Lidia

'Unfortunately, of late there have been voices in the Esperanto Movement saying, "Esperanto is only a language; avoid even privately connecting it with any kind ofidea, for otherwise people will think that we all have this idea, and we shall displease various people who do not have this idea." Oh, what words! From the fear that perhaps we may displease those people, who themselves wish to use Esperanto only for their practical purposes, we are all to tear out of our hearts that part of Esperantism which is the most important, the most sacred, that idea which is the chief aim of the Esperanto business, which is the star that has always guided all fighters for Esperanto! Oh, no, no, never! With vigorous protest we reject that demand. If we, the first fighters for Esperanto, are to be obliged to avoid in our activities everything idealistic, we shall indignantly tear up and burn everything we have written for the sake of Esperanto, with sorrow we shall obliterate the work and the sacrifices of our whole life, we shall throw the green star that we wear on our breasts far away, and we shall cry out in disgust, "With that Esperanto, which must serve only for commercial and practical purposes, we want nothing in common!"

'There will come a time when Esperanto, having become the property of all humanity, will lose its ideological character, then it will become only a language, one will no longer struggle for it; one will only derive profit from it. But now, when almost all Esperantists are not yet profiting but only struggling, we all are very conscious that it is not the thought of practical utility that causes us to work for Esperanto, but only the thought of the sacred, grand and important idea contained in the international language itself. This idea - you all feel it very well - is brotherhood and justice among all peoples.'

Zamenhof did not give up the matter even then. He still hoped the Esperantists would see that, as he told the next year's congress in Cambridge, England, the green banner, symbol of the language, was also as the flag of a country - Esperantoland - which had not only its own language, but its own laws, customs and principles:

'In the depths of your hearts', he told them, 'you all feel the green banner: you all feel that it is something more than the mere emblem of a language. And the more we take part in our yearly congresses, the more we shall become brothers, and the more the principles of the green banner will sink into our souls. Many people join Esperantism out of simple curiosity, or for amusement, or perhaps even hoped-for profit; but from the moment they first visit Esperantoland they become, in spite of their own will, more and more drawn into and subjected to the laws of that country. Gradually Esperantoland will become a school for the future brotherhood of mankind, and in that will lie the chief value of our congresses.'

Zamenhof had suffered much on the joumey to England. After the congress he went to Bad Nauheim in Germany for six weeks' medical treatment. No doubt he hoped that upon his return home to Warsaw he would be able to recuperate, and once again devote himself to his medical practice and his Esperanto work. It was not to be so, for soon a sordid controversy exploded in Esperantoland.

During the first years of Esperanto's existence, various people had suggested changes they believed should be made in the language. Zamenhof hoped Esperanto would become a living language and would grow naturally in response to the needs of its speakers. But he was always cautious about introducing changes. Politely he considered all the 'reforms' that people offered, and he suggested that a Language Committee be created to deal with such matters. Many of the proposed changes were contradictory; one person might wish to change just the aspect that someone else liked best in the language.

Other changes Zamenhof himself had already considered and rejected. While they sounded good in theory, he felt they did not work in practice.

Some of those who suggested changes were well-intentioned Esperantists trying to help. Others, perhaps lured by the possibility of having some personal influence over the very form of a language, became obsessed with the idea of 'reforming' Esperanto. Zamenhof and others became alarmed at the prospect of Esperanto continually changing on the whim of anyone who felt the urge to make an 'improvement'. Zamenhof wished to preserve the integrity of his language, yet he was aware that conflict over reforms and the author's inflexibility had crippled Volapŭk.

Among those who had strongly opposed change was the Frenchman Louis de Beaufront. He was an enigmatic person and claimed to have given up his own international language project for Esperanto. De Beaufront had already become the center of controversy because of his desire to control the Esperanto movement in France. He was also one of the bitterest opponents of Homaranismo.