The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-05-23

Tar Board OF Education, OF Porto Rlc0, uh-
der General Davis, now in this country on
leave. called upon the Commissioners this
morning to convey the thanks Of his board
for the loan of school furniture made to
them some months ago by the District Mr.
Clark told Commissioner mcfarland, upon
whom he called, that the seats and desks
sent to the island by the District was the
first school furniture, outsi e OF soap box
es and plain pine benches, the Porto Ri
cans had ever seen. He said that the loan
Of the seats had been Of the greatest ben
eft to them. and had been the means OF
putting a considerable number Of school
houses in different parts Of the island II
comfortable condition. Mr.. Clark was sure
that the District could not have put its
discarded school fixtures to better use.
In conversation with Times reporter
Mr. Clark said that when he arrived in
Porto Rico he found neither school
houses nor school furniture Of any kind.
The idea of building a separate stru -ture
for educational purposes was foreign ole
to the mind Of the Porto Ricans. As a
consequence, the Beard was compelled to
rent private houses, and TO put in the
furniture sent by the District In this
way. he explained. thar they got along very
well, and were enabled 20 start the proper
educational work Of the new iEsulGr PCS
session. Mr.. Clark said the loan CT tle
District amounted to about 5000 desks o.
various kinds. He stated that the Quarter
master Of the Army provided transpOrta-
tion for the furniture and that il arrived
in Porto Rico ct small expense 10 the
Board. Mr. Clark SAID further that with
the facilities now in hand, and the aIpro-
priatiCn OF $500. 0OO annually from the rev.
enue OF the island the Board was able 10
provide instruction for about Is per cent Of
the children. He explained that a sum
equal to S1,500.C00 was need-d for he edu-
cational work Of the island, II all the chill
dreu of school age are to be taught and
in any sense educated for the responsible
duties Of citizenship in a Territory CT the
United States.
In speaking Of the progress Of education
in Porto Rico Mr.. Clark said that a good
school had been established in Ponce which
which was a graded school and would COM
pare favorably with a school Of similar
grade in the States. He said that the
Ponce school had now an enrolment Of
300 pupils. all that could be accommo-
dated, and that there was a list Of zoo
applicants waiting for admission. II Con-
gress would furnish the money. Mr. Clark
said that the work of educating the Porto
Ricans would progress -apiGly. for tsey
are apt to learn and take readily to the
! English language as well as to the vari-
the acquisition OF English by the children
in the island Mr.. Clark informed the re-
porter that in the schools presided over by
American teachers the pupils picked up
the English language and made as fast
progress in geography and arithmetic in
the language which they did not know as
others did in the same studies under ma
tive teachers
The reason for this WAS so Nj Clark
bot E,,,rzs Of
and discipline In the schools under Ameri-
! can teachers. He showed that the Spanish
teachers Of the island were lacking in the
| knowledge Of the methods of teaching
! Many OF them were educated. refined and
| intelligent. and when placed in contact
| with an American teacher for a little while
| very soon picked up our ways of teaching
and used them to good purpose. But with
/ out such association the native teacher was
/ in every way inferior to the imported one
| The great faults OF the native methods OF
| teaching. Mr.. Clark said. were almost to-
| tai lack Of discipline, regularity in attend
| ance. ara continuity CT study. The native
| teachers he said simply did not know
! how 70 keep their schools In order and
| their pupils AT work on their lessons.
The great drawback 10 the work OF ed
ucation in Porto Rico, Mr.. Clark thought
was that the revenues OF the island would
not be sufficient TO afford the money re-
quired to build school houses. TO hire the
necessary teachers. and pay current ex-
penses. If all the teachers Of the island
| were put to work at once, he said. that il
would be necessary to supplement them BY
| SEQ teachers imported from the States. ant
| these could be induced 10 go there only by
| the payment Of larger salaries than they
| received at home.
With reference TO the language to be
! used in the schools Mr.. Clark thought
! there was no difficulty An American
| teacher he said could 90 into a Porto
/ Rican school and pick up the Spanish pa
] tots spoken in the island as fast as her
/ pupils learned the English which she
/ spoke to them He thought the problem
would solve itself pretty much as it had
| in India under the English Government.
! that is. that the primary schools should
| be conducted in the vernacular and that
! secondary instruction should be in Eng
| lish.
! Mr.. Clark ventured the assertion that il
! the Foraker law had made il obligatory
! for the civil service examinations for DO
| litical Offices in the island to be in Eng
| lish it would have done more than any
! thing else TO hasten the use of the English
! language in Porto Rico
! Speaking generally regarding the peop'e
/ Of the island Mr.. Clark said there were
| three classes which must be taken into ae-
count in any estimate OF the population
There are the common people. who re-
| semble very closely the poor whites Of the
| Southern States. There are the politicians
/ who are the disturbing element Of the ISL
| and They do not represent any impor-
| tant interest, but are concentrated in the
| towns, and are bent on running things
| their own way, which is usually the wrong
way. They work only for their own selfish
| interests. and are most numerous in San
| Juan. Then there are the planters. who
are the influential men OF the island. They
are as class intelligent, practical, and
| sensible citizens and business men. The
| element Of greatest danger is the poll
II you are tired taking the large oId-fasbionel
! gripping pills. try Carter's Little Liver pills and