The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-05-03
INSPECTION.

The inspection of public institu-
tions by committees of Legislative
bodies amounts to very little actual
information as to the every day con-
duct of the institutions in question.
1t practically amounts to this, that
on a given day. of which notice is fur
nished before hand, the institution is
swept up and put into the pink of I'll
diness. The inmates get out their
best holiday attire. the children have
their faces scrubbed clean, a few dec
orations of flowers and ferns are put
up and the place is made to look as
unlike what it does on ordinary days
as it is possible to make it. The
muck heaps are carefully covered over
and a general air of festivity is cast
over all.
OF course a visit. even under such
circumstances, furnishes the members
- of committee with some pieces of
information which are valuable, and
free and unrestrained intercourse be-
tween those detained in the public in
stitution and those who visit it allows
of the ventilation of grievances and
their investigation, which are I'M
doubtedly advantageous. But the gen.
eral impression conveyed is, after all,
an erroneous one in a great measure.
4 1s,,,,
normal life of the inmates. they only
see deliberately prepared abnormal
one.
AS well might one judge of the or
binary family life of set of people,
by gauging them according to their
efforts in giving a grand dinner party.
Entertainments of this kind serve to
very little purpose in guiding one to
an intimate knowledge of of the CIV
ers. If one wants to know people, one
learns of them by dropping in at odd
times, and not on the "gawdy days"
only. 1t is all = very well to see
Madame in her grand silks and satins,
and Miss in her dainty muslin. But
how does Mamma look when she
comes to breakfast? Is she in a dir
ty wrapper and are her stockings full
of holes? Is Miss clad in ragged and
frowsy garments, and are her slippers
down at heel? Or are both comfort
able and cool looking neat but unos-
tentatous. The food may be plain,
but it can be as well served as on the
great occasion. This is the guide to
peoples character, and it is very much
the same with public institutions. To
form a true idea of their value they
should be seen at breakfast as it were.
Circumstances are such that it is al
most impossible for Legislative com
mittees or other committees who have
the supervision of public institutions
from seeing them under any other cir
cumstances than those of the ''gawdy
day" Take the case of the visit to
the Mololiai settlement. Notice is duly
sent up and preparations for reception
are made, and the occasion becomes
red letter day in the calendar of the
settlement.
1t would be far more satisfactory
for a committee TO arrive there some
morning without warning, to go
through the settlement and study its
ordinary daily life, to watch what are
the daily tasks, to see the ordinary
daily transactions at the store, to
learn whether the routine in certain
establishments is carried out to the
letter or whether it is merely on pa
per- in short to gain a complete and
thorough knowledge of the institu-
ton in its working clothes and not
in its holiday attire.
The difficulty of reaching the Is
land, old customs and presidents, the
small amount of time that can be de-
voted to such matters, all preclude
the carrying out of the idea as sug-
gested, but there can be no doubt that
were it possible, it is the only way OF
obtaining satisfactory results from
the money and the time expended.