Among the reasons he gave for abandoning the Arabic script were that “the Arabic alphabet would only be an encumbrance on the Europeans ” who would later be learning the language and that“ the Roman script would make it easier for ‘ the Natives in studying European languages. ’ ”
Seda uuendust põhjendades ütles ta muu hulgas, et „araabia tähestik oleks vaid takistuseks eurooplastele ”, kes tahaksid hiljem suahiili keelt õppima hakata, ning et„ ladina kiri teeb pärismaalastele Euroopa keelte õppimise kergemaks ”.