The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1860-02-16
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
Female EsducaIiou.-No. 3.
War cas- BE DONE TO ELEVATE THE Social coxpr-
IIoS oE HAWAIIAN FEMALES:


ton Is called upon, or permitted, 10 work O.: :he
whole problem Of civilization for another, as Is now
being done on HIwaiIIu coil. Those who are q: tbs
work. ind themselves in much the same PerpleKi;y
that-Ege might have been, when, having seen .nly
the full grown man, Adam, she vas called upon to
administer 20 the infant, Cain.
Christianity. manual labor, and books, are the
chief elements Of civilization, or generally admitted
~ such; but there is not 4 unanimity Of opinion as Il
which stands first in the order Of time, or Importance
In Hawaiian experience, we think il is true, that
Christlsnity-"cease 70 do evil, - Is the alpha and
labor. .'Iearn to do weiI'-the Beta" Of their pre-
sent condition Books have contributed largely to
what ad7ancenent has been made. but not in proper
tiou 70 the time and money expended upon them.
There is a class Of Hawaiians, now in the decline Of
life, whose book education is confined mainly to the
Bible, and a few elementary school books. In their
youth, no other were at their command But in
sturdy manliness Of character, in reliability, and
philanthropy. they are not behind the mass Of those
more e1pepsively educated. These remarks apply to
both sexes. The education Of circumstances, and
long lives Of patient labor, have brought them into
the first rank OF Hawaiian prosperity and civilization.
The common school system Of New England IS
doubtless her glory, the glory Of adapfedaess. In
these schools books are taught, exclusively, while a
stringent course Of training in labor, IS safely left TO
domestic influence This latter trimming Is almost en-
tirely hacking in Hawaiian education, and therefore
it i, that we are driven to the conclusion that books
without work, do less for Hawaiian youth, especially
for girls. than work without books And therefore IL
seems important that . rectifed standard should be
applied to our systeusSs education-tha the estate
should 10 what can te done to make up for the def
cheney Of domestic training. Some Of the old couu-
tries Of Europe have not got beyond legislating for q
stringent physical training Of all its male subjects.
Let not this be thought a great educational heresy.
IL may be that IN the year One thousand more or less,
Of a nations civilization, books are the mainly nc
knGwIeiged sources Of youthful discipline-so much
50, that the word Education means .'boOk knowl-
edge to most minds. But it does not therefore fol-
low that in the year One, or Forty, Of that, or an
other nation's civilization, this same order, and pre-
dominance Of books, should obtain.
In the present. state Of Hawaiian Development, it
seems demanded that this order be reversed-that
manual labor assume the Importance which books
have acquired in old educational systems
To substitute hbOr for Ooks in our district schools,
would be difficult. especially in respect to the girls,
for these schools are taught by men, and such labor
rs is now occasionally performed by the schools. is
siIpted to men and boys
Shall we not then have Girls Boarding Schools,
BY all means, as many and as soon as possible
Boarding Schools, because girls must eat, but Board
ing Schools especially adapted to Hawaii las it is"
without the slightest regard to foreign standards, or
to the narrow notions which recognize but one type
Of civilization under the whole heaven. There is hut
one Institution adapted to universal man is,
Christianity. Civilization changes with every year Of
the WORLDS age, and every degree Of the suns declina-
ton
As has been intinated, our most reliable Hawaiian
women are among our hardest workers. Wehave as
yet no higher class than those vino wash and iron,
gather puIu, ''mahiai acre. dig srrowroot, sc.
And shall not labor, next TO godliness, be the promi-
nent feature of our Boarding Schools for girls F.;
Could they be selfsupporting it would be a crown of
glory to them. This is impossible, but it is not i'm
possible to giveIabor the prominence that it has obtain
ell in some of our best Boarding Schools for boys. In
these, the work of sturdy and thriving men, is under
taken, and performed with efficiency and regularity,
for several consecutive years. and we believe it is this
discipline, more than that of books, which goes down
to the deep-sea-soundings of Hawaiian immObility
The labor thus performed has also the merit of being
just the kind most available in future years This
is a point to be kept steadily in view in all our edu-
cational plans for Hawaiian girls. Even in enlight-
ened New England, Female Boarding Schools are re-
gariei with a slight distrust, as embOdying the pos
sibility of uniting its pupils for the stern life Of Ia
Dor to which many of them must return. "If they
do these things IN a green tree. what shall be done in
the dry -"
A query has been raised whether Hawaiian girls
should be AIKEN TO the seaports for education. 1t
may he an evil TO take them there. but n much graver
one would be, to entrust them with an education
which should be of little practical avail, except in q
seaport. Both moral and legal suasion- have been
used, to prevent young women from congregating in
the injected towns, but IL they are to make their
homes in the country, their education should be pro-
secuted with this end constantly in view. We hope, of
course, that their improved tastes, and increased self
would be available always aud everywhere,
s;ll without care. it may happen, that their kuowl-
Of work may be of foreign rather than Of native
and thus fit them only for servants places, in
localities
AL Hawaiian women are ranged under two heads,
the oilers AMI the mauua! laborcrs- There is no ele-
waited and influential class. who support themselves
by brain pOuer. II cannot be regarded then as IN
blessing. that in our Female Boarding
Schools there Is no kappa to pound. no mats to braid.
10 coffee to pick and clean. no sugar-cane to weed,
no kaIo to cultivate and bake. for to all this the pupils
must come back in time, or 10 infinitely worse.
Besides, these free out Of door e~mplOyments, can
not be suddenly abandoned by Hawaiian girls with
'ut great loss Of physical power. The wild bird on
The mountain does no more surely pine away in his
silded cage. than does a blithe and free native girl,
hedged in by all the requirements Of a foreign civil
Our system Of Boarding School training should not
be rigdly adapted 10 probable contingencies, but
the age Of admission TO the course, should receive
areful attention. The earlier the better. undOusted-
., Il We look at the question in some Of its aspects
5nIy. II a girl enters a Boarding School at the age
SIX or eight years, she is u hardly prepared TO learn
{ until she has more than doubled them With a
r ITurTraT uuorsur - Of command IL ruarI
Itmit % a question whether il IS more economical to
oestoT eight years Of labor on one girl or two years
u the same, on four. One would suppose that a
.oung woman who had spent SIX or eight wears in