St. Paul tidende. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1902-1928, 1919-07-25
The Question Of Language.
By Maurice Francis Egan.

Scandinavian Reviews July
issue
served BY the highest possible cult
ure among those who possess it.
W. are learning from the example
|of even the smallest Of European.
nations that fine beauty in muse,
in art, and in literature ought to
lbe part Of our national life.
If we should judge the spiritual
and mental state of our own people
by the songs they sing, OF by the
pictures the. seem to love in the
Sunday supplements, or by the
wild and lurid presentments in the
movies, or the equally weird
%stories i'm the cheap magazines, we
should come to the conclusion that
what is called culture is popularity
unknown in the United States,
There. are Americans 50 foolish
as to look with scorn' on the Nor
wegian or the Swede plunging
Through the snowdrifts in Mime
sota, working patiently from day to
day in cold and heat, because he
|speaks our language incorrectly and
with what we consider an extreme
|ly vulgar accent; but if we under
lstood that this same Norwegian or
IISwede knows and loves the history
Eof his country, can sing the trad]i-
tional folk songs Of his country, can
Judge Of the value of a picture, or
Ia. statue by comparison with the
Iworks of art heahas seen in his own
country, or can whistle the Peer
lGynt Suite Of Greig, we should
have a reasonable respect for him,
land not treat him with condescens-
lion. The knowledge Of another
language and another literature
lmeans the entrance into a new
world.
Wherever any language in the
ldominions of these United States is
made to be predominant over the
English language, a tremendous
mistake has been made. No Ger
man, no Spanish, no Scandinavian
l%colony should be permitted to put
a foreign language even on the
same plane as the English, and no
(child in our public schools ought
to: be permitted to learn a foreign
language until. he has become fairly
proficient with the language Of the
people Of which his parents have
become a part by choice. Through
the carelessness of the proper autho-
|%rities, Spanish remains the superior
Language in New Mexico, | under
stand; through even grosser indiffe-
renee, there are in certain districts
in this country groups of individu-
|als who speak English only in their
business relations and relapse into
German or Yiddish whenever the
opportunity occurs to consider
things of the mind. Years ago the
attempt to Germanize the Catholic
Church in this country was boldly
fought off by Cardinal Gibbons and,
Archbishop ireland. It was pro-
posed by the German propagandists
that Bishops speaking the German
language, pastors preaching only in.
German, and Teutonic teachers.
be allowed to mold relig-:
iously the souls and hearts of the
immigrants from Germany. So UNI
aware were many w~ell-meaning
people Of the dangers of this pro-
process that Archbishop ire
land was made the target for.
assaults, vicious assaults, from even.
men who ought to have known.
better. The far-sighted prelate won
a victory, and a just and righteous
victory; but not for a moment did
he propose that the German lang
uage should be suppressed as a
means of culture in this country, or.
that it should cease to exist IS al
trained handmaiden, let us say, of
the English. The argument was
made that foreign-born parents
were often placed in an undignified
position before their children when
these children, ignorant Of the
language of the motherland. heard