The evening times., 1899-11-14
THE WORK OF EDUCATION.
COmmixsiOner Harris submits an In
terestfng Annual Report.

sioner of EducatiSn. has submitted his an
nual report for the year ended June 80
1899. to the Secretary Of the Interior,
Amcng other things. Mr.. Harris says:
1T was sougce Of congratulation to
those interested p education. on summa-
rizirg the return& for. lSs7-'s to find that
schools (thOse supported by public taxa
tion) exceeded the enrolment Of the pre-
vious year by the large sum Of $50. SAL
The grand total in all schools, elementary.
secondary. and higher, public and private,
for the year was 1851 SAB. This, COM
pared with the aggregate for the year
1896-'97. shows an increase OF 432, $50.
"The total amount of schooling received
per individual on an average for the whole
United States. on the basis of the returns
for 1898. Is five years of two hundred days
each Some States average nearly seven
years schooling for their inhabitants. and
some States fall as low as two and half
years.
I'm this connection 1t is gratifying to be
able to report an increase of attendance
on colleges and universities of nearly 1000.
This proves that the slight decrease re-
ported In 1897 was temporary falling on.
due to the widespread business depression
of the previous years. The increase Of that
portion of the students Of colleges and
universities taking postgraduate work
shows that the people are feeling the ne
cessity OF special studies in scientific and
professional lines
During the year their have been main
tanned in Alaska nineteen public schools
under the immediate supervision of this
bureau. with twenty-five teachers and an
enrolment Of 1878 pupils. In addition to
supporting the above public schools, this
office pays the salaries Of five teachers in
l.L Cts1r. Id Ill 0-I III
enrolment Of 153. Although the entire
number enrolled is 1873, this by no means
indicates the actual average in atten-
| dance"
The report urges that the appropriation
of $4,000 a year for schools in Alaska be
increased to $60, 900 because Of the increased
population. owing to the influx of miners
THE present status of the educational
system of Hawaii the report continues,
lis all that can be desired and need not
concern the General Government except to
| preserve the present educational efficiency
in those islands. The total population is
placed. in 1896. at 1Oe, ,O2O people; of these.
the total number of pupils enrolled in
school was 14.522. the same being little
| more than IA persons in each 100 OF the
population. OF these pupils, 10,56S were
attending the public schools of the islands
| and 1858 private schools.
| 1T is interesting to note that nearly 81
per cent Of the pupils attending the schools
are native Hawaiians; IL per cent part Ha-
waiians; only per cent of American pa
rentage, and per. cent of British;
more than 26 per cent are Of Portuguese
parentage; Of Chinese. per cent; Japanese.
4 per cent, and German, 2 per cent. These
schools have been for some time in success
! full operation and many pupils have passed
! through the lower grades and reached the
I high school course; 1853 boys and 72 girls,
making 235 In all, are enrolled in studies
1 which belong TO the twelfth years school
work.
With regard TO the Spanish colonies and
protectorates the policy of active encour-
agement OF education suggests itself. 1t is
assumed that when the Government of the
United States acquires additional terrific
rieS that il desires TO assimilate their pop
ulations and make them capable of self
government with as much expedition as is
feasible. With revenues in the hands Of
fiscal agents appointed by the United
States il will be easy to collect and apply
a suffciency of school funds to make it pos
sible TO provide for good buildings, efficient
supervision, and an excellent corps of
teachers.
IF Congress finds il desirable to aid the
education in these colonies by appropria-
furnish supervisors in sufficient numbers
TO make possible weekly visits 10 each of
the schools in operation. Further than
this it may provide corps OF Spanish
English teachers, teachers whose native
tongue is English, but who are familiar
with the Spanish. These teachers may be
itinerant, visiting each school once per
week. They must be numerous enough TO
form from to 10 per cent of the entire
corpse of teachers. II is all important that
in the reorganization of the schools in
Spanish countries we do not attempt too
much in the way OF introducing the English
language All of the daily lessons except
one should be given in Spanish. The one
exception should be lesson in reading ele-
mentary English.
According to the report of the Univer-
sity of Cuba for 1SSS-S9, there were l 046
students enrolled. In 1892 there were
10S3. In schools like the American high
school in 1892 there were enrolled l.S53
students in Havana. 1896 in Matanzas. 33l
in Santa Clara l69 in Puerto Principe. 145
in Pinar del Rio, and 255 in Santiago.
The population of this epoch was I.425.77l
in 1894. In the elementary schools there
were 1882 girls and 14.461 boys. beside
25.3 33S pupils in private schools, and II. $50
colored pupils in schools set apart for
them.
The latest statistics OF the elementary
schools of Porto Rico give. for 1898. a.
936 as the number enrolled for the year.
In the northern district there were 9942
boys and 6,457 girls. In the southern dis
trict there were 9.132 boys and 4,207 girls
The same statistics report 125, ,695 children
of school age (six to eighteen years. pre-
sumably).
The population is reported in round
numbers at 500. 900 white and $4,000 col
cred making a total of $4,000 people. The
illiteracy is reported as S7.4 per cent of
the white population. and S6.S per cent of |
the colored-
1T seems that there are something Ike !
thirty languages and dialects spoken on |
the different islands composing the Phi ip- |
pine group. The visaya dialect leads with |
2,O24, 400 natives who speak it. The Ia |
gallo dialect is spoken by a little more |
than one-half as many natives, namely, |
1.216, sos. There are five other dialects |
which are spoken each by over 100000 ma
tives These are the Cebuano, Ilocano, vi
cal (BicoD, Pangasinan, Pampango.
In 1869 these seven peoples included |
nineteen -twentieths of the entire native
population. The Tagalos and the Visayas
are of the Malay race and were Christian
lied by Catholic missionaries in the six
teenth and seventeenth centuries. The
number of Christians In these two peoples T
together with those in the other tribes of
Indians amount, to lover 100000. The
total Spanish population aside from the
army, including those born in Spain and
also those born Of Spanish parents on the