Ivy Kellerman Reed

“ This word Esperantism has come to stand for a spirit of tolerance and conciliation which is distinctly worthy of note, and which materially aids in paving the way for ultimate complete understanding and "the federation of the world." ”

“ No nation of to-day will yield to any one other nation the immense commercial and political advantage given by permitting the mother-tongue of that nation to become the accepted medium for international dealings. No American or Englishman would consent to an attempt to have German used exclusively, in his intercourse with Spanish-speaking peoples, or any other peoples, nor would he consent to French for such a sole medium. ”

“ The silver Latinity and that of the middle ages are as out of the question as the "modern" Latin which for want of a better medium is forced to serve in a multitude of scientific classifications and descriptions of the present day. This too is in regard to Latin as a written language. Speaking it is a still more difficult problem, one before which even the Latin specialist is ill at ease. It is evident that the idea of bringing Latin in any shape into real use as an auxiliary language in the busy modern world is absolutely hopeless. ”

“ It seems strange, also, when we recollect that in the employ of every nation there are numerous persons skilled in the language of every other nation of political or commercial importance, to serve the one as interpreters of the thoughts and words of the other, and to translate the ideas and ideals of these peoples for each other in any emergency that may arise. ”

“ Propagated steadily but unobtrusively in all quarters of the world, the international language idea, represented by Esperanto, has loomed large and become a reality, even in this short space of time since its presentation to the world. Doubtless one reason is that the unbounded possibilities of the practical side of the language have only as yet begun to develop, while the insistence upon the ideals of "Esperantism" has been emphasized. ”

“ What is true of Latin is equally true of Greek, with its own peculiar alphabet, used by no other language, and its even greater remoteness from present European tongues, in spite of the many derivatives from it in modern vocabularies, especially in technical terminology, and in spite of the fact that the idiom developed from ancient Greek is a spoken language to-day. The languages of the past can not serve the peoples' of the present in any immediate and practical capacity. ”

“ English is quite as much out of the question as any other language. A smattering of it, as of the others, is obtainable without great difficulty, but to learn it well, to overcome all of its difficulties, is another matter. ”

“ Genuine admiration is accorded any person who has completely mastered three or four languages in addition to his mother-tongue, and speaks and writes all of them with equal fluency, exactness and elegance. ”

“ Ignorance of one another's civilization, lack of appreciation of each other's character and ideals, failure to comprehend the motives of essentially simple actions—all these are at fault when great nations disagree. ”

“ By giving attention to discussion of such matters instead of to propaganda work, the Volapükists lost all they had gained.
Their bitter experience taught a lesson to the promulgators of the only other important project for an international language, the only one which to-day receives general attention. When overzealous theorists proposed changes in Esperanto, and insisted upon the adoption of their "improvements" the great majority of Esperantists refused to countenance any sudden or radical changes, declaring instead for a unity and stability. ”

“ The proportion of those speaking a certain language is no less impracticable a basis for the choice of an international auxiliary medium. Leaving out the question of Asiatic tongues, in spite of their superiority in this regard, the selection is among those same reciprocally jealous nations, namely, Russian, French, English and German. ”

“ Yet to be truly a polyglot one must be familiar with not only French and German, English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, each difficult of mastery, and the Scandinavian languages, but also Dutch, Flemish, Portuguese, Roumanian, Catalonian, Greek and the many languages allied to Russian, such as Bohemian, Polish, Servian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, etc., and also the non-Aryan tongues of Europe, such as Hungarian and Finnish and the scattered Yiddish. ”

“ Persons in comfortable financial circumstances may learn several languages besides their own, business men stationed in foreign countries may do so to some extent, and peasant immigrants may do the same in limited degree; but the possessor of more than a moderate familiarity with two or three languages is called a linguist, and placed in a class apart, as differing by that very fact from the majority of mankind. ”

“ Who can boast of all this? Yet who will deny that not one nor many, but in truth each and every one, of the intelligent citizens of every nation should have the power of overcoming these linguistic barriers? ”

“ As long as interpreters are needed, as long as the ability to interpret rests only with the officials of the government, the faculties of the universities, and the small proportion of citizens and students who have opportunity of extended residence in at least one country besides the native one, just so long is perfect understanding impossible. For perfect understanding between two nations results from an understanding between a majority of the citizens of these two nations, not from even the most perfect understanding and appreciation of one by but a small minority in the other. ”

“ It seems strange at first that there should be room for such lack of mutual understanding and sympathy, in view of the vaunted increase of international intercourse, due to the many opportunities of communication by mail and by wire, to the great interchange of commodities made possible by commercial progress, and to the growing facilities for international travel. ”

“ The Esperanto movement, strongest in Europe, has found favorable reception in Japan, whose minister of foreign affairs is president of the Japanese Esperanto Association. In the United States the present propaganda association is less than a year old, yet the number and quality of persons interested in the idea and movement is such that European Esperantists expect to be invited to the United States for the Sixth Annual International Esperanto Congress, in 1910. ”

“ It behooves every one to examine it, and to aid its promulgation as best he may, by advocating it, by urging its introduction into schools and publishing in it, entire or in abstract, at least some of the writings which he now offers to the reading public in English or some other national idiom only. For Esperanto is solving the problem of an international language, which is "An attempt to save the greatest amount of labor, and open the widest fields of thought and action to the greatest number." ”

“ IT was urged by a certain Greek philosopher that in ignorance alone lay the real reason of wrong-doing, and that none who truly understood the right could thereafter be guilty of wrong. Ignorance in a narrower sense has been offered as the explanation for misunderstanding and consequent trouble of a more or less serious nature between nations and races as well as between individuals. ”

“ In the meantime, it certainly behooves every one who approves of the wide-spread international acquaintance, understanding and conciliation, to examine this language which offers such great possibilities, since it has proved itself fully worthy of consideration in the brief time that it has existed as a living language. ”

“ Nor is any one surprised to hear that such an expert spends many years and much care in acquiring these three or four languages with a reasonable perfection of pronunciation, syntax and style, or that teaching this is in itself a profession worthy of remuneration. ”

“ No other interpretation is indeed possible, since longing for power, love of conquest, lust to slay, can hardly be suggested in calm seriousness as motivating the actions of nations who are followers of the gentle Jesus, the kindly Buddha, the wise Confucius, in a supposedly civilized century. ”

“ Such experts are found likewise in all great educational centers. There is not a university without its corps of trained linguists, while its leaders in all of the various departments must possess a fair degree of familiarity with numerous foreign tongues. ”