Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1914 — CHINESE AN IDEAL LANGUAGE [ARTICLE]

CHINESE AN IDEAL LANGUAGE

Sir William Ramsay Says Our Ancestors Should Have Adopted It Years Ago.

London. Sir William Ramsay, speaking at St Bride institute recently on spelling reform, said it was a pity that we had not from the beginning adopted the Chinese system of writing instead of our own. The Chinese did not spell; they used symbols which conveyed ideas. The Chinese language had the great advantage that it could be read much quicker than any spelled language. It went straight from the symbol to the brain as an idea. ~

Although he would not support the adoption of a new alphabet on the lines of the Chinese system, he felt that it was a pity that 3,000 or 4,000 years ago our ancestors did not adopt the Chinese system.