cat.sh issue

[Matt]

Configuration Information [Automatically generated, do not change]:
Machine: i686
OS: linux-gnu
Compiler: i686-pc-linux-gnu-gcc
Compilation CFLAGS:  -DPROGRAM='bash' -DCONF_HOSTTYPE='i686' 
-DCONF_OSTYPE='linux-gnu' -DCONF_MACHTYPE='i686-pc-linux-gnu' 
-DCONF_VENDOR='pc' -DLOCALEDIR='/usr/share/locale' -DPACKAGE='bash' -DSHELL 
-DHAVE_CONFIG_H   -I.  -I. -I./include -I./lib  
-DDEFAULT_PATH_VALUE='/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin'
 -DSTANDARD_UTILS_PATH='/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin' 
-DSYS_BASHRC='/etc/bash/bashrc' -DSYS_BASH_LOGOUT='/etc/bash/bash_logout' 
-DNON_INTERACTIVE_LOGIN_SHELLS -DSSH_SOURCE_BASHRC -march=pentium4 -O2 -pipe
uname output: Linux ice.filescope.com 2.6.25.10 #5 PREEMPT Thu Nov 27 16:10:07 
EST 2008 i686 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1400MHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
Machine Type: i686-pc-linux-gnu

Bash Version: 4.0
Patch Level: 10
Release Status: release

Description:

This is a combination bug report and a question.

The bug is in the examples/scripts/cat.sh demo script. There are cases where 
the script will break.

The culprit line is:
        echo "$REPLY"
It should instead be:
        printf %s\\n "$REPLY"

In the current state of the script, lines like "-n" or "-ennnn" won't get 
printed.

The question I have is why couldn't echo have a -- flag? Is it for POSIX or 
some other kind of compatibility reasons? Is there any easier way to accomplish 
what I want other than printf %s\\n "$var"?

--Matt