The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-09-24
TEACHING THE
BEST MAN POLICY
School Cities Elect Their Gov
ernments Idea Is Work.
ing Well.

While the politicians in convention
and on the street corners are busily
pounding the " straight-ticket doc
trine into more or less willing ears, in
some of the public schools the future
voters are being trained along the line
| of "the best-man' propaganda. With
in the last few days there have been
four city governments e;ected by duly
qualified electors in this city, and in
no case was there beer, booze and
buncombe,' appeals to the flag or a
color line. They were warmly contest
ed elections, nevertheless, that took
place at the Royal, Kaahumanu, Kaiu-
lani and Normal schools, when mayors,
sheriffs, supervisors and members of
police forces were duly selected for the
ensuing term.
In a very practical way the pupils of
the various schools which have adopt
ed school city government for them
selves have demonstrated the value of
the system. The fear that the children
would be unable to grasp the idea and
that the elections and carrying out
the duties of the offices would be Just
plaything for the pupils has gone,
and the school voters and the school of
ficials have assumed the responsibilities
given them soberly and in the way
hoped for. As a matter of fact the
matter of discipline in the schools has
been taken almost entirely off the
shoulders of the teachers, the school
sheriff and his police force keeping
their eagle eyes out for offenders anil
putting them summarily under arrest
at any breach of the school laws. 1t
is the sheriff who summons the pupils
into line at the ringing of the bell for
the assembly of the classes, and the
police officers gather in the strays and
keep order in the ranks. At recess the
officers watch to see that there is no
swearing among the boys, no cheating
in games among the girls, no roughness
on the part of anyone and no bullying.
Offenders are brought before the
school judge, and the cases are regular
ly cited. If the prisoner be found
guilty, the punishment is in spending
fifteen, twenty or thirty minutes in
cleaning up the school grounds, weed
ing the flower beds or some such task,
under, the vigilant eye of guardian of
the peace In the trials there is little
chance Tor a guilty one to escape on
any legal sublety or technical flaws.
The laws are made with and admins
tered in a spirit of common sense and
the governments have not progressed so
far in the civic plane as to frame their
laws to allow the guilty to escape.
1t is not primarily for the sake of
this disciplining that the school city
governments exist, however, but to
educate the pupils in the forms of civic
government so that in after years they
will know not only how to vote intelli-
gently, but why they vote. 1t teaches
the school child simple lessons in po-
litical economy and civics, bringing
them to a realization of what govern
ment is and why it should be, and the
lesson is being taught so well that even
the court sentences are carried out by
the sentenced ones quite cheerfully, the
one in duress knowing that the punish
ment is a part of the governments of
which he or she is a part.
In connection with the government
are all the necessary departments, in
Guiding a garbage department, the of
fcers of which look after the conditions
of the school grounds, keeping them
neat and clean. Each of the schools
under city government have special
room for the meetings of their board
of supervisors, and here will be found
on file the regular reports of the de-
partment heads, the sheriff, judge, gar
bage superintendent and others. Every
thing is run in a business way and
order reigns.
In addition to the four Honolulu
schools mentioned, in which the school
city government fourishes, the system
has been inaugurated in the Hamakua-
poke school, at Hanapepe, at Waimea
and at Peneeken