The sun., 1916-11-25
PROGRESS.
Belgians. French, Japanese and Chi.
nese Are Learning IL.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: Al
the outbreak Of the European wal
E~sperantists everywhere feared that the
struggle would have an extremely I'M
favorable effect upon the progress OF
the international language. Great was
our establishment therefore when It grad
ually became apparent that just the
opposite was true. The frst important
event that took place wal the oficial
recognition that Esperanto received
from the Government Of Germany. which
published an Esperanto translation Of
the original documents relating to the
war and caused It to be widely dlstrib-
uted among Esperantists In the neutral
countries. This was followed by q
series Of publications In Esperanto that
history will show formed an important
part Of Germany's campaign Of pub
licity In neutral lands. A few months
later the Esperantists In rance or
ganixed a society devoted to spreading
an exact knowledge Of the French side
Of the world war.
In all Of the warning nations and in
he few countries st!il at peace there
has awakened a new interest in Espe-
Edibo, diiu IL 10 TbW DtlHk cNuulcu ny
many who were not even aware OF its
existence a few years ago This is par
ticularly true Of the soldiers OF all the
countries at war. prisoners OF war and
those informed In neutral lands. In the
internment camp at Harderwyk. Hol-
land. for instance. where there are sew
eral thousand Belgian and French SOL
diers, hundreds have already begun to
learn Esperanto. and this II also true OF
another important camp at Zeist, where
Esperanto II said to be spreading like
wiidhre."
But the most interesting reports Of
our progress come from the Far East.
There is now a large and Nourishing So
ciety in china that has made thousands
OF converts to Esperanto. and Japan
is much better represented than in for
mer years. This L. remarkable in view Of
The dissimilarity between Esperanto and
the languages OF the Orient. translate
a paragraph from n letter ! received
some time ago from a friend in tina,
quarter of the globe. Major r. l.. Bush
who is stationed at Manila. Major
Bush writes Last May and jun
travelled through Japan and saw many
beautiful places and beheld many won
derful scenes: II is a beautiful anS
interesting country. In Toxic | me
many fellow ~Esperantists. who were
very hospi,abie and who did everything
they could to make my visit a happ.
one. They guided me and treated m
as a guest. and I made some very goot
friends Major Bush goes on to sa,
that the Japanese ~Fsperantists honorec
him highly as an American soldier. ano
that in recognition OF this at a meetinl
OF the japanese Esperanto Association
he was presented with an ancient Japa
nese sword. He continues; Esperanto
was a great help to me in Toxic 4
gained me friends. through whose kind
ness I was enabled to see much NOR,
than | could possibly have seen by my
self. ! have always believed in tn
practical utility OF the language and
am now certain Of IT,"
\ languag &c who's advocates are a
widespread as the Esperantists mus
necessarily possess great commercial ad
vantaees. business men in German,
France. Russia and England are nov
making active use OF It, and will increas
ingly continue to do So. \ signihcan
indication of the tendency OF the time
IL afforded by the recent decision OF tn,
Court OF Common Council. Guildhal
London. that whereas England and he
allies are preparing to act in concer
in relation to future commercial affairs
ii is highly desirable that one languag
he accepted as a commercial l~anguag,
to he taught in all schools" And tn
resolution. which ! have freely trans
lated from an Esperanto version. goc
on 10 recommend for consideration III
LANGUAGES OF the Allies. English. Frenc
and Russian. n Esperanto.
CREsToN &. CoIGNE.
Mem, Wong N,,anha. 81