The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-01-12
FREE SCHOOLS.

should occupy the attention of the
Board of Education. 1t is one which
is distasteful to many of the commits
sioners from two causes. The first,
the conservative one of leaving things
alone; there have been pay schools,
the law allows them, and why should
not they continue. The other is be-
cause, having children of their own,
they desire class distinction.
OF course the first objection is the
constant objection brought forward by
conservatism against all progress. At
one period of the school system on
these Islands there used to be a fee
of five dollars year charged for ev-
cry child attending an English school.
Exactly upon what theory this bril-
liant piece of legislation had been
evolved, the writer has never been able
to find out, but it is believed to have
been based upon the idea that wlRtt
people get for nothing they do not APP
preciate. Seeing that every one had
to pay school tax, that theory does not
seem very tenable. 1t might have
been put, what people pay for twice
they appreciate twice as much.
However, be the theory what it
might, it was found at last to be>un-
tenable, and was swept into the limbo
of a memory. The condition of affairs
was this: If you liked to have an ed
ucation in Hawaiian, you got it free;
if you wanted your children taught
English, and such English they did
teach them, in many eases, poor things,
you had to pay five dollars year for
each child. When the Portuguese
came here in large numbers, their
children were by law forced to go to
school. 1t was no use for them to 20
to the native schools, they had to go
to the English schools. but at the Eng
lish schools they had to pay, and they
were entitled to free education. So
after some struggle, the children Of
Portuguese contract Iaborers attended
English schools free, but no others. 1t
was not till after 1883 that the fee
system was abolished, and all schools
made free, save one or two.
Now the idea and contention of The
Star is that all government schools
should be free. If pay schools are
desired it is very evident what the OBJ
ject is; it is to keep out certain chill
dren whose parents are unable 10 pay.
But in the eyes of the State the child
of the most poverty stricken tramp is
as valuable as the child of the rich
est banker, as in the eyes of pure law
both tramp and banker are equal, or
according to pure religion their souls
are equal. The state has no right to
say | will provide one kind of educa-
ton for you who can pay, and anoth-
er for you who can't. The State can
only say ] will provide an education
for all my children, be they poor or
country are provided by the State, all |
can use Them, rich or poor. rhe rain
road of learning should be the same. |
If the rich man does not wish to jostle |
with the crowd, he can buy carriage
and span of horses and can drive in
solitary grandeur. But he has to buy !,
State does not supply him. so if he
wishes his children to drive along the |
highway of learning, apart from lie
common herd, he can buy the carriage,
an Independent school, and no oi,e VIII
object how high he pays his teachers,
or how excellent they may be, but he
has no business to ask the State to
supply him with this exclusive carri- |
age of learning. He has no business
to pay part and get the State to pay |
"A part. Yet that is what is done here |
with the pay schools The position is
anomalous, and all the sophislicatlon
of eXpediency which is thrown around
il, will never make it other than ano-
malous. Like many another anomaly |
this may be able to withstand attacks
for time, but the eventual result VIII |
be the same, sooner or later the gov
eminent pay school, established TO
make "A privileged class Of those
whose parents can pay nifty cents ii
week, will be abolished, and we shall
have true free school system, which,
at the present time, we do not really
possess.