Filed in the things don't change drawer is the 1906 movement to reform spelling in American. Teddy Roosevelt passed an executive public order [to the Public Printer] last week ordering all government documents to be printed with the new English spellings, including tho for though, altho for although, stopt for stopped, and so forth. Andrew Carnegie has thrown some money at the project, but in the end it will die.

In the August 29, 1906 NYT is an article announcing that Webster's Dictionary would not include the new spellings simply because Roosevelt said so. The company had this to say:

"English is a lively enough language without a wholesale change such as that which is now being agitated. Snipped particles, like `stopt' for stopped are particularly undesirable, and hideous, and will not come into good use for a long time."

How long? Perhaps until text messaging? What was that, 2003 or 2004?

In another article there is concern that Congress will try to block the President's move by requiring that Congressional documents be printed using standard English with the President's/Executive branch documents being printed in reformed English. This leads to the following concern:

[I]t may easily produce a vexatious mix-up in requiring two sets of employes at the printing office. It will be practically impossible for one set of men to follow both styles alternately without making frequent blunders in each, and two sets of men means two sets of salaries.

As an aside, you might notice that there seem to be typos in the 1906 articles I pull from. There might be some typos, but fortunately for me many of what seem to be typos are accurate. For example, employe and to-day and per-cent are typed as they were spelled in 1905/1906. Thus, it is apparent that English does evolve and "reform" although it is interesting that the President of the United States would attempt such a reform unilaterally (consider if Bush tried to change nuclear to nucular and strategy to strategery? Although some of these Bushisms are already creeping into the language even if only in jest.)

The simplified spelling movement is still rolling along.

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Heck, with my bad primary education you would think I'd be a life-time member.