2 72 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



tied spelling, given to the public printer at Washington, was not a 

 surprising development. The sudden adoption of two or three hun- 

 dred changes at one time was too strong a jerk on the big' congressional 

 pendulum. But all these simplified forms will quite surely be incor- 

 porated in the great American dictionaries at an early day in their 

 lists of alternative spellings. The public printer will thus be free 

 to secure their gradual use in documents issued by the government. 

 .Readers of periodicals in which the simplified forms have already been 

 in use, such as The Literary Digest, find no difficulty in taking in ideas, 

 even if such forms as ' tho/ ' thru ' and ' prest ' are occasionally encoun- 

 tered. These periodicals are quietly doing effective work by dispelling 

 the novelty of the improvements. In deference to public prejudice 

 such forms as ' thru ' are perhaps best neglected for the present, while 

 ' tho ' is used, since consistency is of little importance in comparison 

 with tact. The Simplified Spelling Board can only recommend; the 

 public will do the adopting in response to gentle and well-timed per- 

 suasion, and reasonable respect will be manifested toward the con- 

 servation of energy. 



In conclusion the following propositions are presented by way of 

 summary : 



1. Inability to spell conventionally is not necessarily or deservedly 

 an index of illiteracy. 



2. Conventional spelling is a mere fashion, worthy of no respect 

 when it implies the sacrifice of economy. In judging economy we 

 must consider ease in the transfer of ideas. That spelling is best which 

 is most readily intelligible. 



3. Nobody can be reasonably expected to adopt more than a few 

 changes at a time. A writer occupies himself with ideas rather than 

 verbal forms. The simplified forms must be applied chiefly in the 

 printing office, where forms are all-important. Change of habit must 

 result chiefly from the unconscious training received by the eye in 

 reading such simplified forms already in print. 



4. Children should be taught simplified spelling. They will addi- 

 tionally learn the old conventional forms outside of the school-room, 

 and should be free to exercise their own preferences so long as they 

 are consistent in the employment of either system. 



5. The simplification of our spelling does not imply the adoption 

 of a new alphabet, or indulgence in objectionable phonetic eccentricities. 

 All improvements are initially unfamiliar, and those who advocate them 

 may be temporarily considered unfashionable, but reason in fashion 

 has a better chance to prevail in America than in England, or in any 

 other country where our common but necessarily variant language is 

 spoken and written. 



6. For the improvement of spelling there is always the need of 

 moderate and practical reformers. The same slow process of change 



