The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-02-24
GENERALIZATION.


ting power into the hands of the Min
listers, we should legislate it into the
hands of the citizens. The result of
such policy, which has been the leg
acy of wears, is that when we want
anything done, our natural tendency
is to say why does not the govern
ment do this, why does it not do that
In this way the district school boards
whose powers were defined by the
act of 1870 have disappeared. These
school boards were to consist of the
school agent, the district justice and
one member elected by ballot and cho-
sen by the parents and guardians of
the pupils attending the district
schools. In the new act which went
into operation two years ago there is
no word of district school boards, and
as a fact they had been allowed to
quietly die out. The last election held,
if memory serves, was in Waimea, Ha-
wall, in 1889 or 1890. Now everything
is centralized in Honolulu
Another piece of Capitalization is
the proposed doing away with school
agents. Though the school agents
were appointed from Honolulu, they
had, per force, to be residents of the
districts-and thus, through the ag
ent, and people of each district had
an opportunity of speaking. The ag
ent understands the district thorough
ly and is acquainted with the bulk of
the people in it. NOW a man, appoint
ed direct from the Board, is not like
ly to get into touch with the people
of his section. Travelling round as he
will be, he may become acquainted
with the more prominent people of his
section, but he will never know the
mass of the population as an old res
ident does.
1t should be borne in mind that the
commissioners of education are all
residents of Honolulu, and that if the
agents are removed, the only link be-
tween the residents of the districts
and themselves will be broken. The
revival of district school boards with
the justice eX-oflicio and two elected
members, might be a good thing 1t
would give the parents a voice in the,
school affairs which they do not pos
sess now, and which they decidedly
ought to possess.
81 Z;
is the disappearance of the elective
road board. We have road boards now
but the members are all appointed by
the Minister of the Interior, and now
another bill is introduced into the
House of Representatives from the
government to add other powers to
these appointees of the Minister. If
the bill were to put powers into the
hands of others than the Ministerial
appointees, there might be something
in it, but to expect the ministerial ap-
pointees to censure themselves is ri
diculous.
Another instance of how the Minis
terial mind runs after Capitalization
is bill which the Attorney General
brought in to regulate or to prevent
the establishment of Objectionable
lodging house in certain localities. The
bill is good one, it is a necessary
one, but the only way in which the
Attorney General could meet the diff
Guilty was to give the Minister of the
Interior discretionary powers to for
bid the opening or erection of such
houses, should he see fit to do so.
Yet the proper idea is not to throw
power into the hands of the Minister,
but to throw responsibility upon the
citizens. The aim of the government
should be to interest the citizen as
much as possible in his local affairs.
In this case let such denial for cree
ton or opening of Objectionable hous-
es be upon the petition of certain
number of resident tax paying citi-
zens, within a certain radius. If the
petition goes in the Minister of the
Interior must refuse to license. This
is the system in use in many parts of
the world, and should obtain here.
What does the Minister know about
some locality in Hawaii or Maui be-
ing objectionable? He can only de-
pend upon the report of perhaps the
deputy sheriff or some government Of
fetal. But if the right of petition is
given to the citizens, then theirs is
the responsibility and it is to be sup
posed that they know what they are
about.