The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-07-23
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
JULY %

OOLN61r
freedom of our remarks, so far as they relate to
that institution. Our subject of discussion, in
the paper referred to, it will be borne in mind,
was not merely Oahu College, but Education
generally. The following points were advanced
in that paper:
LIST. That there does not exist in Honolulu a
school of any description for boys over ten years,
except for natives.
I'd. That the cause of this state of things is the
unfortunate manner in which the head of the
Department of Public Instruction, as the ac-
knowledged guardian of educational affairs, and
the Board of Trustees, had gone to work to create
a College, by first demolishing or disseminating
the only preparatory school existing, that the
former alone might have a free scope.
Sd. That the mode of ejecting the former tried
Principal of the Punahou School, was deserving
of public apprehension.
If the Oahu College stands on such slippery
ground that the subject of education, in connec-
ton with It's rise, progress and utility, cannot be
discussed without bringing harm to it, it should
be known now. But if it is to become a national
institutlon-if it is to look to- the public at large
for that patronage and support which it seeks
it must be open to public inspection, criticism,
animadversion, or approval, as its merits or de-
merits may call for. But we are confident that
nothing in the discussion that has thus far been
elected or this subject, can work anything but
good TO the cause Of education, though it will
show to the Board of Trustees, and especially to
the head of the school department, that the pub
lie have a voice in the matter, which must not be
unheeded.
The great want now felt. and which originated
the present discussion, is that of primary or ele-
mentary education and whether the College
goes on or not, this deficiency must be supplied.
1t is a matter of as great Importance as that of
the College itself, although this view OF it appears
not to have been taken by the Board of Trustees,
or the Superintendent of Public Schools, who are
responsible for the deficiency now felt. On this
point, the following extracts from a recent adj
dress of DIR. James Richards, before the Elm
Park Institute, of Litchfield, Conn, are appro-
pirate and timely
SIN a thorough education, there is much which is
preliminary. No superstructure should be attempted
till the foundation is laid broad and firm. The cor
ner-stone upon which the whole framework of society
rests, is primary education. Neither the wisest pro-
visions of Legislators, nor the wholesome restraints
imposed by statute laws, are of any avail till the
schoolmaster has taught the people to comprehend
and appreciate the one and maintain the other"
The communication of Mr.. S. n. Castle, pub
lished two weeks since, and that of Mr.. Alexan-
der, in our last issue, may both be considered as
official statements, and so far as they refer to the
anticipated benefits to be derived from the estab-
Iishment of the Oahu College, will meet the
hearty approval of every person who reads them.
II is not the rdkue of the institution that is ques-
toned, that all concede. There is not a man in
this community, with a mind 50 illiberal as TO
breathe any other wish than a God-speed to the
effort to raise up a truly National Institution at
Punahou. But the cause Of complaint lies in the
manner in which the work of GREETING a College
is begun, betraying a want of judgment, on
the part of its managers, and an inclination
to favoritism, which strikes at the founda-
ton Of that educational harmony and union
so desirable in a community composed as is
ours. Why our community has been It
schooHess, the above correspondents give a very
unsatisfactory solution, if any, and we are left to
infer, as before, that it was to subserve the one
paramount idea of a College which was to swal-
low up and override every preparatory institu-
ton, by making the elementary branches a : de-
partment of the College" This we understand
to be the only assignable reason why our commu-
nifty are without a school, and likely to remain
so for q twelve-month, if not longer.
And now, while on this subject of the College,
we may add a suggestion or two. First, that the
Board of Trustees of the College, which consists
OF twelve persons, should number among it at
least six laymen, instead of but two, as at pres
ent. This change is called for, not from any
want of confidence in the c~lergymen who consti-
tute the board at present, but from the fact that
1Lox- 49, 80 s, oJo,toJ 70 ,.J-4lo II -
on, to a successful issue, any new enterprise
requiring patient and long-continued corpora
ton on the part of a benevolent public here and
abroad. We do not undervalue the dignity of
the clergy in their proper sphere; but in a COM
munity like ours, and for such a work as the
creation of a College, no small degree of the sue
cess of the enterprise depends upon the manner in
which it is conducted, and none are SO capable of
giving satisfaction TO all as laymen.. Had only
the same proportion of laymen constituted the
Board of Trustees of the Sailors Home, the laying
of its cornerstone would be yet in future.
The other suggestion relates to its name. Why
not call things by their right names? To call
the institution a College, is absurd. 1t will not
I'll the place of a College for the next twenty
years, and the only position it can fill is thatSf
2 CoHegia'e Institute, which is the proper name
it should have received in the first place. The
graduates from it will, for twenty years hence, if
they have the ability, finish their course at Yale
or elsewhere, and it will but work injury to the
institution to call it more than it really is. The
charter, we believe, calls it 81 Oahu College and
Punahou School, which name will probably be
changed, and it might as well be altered to Col
legiate Institute as any other. The idea, which
has been suggested, that no endowment could be
raised for it unless called a College, is absurd, as
any chartered seminary Of learning can procure
an endowment as readily as a Col eye.
Since the fore .oing was prepared for the press,
we have received a curious communication,
signed 81 Magister, which we insert in another
n....a- -aLro.rS - add:4;oaaI