davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18

the wives or the daughters OF peers are allowed
70 SIT in che body Of the House, that IS 70 say,
upon the members seats. while women OF less
exalted rank are relegated to the galleries which
are however, open 10 the view OF the entire
House. Nor has there ever been any complaint
OF interference by the women present with the
business Of the House in the GiIded Chamber.
Although there are several members OF the new
administration. notably Lord TweedmOuth who
are not merely active supporters. but likewise
ardent champions. Of female suffrage and OF
women's rights yet the Prime Minister Sir
Henry Campbell-B ermann. a canny Scot. IN
the debate about the matter the other day pro-
fessed himself disinclined either TO remove the
grating or TO admit women to the various gall
leries on the same terms as men adding that IN
his opinion. new House with an unusual pro-
portion Of new members. devoid OF knowledgs
OF the circumstances that had led TO the reIsga-
tOn OF the women to the grated gallery. wan
quite incompetent TO deal with the problem.
Curiously enough he is supported in this matter
by that veteran politician. Henry Labouchere,
who although no longer I'm Parliament. last year
protested strongly against any removal OF the
screen I'm front OF the womeu's gallery and
against the admission OF women 60 other parts %
the House. In a most amusing speech he insisted
that the sight OF beauty above would disOrganizs
and disturb the minds OF members below 50 that
they would not be able 20 debate quietly, while
he trembled az the prospect Of a return 20 old
urle conditions, when women We're admitted 70
the floor Of the House. He asked Parliament 10
picture to itself ladies and gentlemen seated
together Tor instance, on the treasury bench
mixed hugger-mugger together" He was old
man. 10 would not affect him. He was speaking
out OF sympathy FOR the young in that
House. He would not willingly submit them TO
such a temptation. III there was beautiful
woman on each side Of young maQ urging
him to vote on some public or private bill. and
saying "Oh! do vote tor this he was afraid tho
honorable member would sucCumb. He entreated
the House 10 avert Tar possible any such
risk OF petticOat government EX-ATTACHE
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18
@ STARTLING INNOVATIONS IMPENDING BRITISH PARLIAMENT ES

the grant OF salaries to Legislators will have the
effect Of changing the time Of the sessions from
the evening to the morning, so that the business
of the country will be transacted during the
same hours as all other administrative COM
merciaI and industrial affairs. the members Of
Parliament putting in no longer a working night.
but a working day in every other country
where parliamentary government prevails or
course. there is a good deal of objection raised
TO the idea Of paying the members Of Parliament
on the alleged ground that It will lower the tone
Of public men, and will have the effect OF devel-
oping in England that class OF legislators who
go into political life as q means OF livelihood.
on the other hand. it may be pointed out that
in the days Of King Charles II the only public
virtue eXtant in Parliament was presumed to
reside In the breasts % the paid members. They
were known as ''the incorruptibles." They were
held 10 rank with salaried judges. and the
juris-c onsults of the epoch were unanimous In
declaring that "the inpartiaiity Of representa-
tives was protected from outside influences by
tho receipt Of a small independence"
with regard to the removal Of the brass grill
which conceaIs from view the presence Of the
women up in the gallery. It may be stated that
the English House Of Commons is the only par
lament in the world that treats the fair sex In
this altogether Oriental fashion. II dates from
the early part OF the last century, when ac-
cording 10 the historians OF the time. the reIe-
cation of women 20 this grated gallery was rem
dered absolutely imperative by the manner in
which women not only invaded the floor Of the
House. but actually inJerfered with the progress
Of the debates. In the eighteenth century there
We're frequent cases OF women sitting beside
legislators. and they did not hesitate to lavish
an their fascinations upon the susceptible poll
ucians when it came TO winning a vote. Appar-
emily. the members OF the House OF Lords are
less prone to succumb to the temptations OF the
fair. For women. provided they happen TO be
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18
HOW CARNEGIE CAME IN

Back OF Mr.. Carnegie's offer TO give $4,000 a
year Ior nVe years for the propagation Of sim
plifed spelling lies a campaign which has
brought many prominent Americans into the
movement Several years ago Mr.. Carnegie said
to one man that he thought the English Ian
guage was destined TO be the world language.
and that simpIifcation would hasten the time
when this would come to pass World peace
would be promoted by its elevation to this place
Some time ago a few Of those Interested in sim
plifcation heard Of this and took the subject IN
with him. He said that If these persons could
secure the signatures Of a score Of experts of
authority in the use OF English to an agreement
to use the twelve sinplhed speIngs adopted in
1898 by the American National Education As
ISOLATION, program" tho" "altho." ''thoro,"
"thOrOfare." thru" turnout" "cataIog" pro
log" "decaIog," 'demagog' and "pedagog." IN
their private correspondence, he would agree to
assist in the movement Nearly seven hundred.
including ex-Ambassador Andrew D. White and
those who are now members OF the simplifed
spelling hoard agreed IN do this list Of fifty
Of these names was sent to Mr.. Carnegie and
last November he offered to subscribe for a
tain number Of years in order to give the move
ment a trial If the results satisfactory at the
end Of that time the board anticipates that
Mr.. Carnegie will continue to contribute to the
movement
Brander Matthews, of Columbia University the
chairman OF the executive committee OF the
board that we have no leanings toward pho
netic reform, even If phonetic reform were pos
sibIe The conservatism Of the English speak
ing peoples is so intense that any attempt to in
trodUce radical changes is foredoomed TO failure.
It is not practical politics. You cannot do It.
One result, from the first, OF every movement to
reform our spelling that it was too radical,
that they proposed TO do too much and that
they scared people off. Our desires are only
moderate and modest
What will be your first step?"
THE first thing want to do Is to attract
attention to the subject, feeling sure that the
more intelligent interest IS directed toward our
spelling the stronger will be the desire to I'M
prove It. But at best any changes will be slow
in the future. they have been in the past
Slowly and steadily we have been making our
spelling simpler, CTOwding out useless letters,
spelling wagon with g. and jail instead
Of 'gaol' We are going slow. but how far we
will go depends absolutely on how fast the pub
lie will move with us. We shall go no faster
than the advance guard Of the public.
AT the present time there hundreds Of
words which are spelled in two ways. The sim
pliied spelling viii not seem unusual or start
ling to those who have adopted IT. The Century
Magazine" for example has followed The Cen
fury Dictionary for years in spelling 'esthetic.'
anesthetic,' without the diphthOng. The chem
lists write sulfur' and 'sulfate. and also glyc-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18
1t Will Meet With Strong Opposition the Promoters
Are Moderate and Have Mr.. Carnegie's Money
to Back Them.

their failure to poor spelling. DR.. Hagar COM
piled the results Of the examination in spelling
Of 1000 candidates for admission to a state nor
NAL school in Massachusetts,. They purposed
to become teachers. and yet these young
women averaged only so per cent of correct
spelling in the examination in that branch. Upon
an average Of one word in five misspelled
This indicates fairly the obstacle in the way
of scholarship. In order to attain 10 a high
degree of excellence in spelling many years must
be devoted to practice in writing the difficult
words of the language, and a corresponding
amount of time taken from studies in science
and history and literature"
President Eliot Of Harvard, when he investi-
gated the rate Of progress on the part Of scholars
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18

Startling Innovations are impending at west
minister. where the overwhelming vote cast Dy
the House Of Commons in favor Of the payment
q salary 20 fits members has been foho"eu
by demand for the removal Of the brass graf
ing which shuts of the occupants Of the laoles
gallery from the view Of all others IN IHe
lower house while a movement IS now IN prog
ress which has for its object the change OF me
hours Of the sessions from the evening ana
night 20 the morning and early afternoons. Eng
lands Parliament. the parent Of all legislatures
now IN existence is invested both by history ana
bv popular sentiment with many associa-
tionE Of the hoarY past as the venerable ApDey
of Westminster aear by. All the laws both
written and unwrtten. by which fits procedure
e. governed. are reics OF Olden times. dating IN
come cases back nsny hundreds Of years Ihe.e
has always been reluctance on the part not ohly
=, r,arliaroent itself but also Of the people at
large To introduce any innovations, the suggeS-
,tors of which were regarded in much the same
,..f,eg4o,,s light as hose vandal modem res
,,,lrs Of the gramest masterpieces OF art
- .rotitectu.e Of the Middle Ages The ne"
se,-oorarv. however. fl England es IN olHei
,,,r+ries. is disposed q look at matteIs II Oh
,,.u,,arian and matte,-of-fact point OF VIC"
- than from 2 sentimental one anu nc
,r,cb ss the new democrscy IS very eNl'i-7i =
,srrasented IN the recently elected ~ -
Commons Il would seem a. II 'i''', ,r-i,ster
80 te introduced IN the p4ace OF
81 q nature 20 cause the st'tesii'eh - =, mir
teer4b century 10 turn WIN "o'+''
Graves IN the neighboring a'pey. 49,
-, .--o+ rect the STATESMEN or Garner IHisS
-. ..,,,,,,re, ike the sane degree OF Cur
.--..t,,, Tor In the seventeepth ana e'5
,..,,~,ee women may be faN 10 nave naU
- ~ the House Of Commons 20 suci '-i
=, seriously er to interfere With its deliberations,
vr1ti. IN the good old tires the debates ~ ..s
80 =, o,v instead Of BY night Moreover thAt
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18

NHeIsh language Before the invention ~,
Ptii-'i1ls every one talked as he chose and sx-
p4a4neu hlnsef with his sword. When he viqhaa
- 4epIoVe MS sweetheart he might write 10 her
@OOut being "unryghtwts" meaning .pnrirb+-
us II he wished to make M he ,,izb+
invite her TO come and receive a "cvssan =" Tba
'a.'9I word which Is translated kiss" soma
-t4-ei'' InlhK was somewhat phonetic because ~
10 loHs Drawn out character There has Ger
60 zen some simplihcation in spelling since
sunday was spelled "Sunnendat"
Spelling continued to be a SORT OF go-,s-,,o,,-
pIease at'er printing came into use with the
printers and publishers as Judges Nv o.
Eilzabeths time one seldom found more thar
AVe or SIX different spellinRs for a word f., .
we'll printed book.
Then came DR.. Johnson in the eighteenth CEN
Jury with his dictionary. He set the seal on
tue sPeiilng OF the language As Iexicograpber
ne has been freely criticised as being M scholar
as having no knowledge Of the history % the
English language and as being simply a ljtarar,,
man And he was Tory, which was enough N
set the Americans against him after the Pevo-
Iuuon and make them consider the adoption Of
an american phonetic language. Benjamin
FRANKLIN and Noah Webster discussed the nrot-
ecI and Noah Webster made some suggestions
IN his dictionary Then the feeling OF aninositv
against Great Britain died out. As Professor
March wrote in phonetic language: "Baf and
bal aroz Sir Walter Scott and Byron. Words
worth and CoIeridge. and oil dhi host ov dbst
WONDERFUL jenereshun. Dbl tok ov an Ameri-
can langgwej past awe or retaird to dhi bao-
wudz"
Josh Billings and this specimen Of a phonetic
language devised few years ago are evidences
that all of the talk Of new language and a
reformed spelling did not die away with the
rise OF these great writer's. For many years the
EFFORTS Of the radical reformers have been
4aushed at The winning Of the support OF An
ore" carnegie and the selection CT a board Of
prominent students Of the English LANGUAGE los
brought the subject of simpIidcation to the from.
again.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18

drawback Of the mode OF life led by the British
legislators Of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries was that, frequently embarrassed by
reason OF their losses at cards and no longer III
receipt Of the stipend which according TO the law
Of the land should have been paid to them by
their constituencies they became an easy prey
10 the temptations Of bribery. which attained alb
soluteIv fantastic proportions So outrageous
had the condition Of affairs IN this respect be-
come that the House was at length compelled, In
Difference TO popular Clamor, TO enact very
drastic reforms in the matter OF corrupt prac-
tees and the legislation which rendered q seat
IN the House of Commons UNNECESSARILY less
profitable than when the Walpoles. for instance.
were at the head Of the government brought
into Parliament n new class Of legislators.
namely those with professional callings and rich
merchants and manufacturers. To these men,
who had their own business to attend 10 during
the DAYTIME, the evening sessions Of Parliament
were the most convenient. being, indeed the
only time that they could spare TO devote 20 the
affairs Of the nation without pay.
II was Parneu who. on his reorganization OF
the Nationalist party, may be said to have re-
vived. after a fashion. the payment OF mem
hers in this sense. that the national representa-
tives OF irish constituencies who happened TO be
without means Of their own. and who had no
sources of income, professional or otherwise. re-
,eive a salary OF about 81 800 a year from the
Home Rule fund. the payment Of which de-
nended upon the condition OF the Home Rule
treasury Then the various labor organizations
made similar arrangements to pay their repre-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18
The New Democracy of England Seems Inclined to
Shake Things Up-Salaries for Members
Indication of the Spirit Now Prevailing.

sentatives in Parliament and the Right Hon.
John Burns, a mechanic. and now a min
lister Of the Grown. with a seat I'm the Cab
met as President Of the Local Government
Board, received stipend Of $1,000 a year from
his labor constituents at Battersea until the
other day. when he commenced to draw his Off
cial salary Of $1,000 per annum as a member
OF the administration. But the money which he
received as the labor member for Battarsea i'm
the House Of Commons was paid TO him. not i'm
the odtime legal fashion bv the constituency,
but 10y the voluntary subscriptions OF tine vari-
GUS labor organizations and of his Individual
constituents in Battersea.
What Parliament voted the other day by a
majority of 2&s was that salaries should be
paid to it's members. not by the constituencies,
hut by the national treasury and before this
vote can become law the question of the re-
spOnsibility of the constituencies I'm the matter
win have to be determined by the local advisers
Of the Crown. The members would, of course.
vastly prefer to place the Obligations upon the
ENchequer TO imposing them upon their con-
stitueucias Tor no, only would any demands
upon the purses of the electors render them un-
popular with the latter. bat the constituencies
could not, If the oldtime laws were invoked. be
compelled to pay more than the medic rate OF
five shillings Il day. which would. of course. be
entirely inadequate.
Naturally il the nation pays the wages Of the
members of Parliament al the rate OF from $500
TO $4,000. It will require In return something
more than the flag end OF day in the shape OF
attendance, and it may be taken as certain that
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18

spelling reform prepared by Professor Francis A
March, LII D., L. H. D., Of Lafayette College
one Of the leading philologists in this country:
One does not realize how absurd our alphabet
is until he finds that, of the six vOwels has
elght uses; e, eight; /, seven; o. twelve; u. nine
y, three; so that the single vOwels have COlleC-
lively forty-seven uses. giving average Of
seven and fve-eighths apiece Among the con-
sonants, has two uses Counting the silent
one); C, six; d, four; f. three; g, four; h. three
J, i've; k, two; |, three; m. three: n, three; p,
two; q, three; r two. $, five; t. five: V, two: W.
two; X, five; y, two; z four; l. e., twenty-one con-
sonants have seventy uses, averaging three and
one-third apiece. 1t is easy to show how many
different pronunciations a word may have by
Formulation. But while there is much difficulty
in determining the proper pronunciation from
the spelling, It is still more difficult to ascertain
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18
BIG SAVING I'M PREssWoRK.

Fifteen per cent of the cost Of composition and
presswork could be saved by the adoption Of a
simplifed spelling. according to DR.. Harris. It
has been found that the removal Of the silent
e's would save per cent of all the letters on a
common page, and the removal Of one consonant
of each pair of duplicated consonants would save
1.6 per cent. In 1S49 an edition of the New
Testament was printed in phonetic types. It
was found that one hundred letters and spaces
were represented by eighty-three. At this rate,
a book selling for SO could be sold for So. Six
volumes Of public documents would cost for
printing no more than five do now. The contents
Of six newspaper columns could be printed in
five, and the contents Of the twenty-four vol
umes Of the Encyclopedia Britannica" confined
to twenty, at a reduction in price Of $50.
When one reads what has been discovered
about the English alphabet, IS almost as
much afraid If he believes. to use It as one is
to buy unlabelled food supplies. The milestone
hanging about the neck Of users Of English IN
this respect is illustrated by this paragraph from
a government report published under the drec-
ton Of DR.. Harris, and containing an account Of
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18
WORLD LANGUAaE NEEDED.

What about English as a world Ianguage2'
Professor Matthews was asked.
Everybody feels the need Of a world Ian
guage" he replied. English is now spoken a.
a native tongue by more people than speak this
French and German taken together, and tho
number is growing more rapidly. 1t bids fair to
be the world language, not from any merits Of
its own, but simply because the race that speaks
it Is energetic. expanding and colonizing. But
II has merits OF its own which would 1T IL to be
a world language. for 1t has shed most OF the
grammatical complexities which cumber other
tongues It is a very easy language to learn by
word OF mouth 1t becomes difficult only when
the learner discovers that the printed symbols
fail 10 correspond 10 the sounds In othsr words.
the handicap OF the English language is its In
consistent and unscientihc photography.
We are not innOvatOrs. but acCeleratOrs. OF q
movement which has been going on from the
beginning
The way in which advertisers have been
making UP words on the phonetic principle has
been or great advantage. 1t draws attention 70
the necessity OF accepted spelling. and we look
for great help, not only from advertisers, but
from practical business men. / received a letter
day two ago from very important manu-
featuring concern asking for a list OF simplhed
spellings. They asked for the list. saying that
they purpOsed to adopt II in their correspond
ence in order to save time and money 1t is Gu
TiOus that the English speaking race, which
prIdes itself on being practicaI and DuslnessllkS
and cOmmOn-sense, should have been so long
satisfied with unbusinessltke photography,
which violates all principles OF common sense
From the point Of view OF the publisher, Henry
Holt, a member OF the executive COMMITTEES
Of the board. said that millions OF dollars
could be saved by sinplihed spelling. 1T IS
estimated" he said. that the saving would
be S15OOOOOO year in this country. I think
this is a conservative estimate. The next
step of the board probably viii be to make 3
definite estimate OF the saving which can be
obtained. I do not think the proposed changes
win startle the people. Last fall published q
new edition OF a well known German grammar.
In the English part 1 used the twelve spellings
adopted by the National Educational AssOcia-
ton. I have not heard a word from any one
about It. ! am ready 70 go as far in the usS
Of simplihed spelling as the educational assOcia-
ton recommends. I do not think it would do TO
change words which appeal to the emotions
reason. II were writing a letter OF coincidence
I would not spell death. deth.' 90"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-18
BRANDER MATTHEWS IN EARNEST.

zone Of the first things we mean TO do Is %
print a list of three hundred OF the commonest
or these words having two speUings struggling
for acceptance and ask the friends OF the Cause
to accustOm themselves 10 simpler forms III
could get half OF the papers OF the United States
in the next five years to use our sinpliicd list.
1 should feel that we had secured excellent re-
suits. One OF the great things Mr.. Carnegie
has done by gathering this board about him,
containing so many distinguished men. is TO
give the movement an impetus and authority
that no former movement has ever had II viii
force people to think about the subject. and
the more they think the more clearly viii they
see that the arguments against a slow and
steady simpliacation OF our spelling by ths
gradual dropping out OF useless letters have
very little weight The one real objection Is the
prejudice in favor OF the spelling 10 which each
one OF US is accustomed Now the force OF
prejudice is strong, and it Will be hard TO over
come. but after all it is prejudice and not rea-
sen.
Our commercial rivals. the Germans. have
recently been simplifying their language, al
though 1t was better than ours before. The
Italians simpufed theirs a century ago. and
have an absolutely phonetic language to-day.
The French have just made a change. and yet
French photography was never so chaotic or
CDR. johnson was a pestllent fellow. He knew
very little about the history OF the English Ian
Buaget ana MS decision as TO English OrInO8-
Taphy often reveals his ignorance OF the early
history of the tongue. We have had the Old
Man Of the Sea cur backs long enough
There is far less change needed than people
think. The bulk OF the words derived from
Greek. like prominent biology, experiment. eco
monte. spelled with substantially phonetic
accuracy Those words will probably remain.
To-day, however. we spell fantasy and fancy
with an f. and phantom with PHI although all
were derived from the same Greek root While
the longer words Of Greek origin are fairly salts
factory, so are the mOnOsylabiC words from the
AnglO-SaxOn, such as and. send, find, etc. They
viii need no change
"Haggard raid that the spelling OF Shakespeare
was good enough for him. That implies that he
never opened the First Folio he would have
found there such spellings as center. Hand. rTne,
the simplifed spelllngs proposed to-day. Our
spelling to-day is compromise arrived at by
the printers and publishers OF London early in
the eighteenth century, men ordinarily ignorant
Of the history of the language"