The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1865-04-08
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.


NFrom various articles which have from time
10 time appeared in the journals Of Honolulu,
it would appear that the wish Is cherished
by some to discard altogether the v=rnacular
Of these Islands from the national schools, and
u substitute therefor tuition IN the English.
language - radical . change in the educa-
tforaI system Of the people Is this would in
volye. was. however, rather timidly advocated,
and until recently. found but few supporters.
But the H4caiiaq Gazette. a journal which i
the declared exponent Of the policy Of the
: Government, in its leading article of March
llth, arranges itself on the side Of the supporters
Of the pure English system, without, however,
protesting 70 advocate anything more than that
the desire Of the people themselves to acquire
the English language may be stimulated by
wise legislation" as it c~onfesses that any
more violent course would be both impractical
bic and unnaturaI'-a moderation Of style only,
it would seem, j. talking Of the suliect,-fOr
the policy intimated seems 10 be the application
Of rather severe - stimulants." We are told
that for the future, a knowledge Of the English
VIII be requisite TO qualify q native for the
position of an adviser Of his Sovereign Ga
Privy Councillor or a Minister), and that in
order to acquire capital or succeed in business,
az Z lawyer, a store-keeper, q farmer,-or in
fact, DO any business whatcver,-a knowledge
Of the English language viii be an absolute
necessity-almOst i SINE qua non Of the IIa-
waiian's existence on his own soil. If permitted
still 70 exist ignorant of that language, he
must retire with his vernacular 90 into the re-
mote valleys and unfrequented corners Of the
Stands" The &" native university (Lahainaluna
Seminary is to be tabued to all young natives
who have not already made some progress in
English, so as to be able to enter at once
upon its higher branches. From all which and
much more Of the same tenor, it may fairly
be gathered that the Ministry consider il a fore
gone conclusion that the Hawaiian language
Is sick unto death, and that the English is its
heir. now about to step into possession of the
property. e. the people. Put the article in
question in Hawaiian and print it in the Kuo-
Oa-ho hastily the natives will subscribe to
its pleasant facts and conclusions 4!
No one doubts for a moment that it is a good
thing for the Hawaiians 10 acquire the English
language-those who have the natural ability
and the means. The advantages are too patent
for argument. But is it wise, feasible, or
humane, to 60 about decreeing the wholesale
extinction Of the vernacular, or what is the
same thing. drive it " into the remote valleys
and unfrequented corners by treating it with
cold neglect and disfavor? Is the language
really 50 very poor that none can be found to
DO it honor? And who are these who tell US
SO fippantly that the sublime truths Of poetry,
philosophy and science, cannot be conveyed to
the Hawaiian in his own tongue? Is the writer
in the Gazette familiar with either the orthoepy
OF the meaning of the sixteen thousand Ha-
waiian words Il foreigner has been able to collect
during a ~desultOry search or can ne read and
understand the sublime book OF job in Hawaii
an? The language of to-day may indeed be
impoverished, but it is capable of being enriched,
and there is reason to believe that even now
it will compare f~avorably with the English of
that period when the Bible was translated by
the carly reformers. Language viii grow with
the Intellectual growth of = people, and rs new
thoughts, feelings and necessities arise, words
will be found or invented to express them.
The history of the English language itself is
Il remarkable illustration Of this. Any one
who will read Dean French on the study of
words Will be surprised to learn how very lately
the term " impoverished could be applied 10
the vaunted English in the same sense that it
is now applied to the Hawaiian. 1t IS quite
easy, and very fashionable, for those who lack
either the ability or the inclination to %inyesti-
gate the Hawaiian language, to decry it as
impoverished and impure, but let such remem-
Der that, in the words Of a welI-known writer
of our own times-"T To study a peoples Ian
guage viii be TO study them, and to study them
at best advantage, where they present themselves
70 US under fswest DISCUSSES, mos. nearly as
they are"
Were it openly declared and believed that the
Hawaiian race is doomed to speedy extinction,
there would be less reason for a desire to retain,
and foster, and improve their language. There
is no instance recorded in history where the
of q people has disappeared before
a new tongue introduced from abroad, in which
the people too have not with their language
been swallowed up out Of sight. The Danes
and the Normans, in turn, conquered England,
they could not conquer the language Of
the Saxons, and were compelled TO ADOPT it.
And let it be remembered that 4 spirit Of
nationality, without which n people must die,
Is almost wholly fostered and sustained by the
the associations and the ties Of a
common language. -
/
n D. r. IL. G. r-.r,:..o FL.