The Hawaiian gazette., 1907-05-10

the travelling library system had been
easily Installed. through the conven-
ience ~ easy and frequent railway
commun cation Here conditions
we're altogether different. n was not
an easy matter. he said. 60 send sup-
plies 81 books 30 the other islands. be.
cause ~ the difficulties ~ inter-isiand
navigation, the absence of practlcabl
landings. and the difficuity and delay
OF reaching communities on the main
thoroughfarcs. However. he favored
the found ng and multiplication OF
libraries. and the liberal circulatio OF
books everywhere. and stood ready to
help on the good work to the utmost
OF his ability.
PROF. SCOTT.
No one has done more for the Ho-
nolulu Library than Prof. NJ. NJ. Scott,
principal OF the High School. When
he arrived here In the early sos, there
was one small subscription library on
Fort street with about 300 volumes,
good, bad and indifferent--most of
them gleanings from the collections of
people who did not care to give them
shelf-room any longer. Feeling the
need of something better, Mr.. Scott
undertook that most thankless OF all
work-soliciting subscriptions. He went
about with a paper and asked for con-
tributlons. King Kalakaua was the
first subscriber. He put down his name
for $500, which was promptly paid. The
late A. j. Cartwright gave an equal
sum and there were others as liberal.
Then bequests were made and the gov
ernment donated land for a building
site. Since that time Mr.. Scott has
been deeply interested In the welfare
of the library, as goes without saying.
He was busy with his professional
duties when seen by the representative
of the Advertiser. but, like Mr.. Camp
bell, readily gave his views as to the
establishment of a public library
worthy of Honolulu and its people, and
the acceptance of aid from Mr.. Car
negie.
when acting president of the Ii
brary board five years ago." he said.
"at the suggestion of the trustees, I
wrote to Mr.. Carnegie upon the subject
of the library, making a statement as
to our position here, adding that as q
man of affairs he must realize the i'm
portance Of large library in such
a certer as Honolulu. where all the
processes of advanced civilization ex-
listed. I also stated that, being 1000
miles from the Coast, We had not the
benefits of close communication with
other communities by which we might
benefit.
His secretary replied, sending the
blank form to be filled out which is
employed in such cases. The main
point upon which information was de-
sired was as to the support of a library
should building be given, whether a
revenue from the government or muni-
cipality could be counted on with GER
tainty. There was no assurance as to
this. We had no municipality, and the
government had at that time set aside
no fund for library purposes. There
was no way in which it might be sus-
tanned by self-taxation. All that could
be looked for was the appropriation
that might be granted from one legis-
lature to another"
AS to the merging of the Honolulu
library into a public library, on the
of the recent appropriation,
and should the Carnegie project sue
coed. Mr.. Scott declared that while
there were difficulties in the way, he
believed the trustees would at least
give such full and proper consideration
to the subject as it merited. But the
appropriation. $4,000. of itself, would
not go far toward building. fitting out
thought some part of the general tax
should be set aside for library pur-
poses, and kept inviolable.