The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-03-04
THE DOMINANT" LANGUAGE.
Growth of English Compared With
French and German,

New York Times: The notion Of a uni
versal language, to be devised from the
elements most nearly common to the
chief languages, Is revived In recent dis
cussions in Germany. 1t Is a fascinating
project, and one on which no end Of in
genuity can be expended, though with no
immediate prospect of returns. Mean
while 1t Is worth recalling that the ten
dency toward a common tongue is most
strongly marked in the steady and rela-
lively rapid extension Of the use Of Eng
lish.
The latest estimate Of the movement of
the different European languages which
has been received as approximately cor
rect is that Of Mulhall in 1891, em%bodying
the figures for the nine decades from the
opening Of the nineteenth century. .Ac-
cording to this calculation the various
languages of Europe were spoken in 1901
by 161, 100000 people, and in 1890 by 4O1, 700,-
600. an increase Of about $50 per cent. 1t
the beginning Of the century the four
chief languages were French, Russian,
German and Spanish, the French-speak-
ing people forming 1914 per cent. and the
Spanish 1872 per cent. The English
speaking people amounted to only 1877 per
cent. BY 1891 the different languages
stood In the following order: English,
~ per cent; Russian and German, each
1871 per cent; French, 1877 per cent; Span
ish, 1917 per cent, and the remainder d.
vided between Italian and Portuguese.
The number Of English-speaking people
had grown from 20,520, 900 to III, 100, 900,
German and MISUNDERSTANDING people
from about 10000, 900 to rs, 0Oo.Oo o. each, and
Fre~nch-speaking people from 81, $50, 600 to
81, 200, ON. It will be seen that in these
ninety years the English language had
advanced from the fifth place to the first,
and at the close was spoken by at least
6O per cent. more persons aim any other
European tongue.
The increase in the number Of English
speaking people was in round numbers
81, 10000 and Of this increase 70,00o, 900 was
in the population of the United States.
Some allowance must be made for the i'm
migrants into the United States who dc
not speak English, but this Is not rela-
lively important. What the figures show,
and 1T Is Of extreme Importance, Is hat
the Increase in the numbers Of English
speaking people is out of proportion to
the natural increase and Is largely due to
the number of emigrants who leave their
native countries and learn to use the Eng
fish language. 1t Is clearly a process of
conversion that is going on. While in the
statistics of language 1t appears as a
process of Adjudication, in reality it is
most largely one Of AmericaniZation.
Much has been written within the last
few years of the growth Of the United
States as a world power, and this in great
measure has been due to a victory over a
fourth-rate European power and the ac-
QUESTION of the thinly peopled and unde-
veloped islands Of the Philippine archi-
pelago. But the real seat of the power
Of the United States to influence the world
lies within Its continental borders, with
the vast and constantly growing popula-
ton of varied origin gradually formed in
. a homogeneous and progressive nation.