The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-03-21
IRE VERY UNRELIABLE
EDUCATIONAL REPORTS ARE
VALUELESS.
Strange Inconsistencies in the Figures
Discovered by Captain Gardner-Not
Meant to be Taken Seriously

OF course the official reports and the
school statistics of Porto Rico are not
absolutely valueless to the investlga-
tor, says Captain A. p. Gardner, in the
Forum, but on the whole one will de-
rive less information from them than
amusement at the vagaries of official
arithemetic. Columns do not balance,
figures do not tally, totals are inco1-
rectly added and data not only fail to
agree, but are often absurd on their
face. 1t is useless to try to straightcn
these things out. If an explanation is
asked from any official, he smiles, and
changes the subject and leaves you
with the impression that figures are
not meant for mankind to take serious
ly at all.
The trouble with the school census Is
not in the system but in the execution.
The blanks which are sent for the tea
cheers to fill out are comprehensive and
intelligent, but they frequently ret 10
farther than the teachers substitute
for waste basket. From some of the
larger places, however, school returns
are eXacted This is regarded as an
other instance of the annoyance of the
Spanish tyranny; and 1t is only at the
very latest moment that the govern
fnent demand is complied with. In one
city | examined file of papers for the
year 1897, and found among them a
succession of kilograms from the Gu-
thoritieS requiring an immediate rem
dering of the figures for the previous
year. | asked the mayor If the figures
were sent on receipt of the kilograms.
He smiled and said, Yes, figures were
sent. Significantly leaving out the
word the" and accenting figures"
In another city l asked the mayors
secretary to show me the record Of
school attendance for 1897, but he very
gravely answered that the teachers
had not yet returned the blanks. on
my suggesting that the statement for
1895 would answer my purpose just as
well, l was told that the returns for
that year were not yet available eth
err. AS last resort I asked to see the
record compiled for the last decennial
census, that of 1887, but the secretary
shrugged his shoulders, and implied
that / was unreasonable.
l found that most of the mayors had
no idea that census OF the whole is
land had ever been taken. Neverthe-
less, what purported to be such an
enumeration was taken in 1887, and in
back numbers of the official gazette l
found portions of it.
AS ] never succeeded in seeing a copy
of the whole compilation for that year,
l cannot give with absolute certainty
the statistics of illiteracy which it con-
tanned. But / read in an official PAM
phlet whose accuracy l have no rea-
son to doubt, that the census Of 1887
showed a population of $685. 70S. of
whom Ill, $3.50, or less than Ia per cent
could either read or write In a rati-
fication of the census for 1888, however,
which I found in the Official Gazette,
statistics of illiteracy are given that
reveal a gross blunder somewhere Ac-
cording to the returns for that year,
23S, 294, or more than twice as many in
habitants as four years later could
either rear or write; tile logical deduc-
ton from which would be the absurd
proposition that during the interim
$4,000 people in the island had lost the
ability to do so.
All the census figures are nearly
valueless, as they are founded on the
statements of the heads of families,
and heads of families in Porto Rico
leave something to be desired. in the
way of accuracy.