Between November 1 and November 8 thousands of American school children signed pledges more or less resembling the one made famous last year in Detroit: "I love the United States of America, love my country's flag, I love my country's language. I promise:
"1. 'That I will not dishonour my country's spteeh by leaving off the last syllables of words "2. 'That I will say good American yes? and no' instead of an Indian grunt ainhum' and nup um' or a foreign ya' or yeh' and nope?
3. That I will improve American speech by enunciating distinctly and by speaking pleasantly and sincerely "4, That T will try to make my country's language beautiful for the many boys and girls of foreign nations who coma here to live; "5, That I will learn to articular. correctly ong word a day for one year. The idea has much to commend in England as well as America, for undoubtedly the language of the man grows from the speech of the child, and slovenliness of diction is as reprehensible as it is regrettably common. It is to be hoped, however, that no attempts are being made to alter fashions of speech akin to the dialects in England, for in many of them there is a singular charm. To the soft burr of Somerset and the clipped speech of the northern countries there are parallels in the United States and as part and parcel of the national language they deserve to be retained.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.