Mr. Barrett Believes

Believed in Esperanto.
Didn't speak it.
But he believed!

It seems clear to me why George Harvey took command of the Esperanto movement in 1908 (it also seems clear to that his leadership might not have been the best thing for the movement). To put it simply: Harvey had spent a year promoting Esperanto in his magazine, The North American Review. I suspect that his editor, Henry James Forman, had convinced him that wealth and power came with Esperanto. It’s not clear to me why John Barrett of the Bureau of American Republics agreed to become the second president of the Esperanto Association of North America.

Did John Barrett believe that there would be some benefit to him as a diplomat once everyone else switched to using Esperanto in an international context? It would have to be everyone else, since Barrett didn’t learn Esperanto, nor did he use his position as director of the Bureau of American Republics to push Esperanto in a diplomatic context. “We’re having an international conference. All delegates are asked to provide their statements in Esperanto.”

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Esperanto on the Job

How do I put this on my timecard?

It would probably make the news even today if the employees of the Organization of American States had a compulsory lecture on Esperanto. That’s what happened in Washington, D.C. on January 15, 1910 to the office staff of the Bureau of American Republics (the predecessor organization to the OAS). The staff probably knew it was coming, since John Barrett, the director of the BAR was also the president of the Esperanto Association of North America.

Of course, Barrett didn’t give the lecture himself. That would have been somewhat embarrassing, since it was noted that after his election as the head of EANA, he needed to step up his progress in Esperanto. I, personally, have no sympathy for him. It doesn’t take all that much effort to master Esperanto. It’s not that Barrett couldn’t find someone who was competent and willing to give lessons. His lecturer, Professor Arnold Christen, gave lessons at the princely cost of $4 for four lessons.

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John Barrett’s New Year’s Resolution: Learn Esperanto

Seven months! Plenty of time!

John Barrett was a career diplomat,[1] notable (in part) for being the first director of the Bureau of American Republics (the predecessor to the current Organization of American States). He was also the second president of the Esperanto Association of North America (something not mentioned in the Wikipedia entry). As 1909 became 1910, Mr. Barrett has something of a New Year’s resolution. He had one shortcoming as the newly elected EANA president: he didn’t actually speak Esperanto.

The early days of the Esperanto movement in the United States attracted some well-connected individuals. Barrett’s predecessor was George Harvey, the publisher of the North American Review (although it seems that Henry James Foreman, the magazine's associate editor[2] was the real Esperanto enthusiast at the North American Review). Like Mr. Barrett, Mr. Harvey doesn’t seem to have actually learned Esperanto.

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A Death at the Esperanto Congress

President Montt

At the end of July, 1910, it was announced that John Barrett, the director of the Bureau of American Republics (now the Organization of American States), and himself a prominent Esperantist,[1] announced a diplomatic reception to be held at the Peace Palace, the newly built headquarters of the Bureau of American Publics. As I noted, the reception didn’t happen. This is why.

On July 17, 1910, it was announced that Pedro Montt, the President of Chile, had died. President Montt was also an Esperanto speaker, and he had been promoting Esperanto in Chile. President Montt was not attending the Congress, and he was in Bremen, Germany when he died. He had just travelled there from the United States, but died of a heart attack shortly after arrival. However, as an expression of sympathy, the event was postponed and then cancelled, as a measure official mourning. Obviously, if you’re sincerely in mourning, you don’t hold a diplomatic event.

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Diplomat Predicts Future for Esperanto in Universities

The diplomat

John Barrett was a American diplomat, notable for his work in relations amongst the states in the Americas. Notably, he served as ambassador to Argentina, Panama, and Columbia in turn, though for the last two, he only served less than a year each. In 1907, he left his position as Ambassador to Columbia to help organize the Bureau of American Republics, of which he was the first director. The Bureau was later renamed the Pan American Union, and much later formed the basis for the Organization of American States.

On June, 16, 1910, the East Oregonian of Pendleton, Oregon, ran an article quoting Mr. Barrett, but the subject matter wasn’t South American diplomacy, per se. At the time, Washington, D.C. was gearing up to host the first ever World Esperanto Congress (the Universala Kongreso) held outside of Europe. Zamenhof was coming. This had the potential to be a big thing for the Esperanto movement, not just in the United States, but worldwide. Barrett told the press that Esperanto would soon be a subject of study in colleges and universities.

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