The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-08-30
Gains of the War

ldiluTt w see ludt Iue NSiHidH itii-
guagc was at best weak rival of
English as the universal medium. The
Germans have never had much sue
cess in the atetmpt to get their Ian
guage adopted by other peoples, ac-
cording to Sir Walter Raleigh, pro-
fessor of English literature at Oxford,
who reminds that mot all the military
laws of Prussia can drive out French
from the hearts and homes of the peo-
pie Of Alsace." What is more, in the
ports of the Near and Of the Far East
you will hear English spoken-pidgin-
English, as it is called, which is Sc
lection of English words suited for the
business of daily life-but you may
roam the world over and you will hear
no pidgin-German. The fact that be-
fore the war many Germans learned
English, while very few English
speaking people learned German, may
be ascribed in part to British "lazi-
ness" But this was not the only
cause, we read in Prof. Raleigh's adj
dress to the Royal Colonial Institute
On "Some Gains Of the War" do
RAM:
ave are not lazy in tasks which we
believe to be worth our while. Rather
we had an instructive belief that the
future does not belong to the German
tongue. That belief is not likely to be
impaired by the war. Armed ruffians
can do some things, but one thing
they cannot do-they cannot endear
their language to those who have suf-
fered from their violence. The Ger
mans poisoned the wells in South
west Africa; in Europe they did all
they could to poison the wells of mu-
tual trust and mutual understanding
among civilized men. Do they think
that these things will make good ad-
vertisement for the explosive, gutteral
sounds and the huddled, deformed syn
tax of the speech in which they ex-
press their arrogance and their hate?
Which of the Chief European Ian
guages will come first after the war,
with the little nations? Will Serbia
be content to speak German? Will
Norway and Denmark feel new af-
lection for the speech of the men who
have degraded the old humanity of
the seas? Neighborhood, kinship and
the necessities of commerce may re-
tain for the German language a GER
tain measure Of custom in Sweden and
Switzerland and Holland. But for the
most part Germans will have to be
content to be addressed in their own
tongue only by those who fear them
or by those who hope to cheat them.
"This gain, which / make bold to
predict for the English language, is
a real gain, apart from all patriotic
bias. The English language is incom-
parably richer, more fluid and more
vital than the German language.
Where the German has but one way of
saying a thing, we have two or three,
each with it's distinctions and its sub
tleties of usage. Our capital wealth
is greater, and so are our powers OF
borrowing. English sprang from the
old Teutonic stock, and we can still
coin new words, such as 'food-hoard
and 'joy-ride', in the German fashion.
But long centuries ago We added thou
sands of Romance words, words which
came into English through the French
or Norman-French, and brought with
them the ideas of Latin civilization
and of the medieval Christianity. Lat
er on when the renewed study of Lat
in and Greek quickened the intellec-
tual life of Europe, we imported
thousands of Greek and Latin words
direct from the ancient world; learned
words, many of them suitable for phil
osophers, or for writer's who pride
themselves on shooting a little above
the vulgar apprehension. Yet, many
of these, too, have found their way in
to daily speech, so that we can say
most things in three ways, according
as we draw on one or another OF the
three main sources of our speech.
Thus, you can begin, or commence, or
initiate an undertaking, with bold
ness, or, courage, or resolution. II
you arc a workman, laborer, or OPP
erative, you can ask, or request, or So
licit your employer to yield, or grant,
or concede an increase in the earnings,
or wages, or remuneration which fall
to the lot of your fellow, or companion,
or associate. Your employer is per-
haps old, or veteran, or superannuat-
ed, which may hinder, or delay, or re-
tard the success of your application.
But if you foretell, or prophecy, or
predict that the war will have an end,
or close, or termination that shall not
only be speedy, or rapid, or accelerat-
ed, but also great, or grand, or mag
nifcent, you may perhaps stir. or
move, or actuate him to have ruth, or
pity, or compassion on your mate, or
colleague, or collaboration"
The English language is one of
much greater wealth than can be illus
trated by any brief example, we are
told, and our literature is almost as
rich as our language. Modern Ger
man literature begins in the eighteenth
century, while modern English litera-
ture began with Chaucer in the four
teenth century and has been full of
great names and great books ever
since. Nothing has been done in Ger
man Literature for which we have not
a counterpart done as well or better
Except the work of Heine, and Heine
was jew" His opinion of the Prus-
slams was that they are "a compost
of beer, deceit and sand" French lit
erature and English literature can be
throughout their long course,
sometimes to great advantage to
the French, but German literature can
not seriously be compared with either.