Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-12

Can any one imagine what would be
the effect in the United States II Con-
gress and the President were to adopt
a law assuming approval by the ST.
preme Court requiring everybody to
learn the Chinese method of writing,
and declaring that after a fixed date,
say a year ahead, only Chinese char
acters should be used in courts Of law,
in churches and in newspapers, period
icals and books of whatsoever nature?
We Americans boast of our progress
siveneSs and alertneSS and quickminded-
ness. We are proud CD OF the fact
that three out of four of us can write
our own names and even read para
graph in a newspaper. Some have
even accepted the Census Bureaus sta
tistics, which indicate that only about
seven cut of every hundred confess illit-
eracy. although after recovering from
the shock of the war-draft examination.
which proved that IS per cent cannot
read or write and that from some sec
tions as high as 81 per cent were
densely illiterate. national boasting Of
developed mentality has been curbed.
But if. with all of our alleged openness
and discipline of mind, the law should
decree that we--adults and children
must learn a new alphabet and never
use the old one again, it would bring
some confusion and dismay.
X x X
That is exactly what has happened
in Turkey-the ''unchanging East
and upon streets, in places of amuse-
ment-aye, in government offices and
everywhere today-are groups of men,
women and children studying their
in 10
are making use Of the novelty and set
ting their business announcements in
the new alphabet, coupled with pictures
of the articles so advertised. Picturesl
UnorthodoX pictures
It may be that there is a sandal pic
tured with S. That shows that S-a-n-
DIAL means-well, whatever was the
Turkish word for footwear. There is
no "F-e-Z" depicted, for that article be-
came taboo long ago, but there is
hat" beside monstrosity of an old
hat from Europe There is no picture
of yelled woman. for wells are out of
order. too. The baShful women were
shocked at the effrontery of appearing
so deShabille in public, but turkey in
the straw" never scratched so furiously
as has Turkey in the throes of becom-
ing Europeanized since the revolution
of five years ago. tAnyhow, they don't
unveil their knees in Turkey)
After certain date. just few weeks
ahead, no government employee will
retain his job if he fails to prove that
he knows the Latin letters, and his
general efficiency will be rated by his
progress in some European language.
In all history of civilization, there has
never been greater upheaval of a
fflo Ia 20
Turkey under the dictatorship CT
Mustafa Renal Pasha and the Ghazi's
chief collaborators in the republic.
X X x
It has been we'll said that no man
ever commits crime suddenly: the
act follows continued breaking
down Of resistance. Even Turkey is
mot guilty." therefore. of suddenly
committing herself to civilization. The
turning point was more than a century
ago, when, In 1896 the Janissaries. who
had had supreme power over the police.
and the Bektashi Dervishes, who were
closely allied with the Janissaries and
who controlled the schools. mutinied
against the government of Sultan
Mahmoud. The result was that the
mahkoud suppressed the Order of the
Bef1taShi DervisheS and abolished all
monaSticism in Turkey.
This radical act caused far less dis
satisfaction than did the closing of re-
iigious institutions in France at the
time OF the Revolution, for the Der
wishes had always been considered I'M
orthodox by the true MoslemS and
useless wastrels in their monasteries
Public opinion approved setting them
to useful employment.
Throughout the centuries, education
had been neglected more by the Mos
lens than by the minorities-the
Greeks. Armenians, jews and the few
Christians. More than 80 per cent of
the Turkish Moslems are utterly illit-
crate, but this is the more excusable
by reason not only of the policy of
the Sultans and Caliphs who desired
to keep the masses in ignorant sub
lection to their power. but also because
the Arabic alphabet was so complicated
that 1t required the memorizing of
nearly 500 letters, in place of |
our Roman alphabet of 26 letters. The |
old Arabic letters, as we'll as the Caliph, |
connecting link between |
all Moslem races-Turkey, Persia, |
Arabia, India and Central Asia.
When the World War began taking |
shape, the Germans were elated with |
the adherence Of Turkey to their cause.
for it was expected that all Islam would |
stand together In holy war against |
the Christian allies. The holy war
failed to come, and. In the midst Of.