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24 International Conferences

A conference between delegates from the Board and the Society, selected for their filologic competence, took place at University College, London, in September, 1911. A similar conference, pland for 1914, was prevented by the breaking out of the War. The Society goes somewhat farther than the Board in its recom- mendations, and has adopted a fonetic scheme of notation in which only the present letters of the English alfabet ar used. The two organizations ar, however, in thoro accord as to the ultimate aim of the reform; and the British experiment is watcht with interest from America.

Imperial Education Conference

An Imperial Education Conference, attended by officially appointed delegates from all the. provinces of the British Empire, was held in London, April and May, 1911. "English Spelling and Spelling Reform" was the subject of addresses by E. R. Edwards, an Inspector of the Board of Education, and by A. H. Mackay, Superintendent of Education, Nova Scotia, a member of the Simplified Spelling Board. The Conference thereupon adopted the following resolution :


 * That this Conference is of the opinion that the simplification of English spelling is a matter of urgent importance in all parts of the Empire, calling for such practical steps in every country as may appear most conducive to the ultimate attainment of the end in view—the creation, in connection with the subject, of an enlightened public opinion and the direction of it to the maintenance, in its purity and simplicity among all English speaking peoples, of the common English tongue.