ESPERANTO

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 32, 8 February 1939, Page 5

ESPERANTO

WELLINGTON CLUB

OPENING NIGHT OF YEAR

Accommodation was taxed to its utmost owing to the large attendance of newcomers at the Wellington Esperanto Club rooms, Lower Cuba Street, on Monday evening, the opening night for the year.

The president, Mr. E. A. Hornblow, gave a summary of the aims and claims of Esperanto and. commented on the rapid progress of the movement during the past year both in New Zealand and abroad.

Since its creation by Dr. Zamenhof, a little over fifty years ago, the need for the widespread use of Esperanto had never been so urgent as now, said Mr. Hornblow. There was a definite drift towards war, and the measures calculated to prevent it —wholesale armament, the making of treaties and pacts—were at best, only temporary ones. What the world required was something universal. Worldwide, some unifying influence which could readily be accepted by all humanity irrespective of race or creed. Esperanto admirably fulfilled these requirements. The extent "and scope of Esperanto were enormous. Some six million people spoke the language and they | were spread over the entire globe.

Perhaps the most outstanding fea-j ture of Esperantr activity was its unique consular system, which was undoubtedly the greatest in the world. People of every calling, these consuls placed themselves at the disposal of Esperantists, whether to supply information, arrange contacts, or make travel easy and agreeable for foreign visiting Esperantists. There was only one way of overcoming the language difficulty as between peoples, and that was by the universal adoption of an auxiliary, language,. and Mr. Hornblow claimed that the only language worthy of serious consideration was Esperanto. It was simple and logical and yet capable of expressing the finest shades of meaning. Any person above the' mental age of 10 could master it and it had.been demonstrated over thousands of cases that it might be acquired in approximately one-tenth the time required to learn any other language. The complete grammar was contained in sixteen rules, none of which bore an exception. The greater part of the vocabulary could be recognised immediately by Europeans. There were 38 affixes to be learned which gave to the language a flexibility and richness in powers of expression unequalled by any other language and yet these affixes effedted a substantial economy in vocabulary. Furthermore, it was phonetic, one letter having one sound only. The literature of Esperanto was now firmly established, comprising "some 8000 works both original and translated.

Since the last meeting, it was reported, correspondence had been received by the club and individual members from no fewer than forty different countries including Iceland, China, Siberia, Hawaii, and several of the South American States.

Six new instructional classes were formed under the guidance of Miss Belle Mcllroy and Messrs. A. Vogt, C. Toomer, R. D. Saunders, L. D. Smith, and G. Maehl. Some thirty advanced students formed a conversation group under the tuition of Mr. J. Major and the remainder who had not yet passed the club's examinations were formed into four classes under experienced instructors.

After the instruction period, a welcome was extended to Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs, visiting Esperantists from London, Mr. Kallman, from Sydney, and Mr. E. G. Bernfeld, recently arrived from Vienna. Mr. Bernfeld gave a very graphic and picturesque account in Esperanto of life in Vienna and his seventy-day journey to New Zealand, depicting the colourful life of Java. This was ably interpreted for newcomers by Mr. Vogt. The evening's entertainment closed with musical items provided by Messrs. >G. Ayson and E v Sharp.