Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-13
there Is good reason to hope for success at
an early day.
Speech Mt n BANQUET,

| an early day.
Speech Mt n BANQUET.
Appended is report of speech deliver
| ed by Dr. Gallaudet at a banquet in Lon
| don during the latest meeting of the Lon
| don congress of the deaf descriptive of
his continental observations. A more de-
tailed account of his journey and the views
| he had of European deaf-mute instruction
| was published in a recent number of the
| American Annals of the Deaf and repro
duced as an appendix to this report. In
| the course of this article occurs the fol-
| lowing passage concerning certain phases
| OF his tour, which is worthy of present re-
production:
The day before 1 left London 1 was
| very coLrteously received at the house
OF commons by William Woodall NJ. P,
a member of the royal commission on tie
| education of the deaf and dumb &C., and
was able to interest him in the scheme for
& college in England for the deaf
I'M through the courtesy Of our American
| an interview was arranged for me with
| Sir John Gorst, NJ. P. and member of the
privy council. vice president of the COM
| mittee on education. l presented to him
| copies of the Message of the officers and
| directors of the Columbia Institution to
| all interested in the education of the deaf
| IN Europe, and of our college catalogue
| l spoke at some length of the project for a
| college for the deaf in England, and believe
sowed some good seed for the cause.
| through the courtesy of cur acting
| charge affaires at Rome, Consul General
| wallace 5. Jones, L had pleasant i'll
| terView with the minister of public in
| struction for Italy, Prof. Emanuele Clan
| turco, presenting TO him copies of our
| Message and college catalogue for dis
| tribution in Italy. Mr.. Jones was kind
! enough to have our Message translated
| into Italian by one of the assistants of
| the embassy and TO arrange for the print
ing OF the translation.
| '.Our distinguished ,hoSS
| lin, Andrew d. White, presented me to
| the minister of public instruction for Ger
| many, DR.. Bose, who received with great
| interest and attention the documents /
had to present and the statements l made
| concerning the education of the deaf In
| our country. Mr.. John b. jackson, sec
| rotary of the American embassy in Berlin
was most courteous and helpful to me in
many ways.
| lat Paris l was not successful In obtain
| ing an interview with the minister Of pub
| lie instruction, nor with Mr. Monod, the
bureau officer of the interior department.
Who has Charge of matters concerning the
deaf, for he was ill during my stay in
Paris. All l was able to do was to place
documents in the hands of his secretary.
| Through the courtesy of the repre-
| SentauveS of our government at Rome,
! Berlin, Paris and London, copies of OR
| Message and college catalogue have been
| forwarded to the governments Of Austria
Russia, Greece, Turkey, Sweden and Nor
way, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Spain
| Portuga! and Switzerland.
| Attitude Entitled to Respect.
| MY only comment on my interesting
| interviews with the educated adult deaf
| all over Europe, after an assurance of my
grateful appreciation of their cordial hos
| pitality, is the expression of a gratitied
surprise at finding them urging with una
nimity and enthusiasm the general adop-
| ton Of combined system of education for
their class. Their attitude in this matter is
| unmlstakable, and who will venture to say
| it is not entitled to the fullest respect?
| Those whose names l have given the
| most intelligent and best educated deaf
| men to be found in Europe today. Who
| can set aside the friendly criticisms of
! these men and the societies they represent
| of the method under which they have been
| trained? They do not suggest the aboli
ton of speech teaching, nor its RELOCATION
| to an inferior position in the general scheme
| Of education. But they do declare that the
practical value of speech to the deaf in
| active life is greatly overestimated by
| many teachers; that many deaf children
| are incapable of success in speech; that
the intellectual development of all the deaf
| is quickened by judicious use of the sign
| language, all of which considerations lead
them to demand that broader and more
elastic system shall be adopted than can
| be found in any single method. l am con-
fident the aspirations of these men and
| women who have discovered the insult
! ficiency of the single method in their own
disappointing experiences will command
widespread and hearty, if not universal,
sympathy on our side of the ocean,"
The Message of the officers and directors
of the Columbia Institution to all interested
| in the education of the deaf in Europe" to
which DR.. Gallaudet refers in this passage
| of his narrative, was prepared in this city
last April and was signed as follows:
lliarro Nick n1a 6u-o ri all
| Diet. John B. Wight, Lewis J. Davis, esq,
| Edward c. Walthall, Serene f. Payne,
| Joseph D. Sayers, Henry L. Dawes Joseph
r. Hawley, Byron Sunderland, John W.
Foster, William l.. Wilson.
Some Statistics.
In the course of this message statistics
| of deaf-mute instruction in America are
given, with the following comment:
THE manner in which the oral teaching
Of the deaf has become general in our
| country is deserving of special notice. The
purely oral schools, the first of which We're
established thirty years ago, have not be-
come numerous. Out of the % public
| schools of the country only sustain the
| pure oral method. and these . contain but
| 567 pupils out of 1O,OS6 in all the public
| schools. But speech is taught in every one
of the other schools in connection with a
greater or less use of features of the man.
ual method. In the so public schools in
| which a combined system prevails, with a
pupilage of 9,519. mere than 1900 pupils are
taught speech. From these statements two
conclusions may be drawn: ~ That in the
public schools for the deaf in the United
States ali the pupils are given the oppor-
| tunity to learn to speak; and CD that with
| those who cannot attain substantial success
| instruction in speech is not continued. The
present attitude in our country after thirty
years of effort to supplant the manual
method by the oral, is, therefore, unmis-
takably in favor of a combined system, in
which the best effects of both methods may
be secured