The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-06-20
FROM OTHER PENS
AN ERA OF SLANG.

II the slang of today is the COR
rect speech of tomorrow, what
language will our children speak a
generation hence? Will it be the Eng
lish of George Meredith or the Eng
1ish of George AIDE? Shall we talk in
the fowery hyperbole Of the Bowery
with which our newspapers Of today.
and even our books, are filled, or
must we be content with the speech
that has satisfied many generations OF
our forefatherS? AS we saunter along
in enjoyment of the invigorating
spring air on a bright Sunday
morning, whether we have been lis
tening to the words Of the preacher
or merely taking our Sabbath pleas
ure in the open, shall we say to our
children, "You kids hike along home,'
or shall we tell them, RUN along, and
we'll follow" OF course, it will be
needless to express ourselves in such
grandiloQuent phrase as Children,
journey home, and behave yourselves
decorous1y," for the youth of today
would be ill-mannered enough to
laugh at US therefor, but there is a
happy mean between the vulgar and
the stilted, and correct and informal
speech will, fall upon childhood's ear
like the words Of an unintended ser
mon.
AS a matter of fact a little slang
is an excellent thing, but in the pres
est quantity is a great deal too much.
The English language may fairly be
said to be the most picturesque and
most expressive in the world, and 1T
does not need the verbiage of the
slum, or even the catch words and
catch-phrases of the street, to add to
it's vigor and variety. We speak slang
frequently through sheer laziness. It
was the last word in the mouth of a
companion, and it becomes the next
word in ours. 1t is echoed by the
speaker, by the teacher, by the lee
ceptions it never becomes anything
but slang.-Boston Transcript.
THE GOVERNORS CONFERENCE
1t was i'll advised to suggest at the
conference of governors called by the
president that future meetings OF this
character should be called on the re-
quest Of one-third of the governors
of all the states and territories rather
than at the will of the president So
far as the meeting Of the chief execu-
tives of the states with the chief
executive of the nation is concerned,
such meetings should be left to the
president, and it should not be in
dicated or circumscribed by the one
year limit, but should be in order
whenever the president believes 1t
would be helpful to the national well
fare.
It was not inharmonious with this
policy that the governors should seek
to perfect an organization of their
own and to hold annual meetings, and
this permanent organization was
formed in Washington following the
adjournment of the White House
| meeting. There are many questions
of interstate rather than national i'm
portance that could be effectively adj
vanced by meetings of the governors
And all such meetings, whether fol
governors only or for governors and
federal officials, must inevitably go fal
toward exalting the true national
relation of the individual state.
1t may be said that already, as q
result OF the Washington conference
the prestige of the Office of governor
has been greatly enhanced. The Of
| nee has been shown to possess some
thing more than state importance
| although its routine functions are cir
| cumscrlbed by state boundaries. II
may be assumed with confidence thai
| from this time forward there will be
much more effectivee, cooperation
| among the governors. and that each
VIII have not only a more obvious but
more effective part In national de-
velopment.-Kansas City Star.