The Washington herald., 1906-12-14


would give the Presidents order Of Au-
gust q a chance to flourish for the
next six months. so the House yesterday
adopted a resolution compelling the Pub
lie Printer to stop the use OF the new
spelling at once,
Chairman c. B. Lands, of the House
Committee on Printing, had long con
ference with President Roosevelt II is
understood that should the Senate agree
to the resolution-and the leaders say il
will-the President will issue an execu-
tive order Withdrawing the order au-
thorizing the new spelling. With the
knowledge that their leader had sur
rendered. the advocates of the new
method offered little opposition to the
resolution
The resolution which was reported by
Mr. lands was as follows:
Resolved, That 1t is the sense Of the
House Of Representatives that hereafter
in printing reports, documents, or other
publications authorized by law, ordered
by Congress or either branch thereof,
OF emanating from the executive depart
ments. their branches or bureaus. and in
dependent Offices OF the government, the
Government Printing Office should observe
and adhere to the standard of Orthog-
raphy prescribed In generally accepted
dictionaries of the English language"
All Documents Included.
An exception is made only in the case
Of documents which are now in the hands
Of the Public Printer. A suggestion was
made that a further exception should be
made In the case of documents the copy
Of which comes from the President, but
il was deemed inadvisable TO do this.
inasmuch as it would cause confusion.
Hence, all documents including the Presi-
dents messages. if the resolution be-
comes a law, must be spelled according
to the old form. The resolution was
framed by Chairman Lands and Mr.. Per-
kins. Of New York.
When the clerk read the resolution and
there was a pause for reply, it seemed
for a moment that there was to be
neither parting kick nor word of farewell
to phonetic spelling. The Speaker was
about TO put the question on the adOp-
ton Of the resolution to a vote when
Representative Gillett. of Massachusetts.
the champion of simplifed spelling in the
House. arose and pronounced the eulogy
over the corpse Mr.. Gllett said that
while he WAS willing that the resolution
should be adopted, he wanted IL under
stood that he had not in any way changed
his opinion as to the advisability of the
adoption OF the simplifed form, He real
lied, however, the necessity Of having a
uniform system Of spelling in public doc
umentS, and the confusion which would
result by the use Of two forms. Since IL
was the sense Of the House that the old
style should be maintained, he would
move the adoption Of the resolution. Mr..
GilIett thus beating Mr.. Lands In making
the motion, it was put by the Speaker
and carried without a dissenting voice.
The committee report accompanying the
Lands resolution presents many interest
ing facts.
The spelling in the original statutes"
says the report, reflects the forms Of
spelling in vogue at the time Of their en-
actment The various Qualifications Of the
statutes reflect the spelling in vogue at
the time Of such codihcations. The last
codification was in 1878 The subsequent
statutes now number fourteen volumes,
covering a period Of twenty-eight years
Each volume reflects the spelling in
vogue AT the time of the enactment Of
the statutes embraced therein. A new
codihcatiOn is about to be presented to
Congress.
The Peoples Language.
Until Congress shall see fit to order
the printing OF this proposed cOdifcation
of the statutes. embracing all the enact
ments of the lawmaking power Of the
government now in force. in some form
Of spelling other than that generally ac-
eepted by the people, it would appear to
be part of wisdom for the government
IA all its branches, in the interest Of sim
plicity and economy, TO adhere to uni
form system of spelling. and this system
should be the one already most generally
recognized and accepted by the people.
The executive order. under which many
public documents have already been print
ed. has now been in force for more than
three months Without taking issue as
10 the relative merits of any form of spell
ing. it is evident that public sentiment as
reflected In the newspapers, magazines,
and other publications has not been IA
vOrable 70 the proposed innovation.
Much of the matter embraced In the
publications of the government is pre-
served in stereOtyped or electrotyped
B
the government in the saving Of labor and
other expense. All of these plates would
be rendered worthless in a moment by an
order in succeeding administration re-
vOking the executive order of August
y last
Much Of the printing that is done for
Congress is reproduced in executive docu-
ments. Much Of the printing that is done
for the executive departments is repro
duced in Congressional publications If
the government is 10 have two forms Of
spelling this will necessarily mean double
composition. double electrotyping. double
and other incidental ex-
penses.
Policy Called Offensive.
In justice to government officials, it may
be said that an order which dictates a
particular form of photography involving
a departure from the recognized standard
in popular use imposes upon the head of
an executive department as well as upon
all Of his subordinates, policy that may
well be considered in many instances Of /
fensive
In the opinion of the committee. any
departure from the recognized standards
Of orthography cannot with safety. salts /
faction. or economy be taken until Con-
gress and the Executive shall agree upon
the adoption of other photographic /
methods
Senator Platt. chairman Of the Senate |
Committee on Printing. is said to favor
the retention of the old style Of spelling. /
and is expected TO introduce the Joint /
resolution in the Senate.
Tax on Deposits Proposed,
Representative Underwood, of Ala /
bama, yesterday introduced a bill to /
Impose a tax OF one-1ftieth Of / per
cent upon the average amount Of de- /