Esperanto: Hearings before the Committee on Education

Excerpt

STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BARTHOLDT,
A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

Mr. Bartholdt. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I do not wish to occupy your time, for the reason that I can be here almost any time, while Prof. Christen has made a special trip from New York for this purpose, and I should like to give him all the time you can afford to devote to this bill.

I merely wish to say, in explanation, that I have not, as you will notice, introduced this bill by request; I have assumed responsibility for it personally because I thoroughly believe in it. I first introduced the bill in the shape of a request to the Committee on Education to investigate the subject; that is, as to the practicability and advisability of introducing Esperanto as an auxiliary language in the public schools. That resolution was referred to the Committee on Rules and, of course, I could not get any action in that committee, and for that reason I introduced the bill in its present form, which merely provides that Esperanto be taught as a part of the course of study in the schools of Washington, this being the only jurisdiction we have in the matter of education.

We Americans are known the world over as being deficient in the knowledge of languages. I think we might as well admit that. While every other nation is teaching two or three languages in its schools we have failed to do so, and yet the requirements of international trade and commerce make it absolutely essential that our young men should be taught at least one language or two languages besides their own. Now, this being the case and Esperanto now being taken up by nearly all the civilized countries as an auxiliary language, how easy it would be for us, instead of compelling our children in the schools to learn Spanish, French, and German, to simply take one lesson a week in Esperanto and thereby enable this nation to correspond and communicate in a common language with all the other nations of the world.

The Chairman. Your idea would be that the various nations would understand Esperanto, and that whenever they would use that language all would understand and comprehend it? Is that your idea?

Mr. Bartholdt. Yes. I want to say that there is a movement on foot in nearly every civilized country to make Esperanto a part of the course of study in the schools. If that were carried out, each country would learn its own language and Esperanto, in England English and Esperanto, and so on, so that the international language would really be Esperanto. As one who has studied languages to some extent I can feel the shortcomings and handicaps of a man who, for instance, having studied French for some time, comes to Paris. The very moment you open your mouth the people will notice that you are "a foreigner," no matter how well you speak French, so that the other man, the native, has a certain advantage over you. But if that Frenchman were obliged to speak Esperanto with you then you would be on a common level and neither would have an advantage over the other. I have read in several of the Esperanto newspapers that, for instance, in England the great manufacturing establishments are now printing their catalogues and price lists in Esperanto, and that other publications are sent all over the world printed in that language, in matters of trade and commerce....