THE BATTLES OVER LANGUAGE

News that language police have returned with a vengeance in the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec should serve as a wake-up call for citizens north and south of the world's longest undefended border. Quebec's English-speaking minority was rattled last fall when separatists won 49.5 percent of the vote for their referendum to split from Canada. Vowing to try again in two or three years, the separatists are creating uncertainty that is harming Quebec's economy.

The language police are inspired by hardliners in Premier Lucien Bouchard's government. They claim English is making "dangerous inroads" in Montreal. The government finally acceded, establishing the Commission for the Protection of the French Language.

In its heyday, the agency deployed inspectors armed with tape measures to check whether commercial signs met a requirement that French lettering be twice as big as English.

Such ridiculous goings-on, straight out of a satirical novel, should serve as inspiration for passage of the English as the official language bill long championed by the late Rep. Bill Emerson. House passage came the week before last; Senate passage should follow swiftly. President Clinton should get a chance, either to veto (as he has pledged), or to sign this highly popular bill.