Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1908-11-20

/ Esperanto is an artificial language
devised bk Louis l.. Zamenhof, q Jew
ish oculist of Warsaw, Poland. Its
aim, as set forth IL the inventors pre-
lace 10 his first book; 10 to be second
Language, TO be learned alongside the
mother tongue, for use am ,ng peoples
OF differing speech.
Appearing In the year 1857, 10 met
with little lnccess for ten years. Then
under the patronage Of Marquis Louis
de Beaufront, It took serious held on
France, spreading thence to every IA
tion Of the globe. There are today In
The world al least 100000 Esperan-
lists, Of whom 10000 have lregistcrsd
in DIR. Zsmenhofs Address Beck
There are 1000 organized societies Of
heially registered. Sixty Journals in
or about the language are published in
every corner OF tho the earth, includ-
ing Peru, Roumania, Brazil, Algisrs.
Madagascar, Japan, Bohemia, and
Chill, and on such subjects as sci ence,
religion, socialism, pscitism, humor,
commerce, literature, Christian Eu-
dsavor, and teaching. More than 1000
books have appeared IN the language,
with translation from Shakespeare,
Gethe, Schiller, Moliers, the Bible,
and scientific works, besides not few
4 Important original productions. The
iaternationsl language ia officially
recognized by the London Chamber OF
/ Commerce, the French Touring Club,
/ College de France, the International
Peace Congress. the United Societies
81 Christian Endeayor aud the Inde-
Il pendent Order OF Good 1empIars.
4 Four international Esperanto con-
crosses have been held to date, sue
eessiysly In France, Switzerland, En-.
Il gland and Germany. Each Of these
gatherings lists week and al bust
4 ness Including propaganda ofthc Ian
suage, questions Of International In
,erest, and sectional meetings for the
fnrtherance OF every branch OF human
activity isl conducted in Esperarto to.
At the last congress, held In Dresden,
Germany, 1900 delegates represented
IS counties Of The world. The United
States Government was officially rep
resented by Surgeon-Msjor b. r..
strauh, Of Washington. One of the
10 any interesting features OF this con-
gress was play rendered In Esperan-
TO, its eleven characters being repre-
sentsd by persons OF eleven different
nations, the principal role being play
ed by New York actress. The next
resld Congress OF Esperanto will be
held next August at Chautanqua, NJ.
/ X, under the auspices Of the Chau-
tauqua Institution, whose curricnla am
now includes the Internatl onal Ian
gusge.
The permansnce of Esperanto Is as
sured by the following considerations:
! /. An international language is
needed. To discuss this point would be
TO consult the intelligence Of the read
err.
H. An international language 10
I possible. Its possibility and aava :
tfge have been demonstrated by the
congresses referred to above.
III Some sense guarantees, and
history demonstrates, that that which
is both needed and possible will some
day be completely established.
~ NO national language fills the bill
English, spoken by only $3.50, 000,0 900
against world population Of billion
and half Is not universal. Every
other national tongue IL less 50. In
ternational rivalry absolutely pre-
cludes the consideration 81 any natur-
al tongue for the international role.
The emily practical solution of the pre-
blem lies in the adoption Of an artiti-
cisl language, which ofiends no one
and has certain advantages Of its own.
These advantages are - ease OF ac-
iuirsment Esperanto may be learned
in three months, ~ more scientific
medium--for being International in
character, IL answers belter 10 interBa-
tisnsl needs, than a national tongue
that is designed to serve a single race.
v. Esperanto can baye no artificial
rivals. II has none present, though
there have been no less than 200 AT
teinpts in the last 300 years to intro
duce an International auxiliary Ian
gusge. Now that Esperanto hiss
thoroughly entrenched itssl. in prac.
tice, the very idea OF International lam
guage declares that there shall be but
one such, and that future changes