The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1918-04-19
PROF. LYTTLE DEPRECATES
GERMAN IN PUBLIC
SCHOOLS.

THE NEWS is in receipt of the fol-
lowing communication from Prof.
G.. Britain Lyttle, scholar and lin
guist, recently of the Barbourville
College, and now in Manchester, in
which he deprecates the teaching IF
German in the public schools in Ken
lucky:
Manchester, KY,
April 16, 1918.
Editor BOURBON NEWS,
Paris, Kentucky.
Dear Sir: - Readers of THE
BOURBON NEWS will doubtless ~
member that when the bill for the
discontinuance of German as a foe
eign language study in the public
schools of Kentucky first came up in
the Legislature, the action of Rep
resentative Thomas, of Bourbon
county, in advocating the measure
had been heartily approved. The
Legislature passed the bill, but Gov
ernor Stanley vetoed it.
I'm a patriotic discourse here yes
terday for the encouragement of
sales of the Third Liberty Bonds
Loan, Prof. J. M. Robinson, Repub-
lican candidate for Congress, to sue
ceed Caleb Powers in the Eleventh.
District, referred deprecatingly to
the action of Governor Stanley in
vetOing the measure for discOntinC-
ance of German in the schools of the
State, at the expense of citizens who
have no use for German. I think he
might have added that it has been
ascertained beyond reasonable doubt
that Germany's policy in the plan
ming of this war was first for the
conquest of France, at whose ek-
penSe in great part she would sun
due England, and then with the
great navy of the latter country and
enforced aid financially of both Eng
land and France, Germany would
be in a position to face the United
States in a long war.
But the next immediate step
would have been to add to the Ger
men population of the United States,
which is already, it is reliably report
ed, including German born and those
of German descent, forty per cent OF
the population of the whole country.
a few millions more of the more &C
tive sort of Huns. Then with a ma-
jority of the people of the United
States of German sympathies and
the rising population of America
speaking the German language, what
between traitors at home and a
powerful enemy facing us, success
for Germany would in the ordinary
course of events, have seemed PROB
able, and a long and bloody and ex
haustive war for Americas would,
beyond peradventure, have been our
destiny.
History repeats itself. In her
palmy days Rome was accustomed
to oblige other countries to adopt her
language first and then her habits
and customs. If any citizen is par
tial to German there is no law TO
prevent him from acquiring it, bat
let, us not seem to stultify and de-
base ourselves by taking other peo-
pies money to enforce upon them in
the public schools what they do not
want, and what every principle of
civilization opposes as it does tn"
language and influence of Germany's
ally, the 'unspeakable Turk, with
whom she stands cheek by jowl in
this glorious twentieth century Of
Christianity.
Judge Robinson, in his eloquent
address said that in all his reading
he had never seen where the Kaiser
or any other German leader had
used the name of Jesus Christ rev.
erently. The Kaiser sometimes re-
fers to Colt as a sort of silent or
unessential partner in the great
things he is carrying forward in the
world. But he does not even name
Jesus as worth while at all. And
the Louisville Evening Post points
out forcefully that when the Kaiser
and other leading Germans speak Of
'Gott' as associated with them in the
hellish things they do, they make
Jehovah the comrade of the Turk!
But in speaking of foreign Ian
guage studies, it looks to an old, all :
around American, of all the Ameri-
cas-, North, South and Central Amer
lea, in which there are twenty New
World or Western Hemisphere re-
publics, some of them as large as the
United States, exclusive of Alaska:
offering splendid fields of industry
and enterprise to the youth of odr
country, which, through the Monroe
Doctrine, has brought them along so
far, the Spanish language, which is
the National language of all Amer
lea except in the United States and
Canada, would naturally suggest it.
self as the proper foreign language
study for America schools and COL
Ieges. And it may be suggestive
that while in the United States the
hn CT Of
own coarse speech, as foreign Ian
guage study, in their own country
they made Spanish, which is the lead
ing language of all history and lit
erature, the foreign language study
for Germany, which they imagine, |
no doubt, would enable them 20
WELD paramount influence in Amer
lean commerce and politics. Span
ish is one of the two National Ian
guages of all America. And through