT. Yes. I want to say that there is a movement on foot in
nearly every civilized country to make Esperanto a part of the course of
study in the schools. If that were carried out, each country would learn
its own language and Esperanto, in England English and Esperanto, and
so on, so that the international language would really be Esperanto. As
one who has studied languages to some extent I can feel the shortcomings
and handicaps of a man who, for instance, having studied French for some
time, comes to Paris. The very moment you open your mouth the people
will notice that you are "a foreigner," no matter how well you speak
French, so that the other man, the native, has a certain advantage over
you. But if that Frenchman were obliged to speak Esperanto with you then
you would be on a common level and neither would have an advantage over
the other. I have read in several of the Esperanto newspapers that, for
instance, in England the great manufacturing establishments are now
printing their catalogues and price lists in Esperanto, and that other
publications are sent all over the world printed in that language, in
matters of trade and commerce. So you can see it is coming. And since
we have not overcrowded the minds of our children with languages as
yet, I think it would be advisable and profitable for us to start with
Esperanto.
I want to add that it is a very easy language. I have learned it in four
lessons. Of course I have not had the time to keep it up, and you must
keep in practice.
The CHAIRMAN. Does Esperanto partake more of the Spanish language?
Mr. BARTHOLDT. No. For an English speaking person it is very easy to
learn, because it is composed of words taken from the English language,
some from the German language, and some from the Latin. But the whole
construction of the language is so remarkably simple, that you will
wonder why it is that a universal language of that kind has not been
introduced before for the use of civilized men.
That is all I wish to say, gentlemen, and I take pleasure in introducing
Prof. Christen, of New York, to you, whom I regard as one of the
greatest living experts in that language and a missionary for Esperanto.
STATEMENT OF PROF. A. CHRISTEN,
46 MANHATTAN AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY.
Prof. CHRISTEN. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, this is quite a novel
experience to me. I do not even know how these hearings are carried on,
but I am entirely at your disposal and shall be very glad to answer
questions. If I had my own way I would like to speak for at least an
hour and a half or two hours, but I understand that you can not give
me so much time. Therefore, it will be rather difficult to put in
all the information I would like to lay before you. I should like to
tell you something about the absurd and ridiculous linguistic chaos
to which the world has been brought through those great agencies of
progress which have now practically abolished distance and brought
the ends of the earth nearer to each other than were the opposite
frontiers of the smallest kingdom 400 years ago; (1)[1] then about the
advisability, nay, the absolute necessity of an international language;
how various attempts have been made to meet this growing demand for a
special international language, not for home consumption but only for
intercourse with all other nations, and why this one is, in my opinion
and in that of many wiser men, bound to succeed, and that is because it
absolutely fills the bill and is fool-proof; as a scientific and at the
same time practical scheme, it can not be improved upon. Next, I should
like to speak about the reason why neither English, nor any other living
language, can ever become international. No living language can become
international because they are all too difficult, too complicated, and
not neutral; (2) and then, perhaps, I ought to give you a few outlines
of the construction of Esperanto to show you why it is so easy, how
it meets all the requirements of the case, and is going to succeed.
However, I do not suppose I shall be able to do all of this, and,
therefore, will merely take a few points.
[1]See additions to verbatim report of hearing.
Dr. Bartholdt has mentioned to you the movement that is already in
existence for Esperanto. Here is the official yearbook of the Universala
Esperanto-Asocio (3), the best-organized international society that
the movement has yet produced. This society is called the Universal
Esperanto Association. It is not a propaganda society, but purely a
commercial league for the coordained use of the language, not merely
for the spread of it, but for its practical use among those who have
already learned it. This association has 698 branches throughout the
world, and is in its sixth year. Here is a map showing the places in
which the society is represented, and to-day, if I want any information
on any industrial, commercial, educational, scientific, or any other
matter--say, in Portugal, Russia, Japan, Spain, Belgium, Holland, or
China, etc.--I look up the place nearest to the district from which
I want that information and find the address of the Esperanto center
there. Then I write to the delegate and ask for the information in
Esperanto, and no matter what language he speaks at home I will get a
reply in Esperanto, and he will take any amount of trouble to satisfy
my demands. This society has done a remarkable amount of excellent work
in the last five years, and Esperanto is more and more used for all
practical international purposes.
Now, Dr. Bartholdt told you about many commercial houses in different
countries already using Esperanto practically, that is to say, actually
using it for their business purposes internationally, printing their
circulars, price lists, catalogues, and so on, in Esperanto, and using
it for correspondence.
I am reminded that seven years ago, in the north of Scotland, I saw
a communication to a Scotch railroad company from a French railroad
company written in English, but across the communication there were
stamped the words, "We correspond in Esperanto." And that was six or
seven years ago, and since that time Esperanto has made very great
strides.
I have here a number of trade catalogues in Esperanto, and you will
see from the nature of them that they are really very elaborate things
and on which these firms have spent a great deal of money, which they
would not do if they did not think the thing was actually paying. I have
only about 40 such samples here because I can not carry them all about
with me. For instance, here is a very elaborate, costly, and handsome
catalogue from the biggest firm of photographic instrument makers in
Germany, and, I believe, in the world.
Here is a pamphlet issued by the Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles,
a very attractive pamphlet. That was published in order to attract
European immigration to that portion of California, and that same
chamber of commerce has made large use of Esperanto for that purpose.
Two years ago they sent a man to lecture all over Europe and in some
parts of Asia on the attractions of California. That lecturer visited 27
different countries; he lectured in 120 different towns during 18 months
and every one of his lectures was given in Esperanto, and in several
places he was obliged to give his lecture two or three times, because
the crowds that came were so large that it was impossible for everybody
who desired to hear the lecture to get in at the same time. There were
large numbers of people in every place who actually understood him;
all did not understand him, but a large number did in every town. For
instance, in Paris and Barcelona there are many thousands who understand
Esperanto. Here is another German firm in Berlin. Here is a bookseller
in Paris issuing a catalogue entirely in Esperanto. Here is a leaflet
about the Panama Exposition published in Esperanto. Here is the town of
Baden, a watering place near Vienna. They publish a guide of their town
in Esperanto. Here is a catalogue issued by the Oliver Typewriter Co.
printed in Esperanto. Cook's famous touring agency has used Esperanto
for the last seven years. Here is a Scotch tea firm publishing a
circular in Esperanto. Here is a bicycle-saddle maker in Germany using
Esperanto for publicity. Here is a Berlin taximeter catalogue in
Esperanto. Two years ago there was held in Leipsic the greatest hygienic
exposition ever held anywhere. It was the most successful of its kind up
to date, and hundreds of thousands of people attended from all over the
world. In that exposition Esperanto was used to a great extent and the
exhibition authorities published a guide to the exposition in Esperanto.
Here is a railroad company that uses Esperanto. A great many railroad
companies in Europe already use it. They issue regional guides to the
most attractive parts of their districts in Esperanto. Here is a Paris
automobile company with a circular in Esperanto. Here is the biggest
iron works in England, the Consett Iron Co., of Durham, a firm that
employs 30,000 hands, and that firm publishes its catalogues and price
lists in Esperanto. This is only one of their Esperanto publications.
Here is a circular issued by a Paris department store. All the big
department stores of Paris not only use Esperanto in their publications,
but actually have interpreters for Esperanto in their stores. The
biggest ink firm in the world--the Stephens Blue Ink Co., in London--use
this language for their correspondence. About six years ago they began
to use Esperanto and published their advertisements and their circulars
for foreign trade entirely in Esperanto. The town of Antwerp publishes
an illustrated guide of the town in Esperanto. Here is a very big
Anglo-American firm of medical supplies, Burroughs, Wellcome & Co.,
and they use Esperanto in many of their circulars. The Government
of Brazil three years ago sent a man to lecture in Europe as to the
attractions of Brazil. That man lectured in Paris to an audience of
3,000 people entirely in Esperanto, and the Government published his
lecture in that language. Here is a curious document. This was issued by
the anti-alcohol congress in Italy last year, and you will notice that
Esperanto is used, and that it is recommended as the only remedy against
the language trouble which entirely hampered the deliberations of this
congress, as it does all international conventions of every kind. I will
hand this to Mrs. Crafts, because she will be able to tell you more
about it, since she was there.
That is the commercial side of it, and these are only a very few
samples of the actual and practical use being made of Esperanto in
this one alone. I could produce, no doubt, a great many more such
examples, but I can not carry them all about with me. Here are some 60
to 70 guide leaflets published by so many different towns in France,
in Italy, in Austria, in Germany, in England, and in several other
countries--leaflets printed in Esperanto for the use of foreigners and
tourists. They give them information in Esperanto about the various
things they might first need to know on arriving at those cities. For
instance, here is Milan, Italy, and Poitiers, France, and Insbruck.
Austria, and Tavia, Italy, and Davos, Switzerland, and so on. In the
same line here are 20 more elaborate guidebooks to various towns in
Europe, published entirely in Esperanto by the local authorities. Of
course, you will not have the time to look at all these things just now,
but I will leave them with you. Then, again, I think I can safely say
that there are over 100 periodicals published in Esperanto in different
countries.
Esperanto is making very rapid progress in Japan and China; for
instance, I have here an excellent Esperanto paper published by a native
society in Japan.
The CHAIRMAN. In what nation is it progressing most rapidly?
Prof. CHRISTEN. That is difficult to say, but seven years ago France was
at the head, and Germany did not take it up for a long time. Then about
five or six years ago England shot ahead of France, and then suddenly
Germany took it up, and now I think Germany is ahead of all the other
countries in the practical use of Esperanto. But it is making good
progress everywhere--in France, in England, in Denmark, in Bulgaria, in
Spain, in South America, in Germany, in India, in China, and in Japan.
In Germany the authorities and scientific people have very strongly
espoused Esperanto. For instance, the Government of Saxony sustains
financially an Esperanto institute in Dresden, and that does a great
deal of good work. The Government of Saxony is also a large contributor
to an Esperanto library, which is the biggest in the world, as yet.
And in many towns in Spain, in Germany, and in France, especially in
France, whenever an Esperanto lecturer goes into a town he gets a
stipend from the town; the town pays out of the city funds the expenses
of his propaganda, or partly pays them; they contribute 50 or 100
francs, and frequently more, according to the size of the place. That
is the practice in many places in other countries besides France, but
especially in France. Even the Russian Government gives financial aid to
Esperanto propaganda.
The CHAIRMAN. As I understand it, this is not supposed to be a universal
language?
Prof. CHRISTEN. No; an international language.
The CHAIRMAN. But at the same time it is a language in which all the
universe can meet upon a common plane and converse?
Prof. CHRISTEN. That is the intention, to give the whole of the
civilized world one and the same secondary language.
The CHAIRMAN. In which they can all meet on a common plane?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes; no matter where you may go, if you know Esperanto,
you shall not be a foreigner anywhere. The intention is to do away with
this terrible handicap of being unable to converse with your fellow men
of the various countries you may visit unless you learn all or most of
those languages, a thing which, as you know, is in most cases quite
impossible. It is the intention to have all the nations understand
Esperanto, and by that means make it possible for all the peoples of
the world to commune directly with each other. The time has come in the
world's history when a common vehicle of human expression is absolutely
necessary, and the barrier of Babel must fall, as mostly all other
obstacles to free intercourse have already fallen, before the triumphant
advance of modern science and technology. It is positively fatuous and
futile to ask the modern man, be he in commerce or science or what not,
to become an expert in his particular line of endeavor and a polyglot
besides. It can not be done. Languages are too many and each one too
complicated for our crowded curricula. The obligatory study of foreign
languages belongs to a remote past when there existed no sciences and
no industrial arts, when life was less crowded and when there were
fewer world languages. Even less than a hundred years ago a man was an
accomplished cosmopolitan if he knew French and his own mother tongue.
To-day he wants and ought to be conversant with French, German, and
Spanish, at the very least, besides English, and before long he will
have to tackle Russian and Japanese. As a matter of fact in some of the
European countries and in South America the school children actually
spend from 35 to 60 per cent of the school time in acquiring that sort
of an education, which is really not education at all but only a means
to an end.
The CHAIRMAN. What progress has Esperanto made in the United States?
Prof. CHRISTEN. In this matter the United States is behind all other
progressive countries. There have been many sporadic efforts made and
there are Esperanto groups in different places from New York and Boston
to Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Tacoma, etc., but as
a national movement it is not what it should be, and the difficulty
is, to far as I can make it out, the enormous size of the country. It
is difficult for a society, without very large funds, to carry on an
effective propaganda all over the country.
Then another difficulty is that Americans are not generally very much
given to what I should call ethical ideas of this kind, that offer no
immediate and sudden cash returns, until they really become a craze or
until a certain class, perhaps, takes them up. (4) Let us not forget
also that the American people are not so much in touch with the language
difficulty as are other countries, and they do not yet appreciate the
enormous use that Esperanto will be to them, for, in my opinion, no
white people will benefit more from Esperanto than will the American
people, chiefly because like all English-speaking nations they are very
poor linguists. Then it is becoming more and more acknowledged among
educational people that the English language is the only language that
can not be taught. It is well known that if you put educated people from
different countries together the Anglo-Saxon will invariably be the one
who understands his own language least. That is due to the peculiar
construction of the English language.
However, Esperanto would not be difficult for the American people
because it is so scientific, so logical, and entirely free of all
irregularities. Prof. Mayer, of the University of Oxford, learned
Esperanto in his seventy-ninth year. I heard him make a speech in
the language about six or seven days after he took it up, and he
declared that Esperanto ought to be introduced into the educational
system of the country. He was professor of the Latin language at
the Oxford University. He declared Esperanto ought to be introduced
into the schools, into the kindergartens, where children of 5 years
of age should begin with Esperanto, and I hold with him, because
if children were to learn Esperanto it would be of help to them in
their English. It is extremely easy to learn and can be learned in
a very pleasant fashion, because it is so scientific and so simple. (5)
If children understood Esperanto, they would understand English better,
and much of the time we waste in trying to teach them English would be
profitably spent, for they would have something to go upon, something to
compare English with, and that something so scientific and so logical as
Esperanto. Take, for instance, analysis. I will not say it is difficult
but I will say it is impossible to analyze an English word, because
every word can be so many things. It can generally be an adjective,
a noun, a verb, a preposition, a conjunction, and an interjection,
that is, the same word, without any structural change, so that it is
difficult for a child to discriminate and label the word. Take the word
"benefited." That might be used in the past tense (I benefited), or as
a past participle: (We may have benefited), and it is impossible for
a child to sense the difference, and such confusion occurs to a great
extent with most words in the English language.