The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-03-23
TEACHERS STRAIGHT
TALK TO LEGISLATORS

bltt to make a financial statement as
to the needs Of the public schools.
Rabbit declared that If the proposed
law, to limit the attendance Of children
at the public schools to those above
eight years OF age, instead of all above
six years old, was to be made effective
1t would have to be made prohibitive,
that is to say children under eight
years old would have to be prohibited
from going to school
OF the 4S9 teachers now engaged
there were ninety three not holding
certificates and there was necessarily a
question as to how many of these could
be retained at the figures of the prob
able appropriation; what needed school
improvements could be made and what
at the least the education department
could get along with. Without a mo-
ment's hesitation, except to turn over
the huge sheets of the chart he had be-
fore the audience as an assistance TO
its understanding, Babbittt ratified out
facts bristling with statistics for the
space of twenty minutes. 1t was prob
ably the most exhaustive recitation
that has ever characterized an educa-
tional gathering and embraced all, in
condensed form, that ever appeared
in a report to the governor.
The gist of the discourse was to the
effect that if the education had all the
money it wanted, it could get along all
right and that those interested in the
educational advancement of the Ter
ritory naturally hoped that the Legis-
lature would do everything possible
for the department of Public Instruc-
ton.
Professor Scott said he had two
postulates Scotts first postulate was
that we all believe the children of Ha-
wall should be educated. He went
into the history of the development of
the study of languages here and he
thought it altogether very wonderful
how the Hawaiians had transferred
from Hawaiian to English. He referred
to the transition" stage, twenty-three
years ago, when there was a patois"
Ga cross between Hawaiian and Eng
lish) which he himself had observed at
that time in an inspection of the
schools.
Scott made a speech which aimed to
appeal for the support of the Solons
Cor the most generous and to schools.
He was classic, histrionic, eloquent
and cultured to a degree in his remarks
which, being summed up amounted to
the effect that a country worth living
for was a country where the children
knew something of that country, of the
people who had made that country; of
the ideals of that country, ETC., whe-
Their he was to plant cane for himself
or hoe cane for another man. He must
not be a mole; he must be a man;
and he, every child, was entitled to
that machinery of state which would
assure him a chance to know some
thing Of geography other than the
town he lived in.
Good teachers were essential. Teach
ers had to be prepared. To teach
could not be acquired by wishing to be
able to teach. Good teachers had to
be paid good wages.
In re shortening the time of com
pulsory education: At present a child
was forced to go to school for ten
years Here Scott brought in some il
Illustrative argument from the purported
history of the Assyrians, Greeks and
a lot Of other old folks.
He suggested that the law might be
made prohibitive of attendance of chill
dren until they were actually six, not
start them at the beginning of the
sixth year." or in other words as
soon as they pass their fifth birthday;
and so, let them quit at the beginning
-Mn