The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1866-10-20

were saltable We could add to that fact the
statement that at least. OF those very houses
not bad but that they in use as
houses OF worship by th- people of those districts
having been built III good part by them for that pur
pose with perhaps some assistance from the former
Board of Education, by arrangements entered into
for ecOnOmy's sake, and for the sake OF enll>tng
the interest of the people in education: and by
which arrangement. the houses to be used
both school houses. and houses OF worship.
Such were the houses at hahana. haaaWa. LaIe
kapauO. and Waalet These houses sold
the heads of the people without their assent
and nothing said about their share or ownership III
them. except in the case of the kahana house
where the people appealed to the Board of Educa-
ton. and were refunded u share Uf the price for
which the house had been sold Mr.. Mofftt
. and the writer i'll the G1zette need not be so
lavish of their insinuatOns that the Association.
and y. =" and various individuals. ''O,tgd
f. haze kl.OUcn'' thus and and ought To hare
siOHs. IT was because they did know. and had
inquired carefully, that they made those state
meuis. And this il proved by the very iact that
up To this day. notwithstanding the attempts
made to cast discredit their statements, not
of the facts stated has been di>proyed. On
the contrary. both in the Gdzstte'S article. and
Mr.. MoiIitts statement, after starting out with
flourish of trumptds about the utter want of truth
IN the statements of the Association. and OF N.
s. tie fIctS haze been quietly admitted. and their
answers nave simply resulted in series of eva
sions and palliaiiOns. Again state the fact,
that the changes made in the school HOUSES have
been detrimental To the education of the masses,
and not only 80. but oppressive and u!Ji5t 10 the
people OF those districts except IN one or two IN
stances. ANY one can satisfy himself oi this by
travelling through those districts and making can
did investigation. In only one Instance has the
plea been put in that there We're not children
enough in the district TO warrant the keeping up of
the school there That was 1T Wallace. Even
then. the very guarded language l. used =" there
less than eight children attending IT,.
That is not the point We're there less than eiyid.
or eUeJ less huH eighteen children resident III all
that district. far kahuku Point, VINO were OF
suitable age to attend school! That is the point
to which our remarks apply. Ii there WAS Il sui
icicnt number of children in that district To form
good school. how happened it that there were only
eight less in attendance! There must have been
reason for such a state OF things, Tor there
no lack of children III that district at the tlnle
that Mr. Motlitt took charge. We think We could
give the reason but forbear. il Is not ncces-
sary. Euough has been said on this point OF the
-, rTh. s-r,a nf the Report has
T't ,, mnt Laeir flock either died or ',i, sinsI
from the very mouths of then ~ ISL - a.
only minor point at best and even if ..,,r,tiv..I
futcd. would not in the least affect the truthi,..
the weight of the rest of that Report Nor, even
if it had been refuted as to one particular dis
trct would it have followed that 1t was not true of
other districts?
word as to the responsibility of the present
Board of Education i'll the premises. The old
Board of Education virtually ceased to exist in
1860: for its leading policy of action ceased in
that year with the death of the former President;
DIR. Armstrong. 4 change Of 1olIcy. a. Is well
known. commenced in 1851. At first. the steps
taken in iurtherance of that change slight.
though sufficient to show that the ruling influence
in the Board was of IL nature to cause much aPpre-
henson among the yigiant supporters of II sound
popular education. The old school law, however
was too much on the American plan of universe
education of the masses to suit the new policy and
rs successive steps were attempted toward change
during the interval from 1861 tp 1864. much
trouble was encountered in manipulating certain
high schools and legislative reports of the Board.
that the eliminating point was rapidly reached
The old school law abolished IN toto. and a
one drawn up and passed in such form as to
leave a clear field for the operations of the new
policy Then the Board of Education remodeled
and constituted of those who either had been
chiefly instrumental in drawing up the new school
law and getting it through the Legislature, or who
were committed To its support; aud the whole eX-
ecutive authority of that Board was placed absO- +.
lutelv in the hands of the bitcrest cucmy-and re-
viler of the former Board and its policy. The I
dcill nominal dppOiHtHeJtt of the present EOard /
NAV not date farther back than 1864 but its ruling
policV dates back to 1861 So far, therefore as /
that policy cropped out during the interim be-
tween those dates. far the Board may justly be .
said to be- responsible for those outcroppngs. /
especially since they not only do not disown them /
but by every word and act expressly sanction, and
seek to justify them.
In conclusion. we wish to say that we are not so I
much concerned about persons or theories as about
facts. Here s the stubborn fact staring us in the .
face that the cause Of common school education on i
these islands has. since 1861 been retrOgrading .
with constantly accelerated rapidity until matters
have come such pass that the friends of educa-
tinn and of this nation would be derclict in duty
if they failed to their solemn protest against
a policy destructive of national welfare that
which at present prevails III the educational coHn-
ellis of the realm y. =.