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Letter to Editor
August 30, 1906
The Sun
New York, New York County, New York
What is this article about?
Herbert Sloane writes to criticize the President's inconsistent spelling policies, highlighting his preservation of 'wilkes-Barre' for historical reasons despite endorsing simplified spelling, predicting a future change to 'Wilksbarry'.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
From a Puzzled Disciple of the President.
To the Editor of The Sun—Sir: Admiration for his many masterful qualities and respect for his high office combine to urge me to follow the President's lead in all matters, but in his attempts to reform our language he has steered a course so erratic that I am unable to discover any consistency or stability in him. Only a few months ago he overruled the Board on Geographic Names, which had adopted the sensible and convenient form "wilkesbarre" for the name of the county seat of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and decreed that the awkward form "wilkes-Barre" should be used. This he did to preserve the historic significance of the place named.
Now, however, that the President has indorsed the programme of the Simplified Spelling Board, whose platform is that our words are to be spelled in the most economical way, I cannot see how, with any degree of consistency, he can uphold his former ruling, and I expect to find the Pennsylvania city designated as "Wilksbarry" in future official publications.
HERBERT SLOANE.
RICHMOND, August 20.
To the Editor of The Sun—Sir: Admiration for his many masterful qualities and respect for his high office combine to urge me to follow the President's lead in all matters, but in his attempts to reform our language he has steered a course so erratic that I am unable to discover any consistency or stability in him. Only a few months ago he overruled the Board on Geographic Names, which had adopted the sensible and convenient form "wilkesbarre" for the name of the county seat of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and decreed that the awkward form "wilkes-Barre" should be used. This he did to preserve the historic significance of the place named.
Now, however, that the President has indorsed the programme of the Simplified Spelling Board, whose platform is that our words are to be spelled in the most economical way, I cannot see how, with any degree of consistency, he can uphold his former ruling, and I expect to find the Pennsylvania city designated as "Wilksbarry" in future official publications.
HERBERT SLOANE.
RICHMOND, August 20.
What sub-type of article is it?
Persuasive
Satirical
What themes does it cover?
Politics
What keywords are associated?
President Spelling Reform
Wilkes Barre
Simplified Spelling
Language Consistency
Geographic Names
What entities or persons were involved?
Herbert Sloane
Editor Of The Sun
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Herbert Sloane
Recipient
Editor Of The Sun
Main Argument
the president's spelling reforms are inconsistent: he preserved 'wilkes-barre' for historical reasons but now supports simplified spelling, so he should change it to 'wilksbarry' for consistency.
Notable Details
Overruled Board On Geographic Names
Endorsed Simplified Spelling Board
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Richmond, August 20