The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-01-03
China AND TURKEY
VIEWED AS FUTURE
HOPE OF COMMERCE
j.P. Jackson Tells Rotarians Of
Significance OF Reading
and Roman Alphabet
pJORlO WAR AWAKENING
7 Worker Has Leavened Mass
Of ignorant Coolies; Turk
Learns BY Latin ABc's
WORLD WAR AWAKENING

promise for American business as the
adoption by China and Turkey Of
western ideals and education. ]. p
Jackson thought in his review-at the
Rotary club luncheon. Wednesday-of
1928 in commercial lines. He espe-
cially stressed the educational move
ment. started in the World war. by
which Chinese coolies are being
taught to read. and the adoption BY
Turkey Of the Roman alphabet. dis
carding the cumbersome Arabic script.
II wish to digress from the more
material things" he said. land speak
Of the great future that is opening for
commerce and industry through the
awakening Of China and Turkey by
giving these people the means by
which their masses can express their
ideas IN Simplified and ineligible
writing.
During the world war, when the
=. M. G. A. called for volunteers to
work in the Chinese labor battalions
in France, Chinese student at Yale
university offered his services and was
consigned to camp Of 5000 coolies
at ToulOn. Among the hard con-
ditions that he confronted was the
fact that these men were illiterate
This cut them off from receiving or
sending any home news and 1t kept
them in ignorance of what was going
on In France and the world.
One Man Starts Big Thing
Young Yen when In his own land,
had never worried over the fact that
only about one-fifth of his fellow
countrymen could read or write, but
set in the midst of such dense ignor-
ance. he realized its meaning and in
the spirit of young China and Christ,
he resolved to find 9 remedy.
From the 10000 written characters
which make up the Chinese language,
he selected few hundred which ex-
pressed the ideas and experiences Of
these labOrers. Forty reenrolled In
his first class, and by hard study In
off hours before and after the hard
days work, mastered the lessons and
gained the ability to read or write
anything written in these few hun
dred characters. Other classes fol-
lowed until Yen had taught 1000 men
to read and write. For them he pub
lished little camp newspaper, CIV
interest. It was eagerly read.
Other Chinese Y secretaries intro
duced Jimmy Yen's methods in other
labor camps, until it was fully demon
Strated that illiteracy could be routed
by comparatively simple methods. i
With the need Of the world ear,
came an epoch making idea, that
what had been done In France could
be done on an immensely large scale
in China, that the Chinese nation
could be taught to read and write II
its complicated language could be
simplified, which would bring q rea-
sonable number Of characters within
the reach Of the illtterate masses.
100000 Learn to Read
Urged by the double motive Of
Christian and patriotic service. Yen
perfected his method on the rough
basis OF his Toulon experiment. He
selected about 1900 characters, and
arranged q series Of four text books
of "a lessons each. The books sold at
3 cents each or IL cents for the COM
plete course. Beginning ct the city
Of Changsha In Human province, he
rallied more than 1000 men and boys
and successfully carried them through
his course in about three months,
graduating them with diploma.
'"The fame Of what he was doing
spread far and wide. Though civil
war separated the south from the
north, both Chang Tso-Lin and
Chang Kai-Stek asked to have the
system introduced in their respective
sections.
THE new education mass move
ment caught the imagination Of all
classes Men and women Of education
offered their services as teachers and
multitudes registered as students.
When Yen returned to the United
States the past summer. he had the
satisfaction Of knowing that more
than 100000 Chinese were diligently
studying his primers and would soon
possess tho key to knowledge.
This extraordinary story Of human
service, with its Immense significance
for the future Of the most populous
nation In the world and for its spir-
itual, social and industrial Develop
ment, viii mean more In the terms OF
dollars and cents to the worlds COM
merce and industry than we can now
estimate.
Turkeys Big Change
In recent magazine, Maynard
Owens Williams, says that II the pen
IS mightier than the sword, then
Turkey Is on the way for new VIC
tories, as the entire nation Is. relearn-
ing its A B C's. having discarded the
462-letter combination Of the Arabic
script, and adopted in their stead q
characters (including those with dia-
critical markS) from the Latin alpha
bet in use throughout the western
world.
when the schools closed for va
cation last spring, there was little
thought that the adoption Of the new
Turkish alphabet would delay their
fan opening until text books could be
50 that all instruction would
~ IN Latin characters. On December
1,s1e26. al newspapers were compelled
to7be printed In the new alphabet, Or
else suspend publication The govern
Inent had to assist some papers TO
buy their new type.
New Alphabet Compulsory
4r.ssThe Arabic script had presented
tremendous difficulties to the student