The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1860-07-19
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
lily Is.

this pap=r, has doubtless been read ~ most O.:
our readers, though extremely lengthy. With
all that i saii By the President Of the Board We
DO not agree, but his remarks on the subject Of
teaching the English language 70 the Hawaiian
race ara very appropriate, and emb5dy the expe-
rience Of thg=e who have devoted moss time and
attention 70 the subject. Yet the report fails 10
satisfy the i5iJ=vncatic reasoning Of the govern
ment editor, who would shut up every Hawaiian
school and send half the children Of the land
adritt, that the experiment Of teaching them the
English language might Be proved 70 his indiyid-
ual satisfaction a failure. His reasoning Is 50 abb
surd that no intelligent person can seriously en-
terrain rhe propositions.
When an individual proves himself TO Be inca
pable Of c9mprshsnding the plain, practical in
terssts Of life, and By inep: speculations, actually
does % death, every business enterprise with
which By any chance he becomes identified. it Is
not surprising that men Of ordinary good sense
give little heed 70 his utterances upon any sub
Jet which demands spacious and manly action,
rather than windy platitudes.
Nevertheless, since it i proposed hy the gov
eminent paper 70 rob the nation Of it, vernacular,
and since moreover the language i Persistently
held up a a nuisance. always and everywhere 10
Be abated. one can but feel curious to know what
grounds. if any, there may be for assuming a
position - extraordinary a. this.
We are told Substantially that all public in
structiOn in Hawaiian should be relinquished
that the entire school tax, with whatever addi-
tional aid the government may be able u furnish,
should De applied for the opening and support Of
English schools and all the children who cannot
be accommodated in such English schools az it
may suit the purposes and ability Of the govern
ment 70 open, should be remorSele>sly consigned
to the limbo Of Ignorance and vice.
Now the modety Of the proposition. consider
ing its origin, Is truly refreshing and whatever
its faults may be, none will doubt that il Is sufi-
GENTLY definite in its expression. It's author fig
ures out the entire pecuniary bearings Of the
question most satisfactorily-to himself. To
others, his skill in fnanciering Is quite equal TO
that exhibited in his reasoning, whilst as a polit-
zeal economist, his genius, it must be acknowl-
edged, fairly outdoes itself. The financial phase
of the subject need not here be enlarged on, the
report of the President Of the Board Of Educa-
ton having shelyed that as a simple impractical
bility, both present and prospective.
But. looking at the subject in its other aspects,
We would fam understand why it is proposed to
deny the Hawaiian people quiet possession of It's
own language? OF what crime have they been
guilty that they should have thus wrested from
them the right of speech and thought in their
own mother tongue? Oh, none st all but then
the native Is 50 insuferably barbarous a dialect.
Very good. And the people "a miserable scum
Of creation. Such Is the reasoning Of the gov
eminent editor and philanthropist, who " takes
the responsibility" and would even wrench from
the poor Hawaiian his barbarous tongue and
plunge him instanter into the OVERLOOKING ocean
of English civilization and thought, just as we
may suppose the cultivated Chinese might desire
20 do with the barbarians of Hongkong and other
English speakers in the fowery land. And why
not? Can it be denied that the English Is bar
barous to the ears Of the uninitiated? or that the
acquisition Of that most mellifuous Of tongues
the Chinese-would open UP to the world incon-
precious stores Of wisdom-the accumu-
Of indefinite miIleniums before the creation?
So the CeIestials are fully persuaded.
IL Is indeed true that the English contains vast
stores of learning in every department Of human
research yet 1t has never been demonstrated.
even BY our astute reformer Of the government
that the mere putting a STRIPPING into his
grandfather's wig and breeches would necessarily
make of said stripping a wise OF a venerable man.
II ~ AL r-Nn lLt-l - aLfANrAT W l-HAA ~
our obtuseness 10 the claims be labori-
ously puts forth, asa political and social solomon
Simply as a matter Of convenience, however,
to himself. We would modestly recommend that
he make his first reformatory experiment upon
friends Of the d. Emerald Isle" Ii strikes Ne
they would afford a subject vastly more
fitting for initial demonstration Wire out the
5arbarous jargon Of the =. Irishers', Leave not
d. -. go - 81 - ~, - -s.v Of -LTs
newly discovered process shall not have been
made to swear BY blessed 81. Patrick and drink
whisky. in his native brogue' Flood that
gem of the ocean with the treasures Carnered
n the noble English. and show to the world. on
= scale - grand a. this, how easy and efscjual
is this concise method Of human culture, This
accomplished, Hawaii nei may hopefully come in
for a benefit.
Seriously though, 1t i not a little singular
hat our would-be reformer, in filing out bis
should have left the Hawaiian peo-
pie themselves out Is it that. in his lordly
view, they are mere serfs, chattels, things, having
no rights and no preferences Of their own to be
Or would he have it supposed that
the people desire TO be revOlutionized and re-
modelled after the foreign ideal? The supposition
this people desire anything Of the sort is
ABSURD as al know VINO nave any real acqualhl-
lnce with them. They cleave 10 their own ways
md their own language. The former will, in
he course Of events, naturally yield. 10 some
xtent, TO better ways. whilst the latter viii
xpand and refine 10 suit their growing necessi-
and just a. rapidly too a. their necessities
.emand-precisely as all languages are known to
%. The strait jacket. with its murderous whale
one, tight lacings and other e~tceteras for tor
uring naturally beautiful forms into p~ipe-stem {
7aists and contracted chests, which g foreign !
par eIoeHenoe prescribes for its female :