Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-08-09
WRITTEN
LANGUAGE IS BORN
Invented by Y. N. c. A. Men
for Benefit of Chinese
Coolies in France.
BY HERBERT COREY.


NEW YORK, August 6.-Anothsr
written language has been added 20
the worlds supply as consequences
of the war And this added language
may prove to be a monkeywrench In
the worlds peace machine. 1t may
add to the probabilities Of another
world war And the Y. NJ. c. \.
did it.
over in France $4,000 Chinese
coolies were employed as laborers by
the nations at war. They We're hetd
under strict military discipline ana
penned at night in great barbed wire
corrals. A certain proportion OF their
pay was sent to their families In
China. The remainder was given to
the coolies to gamble with, for they
had no other need of money. They
were not hired to fight, but on more
shovels, picked up rifles and fought
well. After the fighting the unemo-
tional Chinese returned to their PICKS
and shovels.
Studies for Recreation.
The Y. NJ. C. A. early saw the ne
cessity of furnishing these men with
some sort of relaxation. 1t was no
use talking religion to them. They
were perfectly willing to listen to re-
ligion but it did not seem to get hold
They were furnished with moving
pictures and entertainers. They en-
joyed the movies and the dancers. out
even that was not enough. Then some
Y. NJ C. A. hot-spot suggested teach
ing the Chinks to read and write.
"It can't be DONE" he was told.
1.-The Mandarin language. which Is the
only written language Of China, 10
,,ndcrofnnd NV few mere ana
there. Besides, 1t has 10000 characters
or more. Besides. none of us know IL.
Then make a new one, was the
order.
done. A selection of twenty-six char
acters has been made from the MAn-
DARN language. by the use OF when
any ordinary thought can be con-
veyed to the student. The twenty-six
can be taught to the average coone
in thirty days, so that he can read
and write sufficient for all his needs.
This is not theory. but practice. Inc
classes are being increased, SO that
when the 225.000 coolies return 70
able to write letters to each other.
and get letters containing the news
of the day.
Fighting Not Reasonable"
The reason why China has been per-
sistently pacific is that fighting does
not seem reasonable to the Chinese
mind. The Chinese are brave enough.
Any one who has been in close con.
tact with them will say that. But
they are philosophical and logical
Andrew B. Humphreys. executive sec
rotary of the China Society OF Amer
| lea. says that he has found records
| in Chinese literature showing that ar
| bitration as a means OF composing
national differences was advocated In
China 1000 years ago, That consid-
| Once the idea that calmly to con-
! slider a prospective quarrel and then
| compose 1t Is better than to pick up
weapon and go to fighting seized
| firm hold on the Chinese mind It was
difficult to dislodge. There Is but the
one written language-the Mandarin
| language-and perhaps but one man
| in a village may read ana write II.
But there are hundreds. perhaps thou
sands, of spoken dialects The phil
losophers and academicians went on
talking arbitration and the others
took It for granted that all the rest
of the world settled it's differences in
that way.
China is genuinely new as result
of the revolutions and unrest There
are 5000 miles of railroad In China,
which is not much as compared with
our 100000 miles. but it IL begin
ming. The longest canal in the world,
| 1000 miles. is being made fit for use
again. The remotest parts are
reached by the telegraph now. and
there is a news distributing associa-
ton which keeps in touch with the
1000 newspapers that are printed
throughout China. What is most sur
prising, China now has q genuinely
good postal service:
1T is better than the American
postal service today" said Mr. Hum
phreys.
Chinese Mail Service.
The means of transportation are
not what they are in America, of
course. But with that handicap al
lowed for. Mr.. Humphreys states that
the Chinese mails get through on
time and are accurately distributed.
What is more important, there 10 no
scandal connected with the Chinses
mail service" The reasonine THEA.
is that in a little while the new writ
ten language will spread to all pArte
of China. Newspapers will BE pf1nteo
in 1t. The Chinese will discover,
through the medium of the ehantunG
philosophical consideration do not
prevent war or injustice.
Then it is fair to assume that the
logical Chinese mind will seek some
other means of prevention, and that
other means will be offered them by
the militant minded Japanese. II the
400, 900, 900 Chinese are made over into
militarized people by the Japanese
and an offensive and defensive league
is formed, the well known white race
will begin sitting up nights. And Mr..
Humphreys states that the Chinese
feel deeply the injustice of the Shan
tung award.
1.-The other day" said he, - ChinAe>
laundryman in Harlem was reDfoAch-
ed by customer for losing his aaNn.
dry. The Chinaman asked for tina.
and eventually found the miasiax
package. He gave 1t to the customer
with a reproachful shake of the had:
Chinaman.' said he. all time hon.