, 1879-03-04

ClttcAno March 3--To lover 81 "fonctiksn
1t Is very gratifying to see journal Of such
hjgl, standing as THE TRIBUNE dcyote 50 much
Of its valuable spaco to the subj Get Of "SpcllnE
Rcforn.' II denotes IL high degree Of pro-
grcssvencss In the management. Cuatlnuc In
tic grand work Of aiding III tllc emancipation
ot llle Eng'sh-speak!nE people from their
a'ayrsy to antiquarian methods Of spelling.
Tie attempts Of sono Of your corrcsouulepts
to spell "funettkaly," mud ut thu earna t!n,c
crticse tho e1roris Of others In a Hike direction,
arc quite amusing. Take, for example,. "G.
c. o." who takes onr olu fonetts soldier,
"G., d. b." TO tnsls; an,l,, While he Il
1unlhcs all oycr himself IN his owu rommunicn-
tion. Witness his Use Of the letters md +, fIe
uIlows to rcpFcsent tic sounds Of md 4;
those Of IND =. He adyisrs u. u. d. to drop
the lal III such words Ms hope, have, etc., l!c-
cause It u silent, ut tllcn to he consistent ~
snels falls ia!cs, using thu silent 4, md stu
stttutes Ill \ for z. However, It Is mt sucIl
nil easy matter a!tsr aa to spell fouctiknly Whcn
ono really hus but twenty-lhrto letters With
"Voxn y Ia ot the Utlantuu that VIC necll nu new
letters, believing; we call smell the English Ia,,-
guage foncttlialy With tle pgcscNt alnlsalet.
So, t.decd, VIC might, hut ttts would
govern tlictr llsu; nHh as thcre sccnls
70 lc no rulu without an exception,
would We not shen be ~ much n the nl!ye is NO
nov are in the mudt How much supicr Il Is to
have distinct character for zach n,sl every
sound III tie language. to he used to represent
s1cl, sound ami no olcrh.. a wurd would then
1a spelled as proanuccd, and pronounced as
Bppltru. Ttlie nppunrH 1u 1nr 10 be thr uniy
philosophical basis on which to but'd . language.
Had WI htlclI lnSis ignorance would be fnttr
less pronounced thai It Is ut present, mud n
reasonable education could hG obtatIlrl with tho
expenditure nf nNeh less time, labor, aa money
nF1 II ntIth
tliilk n portion Of. Mrs. Walkers letter In
last Sundays THinuSE, will bear little ertt!-
cism. allu thtnks forty or nloro Letters, or iii
other. words, = SEPARATE charnrtcr Tor every
uriluous labor Imposed UPON the con,posftur
by such MULTIPLICITY Of characters" It Acr,ns
to me l!at, cycu though thcru would BE-
ea fssls n s ass @ S snnst
Of spelling words would more than compensate
for this inrrrnse. 10 tllustrnte: suppose twt,
compositors to be stuntllng ut their eilscs, the
ono lavps ''lsesna.,lv " the os.,es "Fonetl.s u
typc, both to be equally. familiar with their
cnscs, nlal to ert M the following: "TAonEll
tlrro Rre !nnny l!tnrle present here tonight,
| probably fcw 0f tlIc1n lnyu any led know-
cdgv of phunograplly." ltwi'l rcquiru ,nuty-
nctts" "--nll thlnEs being clnal, direct snvln.
Of ~ per ecnt N time at'd labor. THIS is no
small ttc.n. suppose ,lu j" "Fonctfk ', caBu Is
somewhat larger than tho "lsoman!c,n would
Of labor sufficient tu overcome the saving In tho
number Of motlous n,aucs think nut. Hc-
si1cs, do not see lint theso need ho my dtf5cr
tct. tic SFonctik requiring a ic.s Sc aasatity as
"copy," thc compartments might b.
made llttla s.aaltcr. Tho .ueusal
afss IL ill., patos i n waua ee
!ainly uot be as great nor talie ps long as thai
required to uacsnor1za al tl,u var!o,,s uses to