The Washington times., 1922-09-03
Slang FEARED
AS LANGUAGE
!. .............OF DIPLOMATS
French Alarmed at Possibility
80. .;- Of English Becoming
80 Universal.
ESPERANTO ALSO OPPOSED
''lnjures the intellectual pevel-
'opment Of Youth, Contends
French Writer.
by HERBERT M. DAVIDSON.

'gc,By HERBERT M. DAVIDSON.
PARIS, Sept. 2. - Colloquial
English-perhaps American slang
probably viii be the future uni
Sersal language, the speech Of the
elite. the tongue of diplomacy.
.ssIn q not distant decade. per-
haps, the French premier may
cable the Secretary Of State Of
the United States: "Say, put me
straight on this Pacific business.
Whats Japan's idea?"
And the Secretary will cable the
japanese premier; "If you can
give France the info shoot it
across"
Sooner or later: eve have with
US tonight" will be the -after-din-
mar. formula at international ban
guets from Indo-C China to Heligo-
land.
Eventually "Tell It to Sweeney"
or "Tie 1t outside" will replace
the potter terms Of Reputation
current in cosmopolitan social
circles. ..a
French Shudder at Idea.
!. All Of this French scholars are
shudderingly demonstrating II
French is not retained as the inter.
national language. and IL Esperanto
10 not pushed as an auxiliary and
subsidiary universal tongue. Once
arfn uys,S ItAl L.. N-A fst
and slang will become the table talk
Of Statesmen and princes.
The trouble all began because Of
Esperanto.
Somebody-perhaps an agent Of po-
hce--heard O bewhiskered Individual,
wearing horn-rimmed glasses, whis-
perirg in Esperanto to a wrinkle
browed person. with pamphlets In
his pocket. Being, a curious person,
he was annoyed because he could not
understand q word.
Esperanto Opposed.
somebody--perhaps the agent Of
poiice-started the story that Es-
Of Boishevism. An appeal was sent
10. school authorities throughout
France to do all they could tospre-
from being taught or spread.
Interviews against Esperanto ap-
peared in the newspapers. "Es-
petanto Injuries, the intellectual de-
vslopment Of youth" urged Alfred
Capus interviewed by lie Matin.
Tits a language without finer
shapes, incapable Of expressing any
thttig but the ,crudest ideas. II
would be impossible to conduct an
argument against communism in
Esperanto. Communistic ideas are
priinitive-the language suits them" "
!. But the reaction was inevitable.
Faddists who were busily studying
ARABIAN or Sanscrit Of medieval
Chinese fired their teachers and
hired Esperantists with the proper
International accent to teach them
20 speak universally. After Russian
Esperanto became the most popu-
lar language to take up" in study
gpoups."
For every sober authority who
denounced Esperanto a man Of let
tiers has been found to support IT,
-But II was Prof. A. Aulard. of the
Sorbonne, who hit upon the really
picturesque reason as to why
Frenchmen should tolerate II not
support Esperanto.
-"French is too difficult to remain
the International language" he
WROTE LIE Matin. But shall 1t con
tlnue as the language Of good so
ciefy?"
HE implied that II should. And
to obtain that end he urged French
educators to facilitate the diffu
sion Of Esperanto.
a.,"Otherwise, -, he threatened. I'll
there IL no artificial language, Eng
lish will become the international
Language just as II is already>the in.
ternational language of the yellow
races.
T..Against that fate for the world
let us oppose our own language fol-
the elite and Esperanto for the
populace."
MAcLs~ T~cAS C-sI~