Bisbee daily review., 1908-09-01

it's leaders being the famed George Bernard Shaw, disciple of Ibsen, whose witty and brilliant plays have made his fame known all over the world of letters.
 Mir. Shaw is one of the many noted English workers in letters who have been bemoaning the terrible havoc done to the Anglo-Saxon tongue by the horrible perversion of it known as "cockney."
 Prof. Brandl did much to arouse the nation with his striking saying that English is not English"
 This striking phrasing called ma. tional attention to the increasing vul- garization of the language.
 Then Shaw arose to protest against the gradual obliteration of the let ter "a"
 ''Biby's mime is times, pin times"
 This sentence has been used all over the United Kingdom to show how completely the accuracy of pronuncia. way the average Englishman with 3 classical education would refer to the fact that the new baby had received the highly honorable cognomen of James.
 In recent years a debate has grown up as to where the best English was to be heard, in England or in the United States. Formerly the nasal twang of the Yankee was ridiculed. Fun was also poked at the negro effect of the pronunciation of many words by south erners
 But now it is argued that the Eng fish of Uncle Sam's realm is much more nearly correct than that of King Edwards domain.
 But while the younger country has been making progress in the direction of right diction, England has been steadily going backward.
 The Pure English League" was founded at Hornsey, North London suburb, and it's appearance was hailed as an encouraging symptom of better English to come.
 The newspapers of the nation are lending all possible aid, and all over the land are advocating the formation of branches of the parent league.
 The plan of procedure to achieve the desired object is a most elab. crate one.
 Literature will be sent out calling attention to the error of letting the priceless heritage of the tongue fall into disuse and vulgarization.
 New methods of teaching will be in- troduced into the public schools, and one of the first things to be done will be the revival of the valuable study of etymology, study which never should have been permitted to pass from the curriculum, since by teaching the derivation of a word, it's beginnings and its various evolqtions down to the present time, the student gets an ex- act understanding of the history of tine word, and hence is less likely to maltreat it in the pronunciation.
 As befits man prominently connect ed with the stage, Mir. Shaw guaran- teed to interest theatrical managers to insist on the use of fiawless English by characters ip their plays. excepting, of course, where, as in a low comedy role, a cockney dialect is essential to the part. But those characters who are supposed to be speaking English must do so or get ruled out of the casts.
 Parents are to be urged to teach their children the value of accurate speech, and lyceums for oTatory will also make their contributions.
 If the congress is carried out on the scale of the plan the time may 1 yet come when England will not have to labor under the reproach that to hear good English one must visit the United States.