The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1895-08-22
T ON EDUCATION.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO PU-
Pill AND TEACHER.
Another Spelling Reform wave Gath
cring Force in the Countrywide
Summer School Has Come to Stay

LargeIncrcnsc of College Graduates
Dispensing with Supcrfluous Letters.
The phonetic system of spelling has
received another boost by the publica-
ton in New York of a dictionary based
upon that system. To stimulate inter-
est in the question. the publishers have
sent out circulars inviting suggestions
and criticisms. Several prominent
newspapers have taken up the subject
and discussed it in Il friendly spirit,
agreeing on the main proposition that
the English language is burdened with
a mass of useless silent letters.
That the existing English spelling is
a pathological monstrosity: that it is
unSystematic. unphilosophical and IL
logical; that it is Il stumbling block in
the way of Juvenile education. and Il
terror and a pain to foreigners. is pref
" we'll agreed upon by all leaders OF
modern thought. Nevertheless, says the
New York Herald. when the first spell
ing reformerS arose they were laugh
al at as Missionaries and Utopians. The
actual order. it was said, involved so
many vested interests that it would be
impossible to change it. just as III matn-
ematics it would be impossible to change
the barbarous decimal system to an
octomal or other system that would OBJ
viate many of the chief dltflcultles IN
calculation.
Nevertheless. the small band of re-
formers persisted in Drawing ridicule.
They gained at last a qualified respect
from educators: they attracted con-
yerts: they marched on to further VIC
tories. and at last they succeeded IN
m%arshaling under their banners many
Of the choicest minds of the day. 1t is
not too much to say that i'll theory at
least most educators of to-day are IN
sympathy with the movement.
Can the theory be put in practice!
The enthusiasts determined to try so
early as 1898. They gained over the
author of Webster's Dictionary, whose
original work was gotten up on a Pho
netic basis. But though conservatism
won the day against most OF the re-
forms advocated by Webster, so that
succeeding editions Of his book were
forced to drop them. something was
gained. The unnecessary Il in such
words as colour. neighbour, etc. was
permanently banished from American
literature, and innovations like pillow
and theater gained half-hearted assent.
Since that time the cause has pros
pered slowly but surely. And now the
faithful think the time is ripe for con-
certed action.
In discussing the proposed reform,
the Louisville Courier Journal says:
In the school of to-day the child is
iaught to read in the beginning; and
while the study of spelling is pursued
1T the same time the drills in orthog-
-aphy are much shorter and less nu-
merOus. Several circumstances, how
aver. have united to make up for these.
In the first place, there are the black
board exercises, which form such an
important part Of elementary training.
Pupils as we'll as teachers take part in
these. The children are also required
to submit written compositions even
III IL piihiuis wv II we ID
thus trained with the memory, and q
quick and observant eye is one of the
requisites for an accurate speller. 1t
would seem, therefore, that while less
Importance is attached to this branch
Of study. children do not suffer ever
in this respect from the change in
methods of training. Also people read
sn mIob moro nav than forpoorlv <ho%
this habit has an immense educatiye
influence, which Keeps up the average
of spelling ability.
1t was one Of Franklin's sayings that
while it was no credit TO a man to spell
we'll, it was 4 disgrace for him TO spell
badly. That remark showed the acute
observation for which Franklin was
distinguished. for it has crystalliZed in
a sentence popular feeling upon his
subject. Bad spelling ~provokes not
only contempt, but ridicule. There is
something as ludicrous to the average
mind in defective photography as in
the perpleXing heSitationS of the STAN
merer. The success of .Artemus Ward.
Josh Billings, Sam Slick. and MANY
other humorists was built up largely
on the recognition of this propensity
to laugh at mental and physical de-
rects. But while the man who dcliber-
'aely misspells a word may aspire to
he considered Il wit, the one who Ices
So from inability is sure to he laughed
al A man may be a shOlar, and vet.
II unable To put the right letters in the
right place in any cOmbirot;on 90 .rI
tables he must suffer the imputation
OF ignorance.
No school and no pupil can afford
10 Neglect spelling. The study is diff
hcult, but while its mastery may pass
unnoticed. the lack of it never escanes