The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-11-04

therefore. no one OF these local dialects
was ever trsnsplanted bodily 10 Aaerica
~
"And no considerable part OF the United
states has stationary population. in
breeding and staguant and impcrvious to
outside Influences; indeed. TO be nonadic.
to be here today and there tomorrow, to
be born In New England. to grow up IL
the Middle West. to be married In New
York and die in Coloradois not this char
actcrlstic OF Americans? And IL is n char
acteristic fatal to the development OF real
dialecis in tnis country such are abundant
in England. or course We have our local
peculiariues of idion aud pronunciation, but
these are very Superficial indeed. Froba-
bly, there has been closer uniformity OF
speech throughout the United states for
fifty years past than there is even today
In Great Britain. where the Yorkshiremen
can not understand the Cockney, and where
the Scot sits silent In the hut OF the Welsh.
man.
Mr.. Matthews change appearing IN
England, however. TO its advantage, In that
travel ID becoming more universal aud tho
mixture of the people thereby Will tend to
destroy the provincial wall that has sur
rounded each clan for so long. He speaks
OF Il rs an innovation. and says:
TIE most OF these British innovations,
both OF today and tomorrow, will be ndi-
vidual and freakish. and. therefore, they Will
win no foothold even in the British vocabu-
larry But few OF them Will prove theit
| own excuse for being, and these viii estat
| lish themselves in Great Britain The hcsl
| O. them. those of which the necessity Is in
| dIspGtable, will spread across the Atlantic
! and will DO welcomed by tic main body Of
! users OF English over herH-1usl as certain
! American innovations and reylyals were hos.
! pitahly received In England when only the
! smaller branch OF the Notwithstanding rae,
/ was on the American side OF the ocean. And
/ OF course. tho new terms which spring into
existence in the United states after tho lit
! crary center of the language has crossed tho
( Atlantic will be carried over to England II
! books and periodicals.
~
when tho bulk OF contemporary Engllst
literature is produced by American authors
and when the British themselves have &c
ccpted the situation and resigned themselves
at last TO the departure Of the literary su
premacy of London, then the weight o
American precedent will DO overwhelming
! Without knowing it, British readers OF Amer
lean books will be led TO conform TO Anori
can usage; and American terms will no
seem outlandlsh to them, as these words an
phrases do even now when comparatlyol
few American authors are read in Grea
Britain. And these American innovation
will DO very few, for tho conservative lnstiuc
is In some ways stronger in tho United state
than Il IL in Great Britain, duo porhap
partly to the more widespread popular edu
cation here, which gives to every child
certain solidarity with the past
1T is education and the school book;
is the printing press and the newspaper an
tho magazine; It is the ease of travel acros
the Atlantic and the swiftnoss Of tho voy
age It Is "A combination OF all these thing
which will prevent any development OF
British branch of the language after III
numerical preponderanco of the America
people becomes overwhelming. And WORK
r ing toward the same union Is a loyal COT
servatism. due In a measure to a proud er
! ioyment of the great literature OF the lar
ruage. the common possession OF both Births
and Americans, having its past in the keeI
5 ing OF the elder division OF the stock an
certain to transfer it's future TO the care
t The younger division.
o "To declare that the literary center
g English is to he transferred sooner or lat,
a from the British isles TO tho United STATE
% may seem to some a hazardous prediction
q To these who have taken In the full slgnii
y canoe of TIE statistics Of relative population
e riven in the earlier pages cf this paper, Il
@ prediction will appear TO be rs safe as an
- prophecy before the event can hope TO b
d Such transfer, It Is true IS perhaps u
rroccdented in literary history, although q
scholar may see a close parallel in the pr
q cminence once attained by Alexandria as Z
y capital OF Greek culture Unprecedented
d rot, phenomenal or not tho transfer Is !
j. evitable sooner or later; and II II is to Ia
70 place an effort TO suggest certain Of
probable results is not without instruct
l. for US ALL"