Esperanto Correspondence for Socialists

John M. Work

John M. Work, the Socialist activist was also an energetic advocate of Esperanto.[1] He not only substituted for Arthur Baker when Baker wasn’t able to make a Salt Lake City speaking engagement, but also put forth a proposal for the Socialists to use Esperanto. That proposal was opposed by John Spago and ultimately failed, but that didn’t stop Mr. Work.

In the February 14, 1909 New York Sun[2] we see Mr. Work again. The Iowa Socialist may have had his proposal that the Socialist Party use Esperanto at their meetings knocked down, but he wasn’t going to give up. Maybe he viewed it as an incremental thing. Start with a little Esperanto and before long, who knows? Maybe he figured that he could get the Socialists to slowly move into using Esperanto.

---

You can follow my blog on Twitter (@impofthediverse) or on Facebook. If you like this post, share it with your friends. If you have a comment just for me, e-mail me at impofthediverse@gmail.com.

---

This blog runs solely on ego! Follow this blog! Comment on this post! Let me know that you want to read more of it!

A Socialist Rebuffs Esperanto

John M. Work
Li proponis Esperanton

The frequency with which I’ve discussed situations in which socialists and anarchists used Esperanto might give a conservative reader[1] pause for thought. Were those under the green star as red as someone like George Alan Connor feared? Yet, for all the socialists in favor of Esperanto and the the Esperantists sympathetic to socialism, not all were convinced.

In 1909, the Socialist Party entertained the notion that the upcoming international socialist congress should be conducted in Esperanto. When the Sun reported on this, they did not name who put forth the suggestion, but a lengthy piece in the Montana News, a Socialist newspaper out of Lewiston, Montana, did. The proposal was put forth by John M. Work, who is described as the National Committee Member of Iowa. Mr. Work was a prominent socialist writer and activist. He does not seem to have had the slightest prominence in the Esperanto movement. The only reference I can find in the Esperanto literature is that his book What’s So and What Isn’t was advertised in the pages of Amerika Esperantisto in 1909.[2]

---

You can follow my blog on Twitter (@impofthediverse) or on Facebook. If you like this post, share it with your friends. If you have a comment just for me, e-mail me at impofthediverse@gmail.com.

---

This blog runs solely on ego! Follow this blog! Comment on this post! Let me know that you want to read more of it!

Socialists Vote on Esperanto

Uniĝu, Laboristoj de la Mondo!

In the early twentieth century, many movements that were, or aspired to be, international glommed onto the Esperanto movement. How could you be international without an international language? Further, there was the (never realized) expectation that in the near future, everyone would speak Esperanto. Why would you want to deprive these people of your important message?

World-wide, the socialist movement found uses for Esperanto, particularly in that it allowed workers with different native languages to easily communicate with each other. This was true especially in the United States where the labor movement comprised immigrants from around the world. A 1907 article on coal miners adopting Esperanto noted that the miners spoke a variety of languages.

---

You can follow my blog on Twitter (@impofthediverse) or on Facebook. If you like this post, share it with your friends. If you have a comment just for me, e-mail me at impofthediverse@gmail.com.

---

This blog runs solely on ego! Follow this blog! Comment on this post! Let me know that you want to read more of it!