Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-03
DISCUSSES NEW
CODE OF SPELLING
PRESIDENT SAYS PUBLIC Is TO
BE THE JUDGE
In Letter to the Public Printer Roose-
welt Declares Experiment Will
Decide Fate of the "Three
Hundred Words"
BY Associated Press.

By Associated Press
OYSTER BOY, L. l., Sept I'm a
letter to Charles A. Stillings, public
today, President Roosevelt wrote that
If the changes in spelling advocated
by the simplified spelling board and
put into use in public documents meets
popular approval tley will be made
permanent.
If not, he wrote, they will be dropped.
The presidents letter follows:
Hon. Chas. A. Stillings, Public
Printer, Washington, d. G.
my Dear Mr.. Stillings-I enclose
herewith copies of certain circulars of
the smplified spelling board which can
be obtained free from the board at
No. Madison avenue, New York City.
Please hereafter direct that in all gov
ernment publications of the executive
departments the above 300 words in
circular No. 5, shall be spelled as
therein set )rth.
"If any one asks the reason for the
action refer him to circulars 3, and
6, as issued by the Simplifed Spelling
Board. Most of the criticism of the
proposed step is evidently made in en-
tire ingorance of what the step is, no
less than in entire ignorance of the
moderate and common sense views as
| to the purposes to be achieved, which
views are so excellently set forth In
the circulars to which have referred
There is not the slightest intention
to do anything revolutionary or in
itiate any far reaching policy. The pur-
pose simply is for the government, in
stead of tagging behind popular senti-
ment, to advance abreast of 1t and at
the same time abreast of the views
of the ablest and most practical edu-
Gators of our time as we'll as of the
most profound scholars-men OF the
stamp of Prof. Lounsbury and Prof.
Skeat. If the slight changes in the
spelling of the 300 words proposed
wholely or partially meet popular ap-
proval then the changes will become
permanent without any reference to
what public Officials or individual pri-
vate citizens may feel; IL they do not
ultimately meet with popular approval
they will be dropped, and that is all
there is about 1t.
"They represent nothing in the world
but a very slight extension of the move
ment which has made agricultural i'm
plement makers and farmers write
'plow" instead of plough" which has
made most Americans honor" without
the somewhat absurd superfiuous u
and which is even now making people
write program" without the "me"
just as we'll as people who speak En-
glish now write "bat" set" dim,
"sun." and fish" instead of the Eliza
bethian "batte," "sette.'' "dimme,"
''summe," and "fyshe," which makes
us write public" almanac" EZRA, "
fantasy" and wagon" instead of
"publick," "almanack." "aera.' . ''phan-
tasy," and wagon" of our great
grandfathers.
at is not an attack on the language
of Shakespeare and Milton, because 1t
is in some instances going back. to the
forms they used and in others merely
the extension of changes, which. as
regards other words, have taken place
since their time. 1t is not an attempt
to do anything far reaching or sudden
or violent, or indeed anything very
great at all.
'Tt is merely an attempt to cast what
slight weight that can properly be
cast, on the side of popular forces
which are endeavoring to make our
spelling a little less foolish and fantas-
TIC Sincerely yours.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT"