The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-07-10

ter. Higher education Is true euucd
ton.
Thus we see that whether we ar
working in the primary room, o
whether we are working in the Gram
J mar or the High School, whether We
are dealing with little tots or whethe
We are in the University of the world
that vast school-room Of life. where thu
teachers are not so kindly and thought
full as they are in the scholastic home
we are ever ranged under the banner
whose motto is Excelsior higher ant
yet higher till the topmost height i:
reached
| But if all education is higher educa-
| ton we can consider advanced educa-
| ton as apart from primary education.
| And it is of advanced education that
would like to say few words for a
moment. Our work throughout the ISL
ands has been almost entirely of a
primary character. This has been in
evitable. We have had to lay a foun-
dalton upon which a superstructure is
| to be built. Itshas been, and will con-
| tinue for years to be largely of a SINH
| lar character, but the beautiful intel
lectual temple will eventually be erect
ed, with its airy pinnacles, its graceful
arches, its tapering towers, wrought
with the most delicate of tracery and
the richest of carving, its fairy like fly
ing buttresses, it's gorgeous windows
through whose brilliant colored panes
the light Of reason, of pure abstract
thought, will fall in a thousand vari-
egated colors, blue, crimson, golden,
amethyst, ruby, opal and sapphire up
on the ground work of the mind which
we have polished and are polishing
now. 1t is a pleasant vision, one would
like to dwell upon it, but we have to
come to the bricks and mortar which
are back of all the architectural beau
ty, at the base of everything in this
world, or in any world. There must be
a foundation, and foundations when
stripped of their coverings are ever
prosaic.
We have, as 1 have said, laid our
work of foundation, and we still have
to work upon it, but it is time that we
advanced a step further Our first
work has been the assimilating of our
varied races. This we have done
through the crucible of the English lam
guage. Had We not had some common
ground work such &c thiS vvbsra would
our educational system be now? With
us English is not an exotic, it has be-
come the hardy plant of the soil, and
whoever comes here, or whoever is born
here will have to understand English
speech. and will have to use English
speech, if he is to take any command
ing influence not only in affairs polit- !
ical, but in commerce, in professional |
life. in social life or in any of the null |
tiplicity of lines into which life leads !
Our English work, or better perhaps, !
our work in English, has been a brilliant
success. English is the language of the |
country. Though debates may be car
ried on in the legislature in Hawaiian,
it is the English version of the debates
which the young American citizen, the !
young Hawaiian, the young Portu-
guese, the young Japanese, the young
Chinese wants to read. The Hawaiian
is of little and in most cases of
no use to him. In this language cam
paign, as 1 may call it, you have each
and all borne your part. That you
nave nobly and Loyalty borne your part
s only what could be expected from
'uch an intelligent and progressive
BODY as the teachers of Hawaii nei.
n this, as in many other things. the
eachers of Hawaii have realized the
deals of those who helped to set them
he task. AS a body, you teachers
quickly respond to a call for effort,
nee convinced that the effort is for
What is worthy and good and noble and
Iseful. 1 have always found that the
'est work is done by those who un-
erstand why they do their work.
there is probably no teacher in the
of Hawaii who does not IN
erstand why English had to be our
oundation. The mere slavish follower I
f system could never have put the
into the work which has
cen put into it, and has achieved the ;
uccess it has won. The success is not
ne to those who planned. for as Burns
avs
The plans of mice and men
Gang aft aglae,
ut the success depends upon those
tho carry out the plans. You may
ave great generals and great admin
strators, but their plans will be
lwarted If the rank and file are worth
sss. The success Of education in Ha-
-aii. up TO the point which it has
cached. is due not to the heads, but
n those bo 20 a " %