, 1879-03-01

CHICAGO, Feb. 23.-H Wn. II. u. would
devote aslltto moro tfmo to the study Of tho
subject lo thinks ho Is discussing, aud less 10
trying to appear smart, his writing upon SPELL
ing reform would not be 50 1ippant md super
tlcial. uo eaya:
yos iB ycsy proliae in assertions of what tho
people EiH DO. and what they ntcer frIsi do. re.
member that not many years ago persona and per-
soil. inserted that the American people ndver pontd
abolish slavery
This is remarkably absurd comparison. TITO
South did not voluntarily emancipato their
alnyes and reform their labor system Of their
own volltion. Tho change WAS wrought BY the
application Of Irresistible military force md ter
rlts s1aushter Arc the poople as1 to bs conf
ran system nt spellingl"
Further along In Ills communication VIM. NJ.
D. puts some questions which be evidently be-
licvcs to oo unnnswerablc, and makcs objections
regards as sure death to It. l1o saya:
II rox still fccls like defcnd.ng his 1ua1.c-lndcx
Of long yowels theory, vii! he rlonse show IA how
10 vii lMeaio thy lung IN @ snch words, for IN.
or tho iot. In notion. rotate, police, coral; or
the long q In petition. rofor1n. reimburse, etc.
notion, nav will he designate tho broad 4 in pa,
;sdins Iisas On s sysssn hs ssas has 'a''s
II VIM. n. y. had ever glvon my thought
Or study tu tho syllnbcatlon Of the English
language hc would hayo learned TINT tho lonE
Or short quantity Of tho vowel lsrends upon
whether lllc word or syllable divides on tho
~ of the language Is tliat when thu word d.
Vlacs on tic yowGE It is :. 1ong," and when on
the eonsonunt the vowel Is Rhort- Tho tongue
naturally Eltdes Into this USAGE. and IN that way
nlll fur that reason It hnH hecuno tho Ecnural
om,-wit!! some exceptions, Of course, us
tlern orc to NIL linguistic rules.
1nku tho very worde he cites, and their sylla-
bic division shows whether 1hn vowel y long or
tive, ca.preo, sa-cred, va-liss. notion, rotate.
eo-ru, rc-furNl, rc.ltnbursc. Divide on the con-
sonant md SOC what change III the length Of
tho ynwel sound Ia observable to the car: Nat
lye cap.rce, sacrcd, vallsc, not-ate, cor-ul otc.
Ths will be lnore clearly seen In cognatc words,
as In prefer, preference, propose, proposition,
repeat, repetition, or In such words as re-oa.
tublls.,, co.opvrato. Thousands Of other ex-
hero let uo observe It has not bcc, generally
understood ttnt any systcm Of photography 10
dcsignuG to teach accent and adjudication.
Spelling Is to fellow and initiate thelEvinG voice.
not til latter to tiie former. lIenco, tic pro-
tlunctltion Of q word tells wl!eru It divides Into
ayllables lud elyca, tho stress on the. vowel,
whether lons, or short, or medium. II 1nore
than this Is required oil tho printed page 1t can
Do obtained BY using accent or other dIacrllical
slgns such ~ those ctnploycd In psonouncing
dictionaries, nll1 consequently thcro 10 no need
OF dlshgnrlns tho alphabet by the Injecting OF
tho uublic ean nuycr be Induced to naturalIze or
adopt. 1t Ia centuries since tho modified III
the form Of was Incorporated into the English
alpl!aoet, aud y may 10 other centuries before
tho uso Of wasting simo and breath on tho un-
attaluublo and lmp!acticablel
WIN. II. u. usks Yox. "1Yi!l be designate tho
broad a In IA. father, far, o,c.an AZ yox