The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-06-23
INTER-ISLAND
Continued from page nine.)

Board Of Health, Mott-Smith who will
come to Hilo on a general inspection
tour in July. This is the urgent neces-
sity for reclamation work in the
swampy country mauka of Front street
from Ponohawai street towards Waio-
lama"
Roast for the Schools.
Hilo Tribune: We hear that Judge
Matthewman from the bench deplores
the inefiiciency of a school system
which turns out graduates who can
not speak enough English to qualify
as jurymen, A young man, presum-
ably of normal intelligence and
normal product of our schools, is
turned out of Annapolis Tor was it
West Point because he is not sutti-
GENTLY well founded in English. One
of the star pupils of the Hilo High
School who entered Punahou was
conditioned" on account of his de-
fective English.
And on top of this we find that the
very defenders of the normal school
system, the hackers of the home edu-
| cational system, have to turn to a
teachers agency in San Francisco to
get five teachers for the Hilo High
School. Can it be that among the
hundreds of teachers who grace the
pay roll of the Hawaiian public
| schools, there are none sufficiently
educated to qualify for such compare
lively simple positions as those at the
high school? That is surely a very
scathing commentary on the teaching
body-and the saddest part about it
| is that it manates from the depart
ment itself.
We do not intend to dwell on the
morale of the teaching force. Such
affairs as those which have taken
place recently will happen in the best
regulated departments. and it would
been fair to place undue blame in
this connection on the department.
Still, in view of the results Of some
of the investigations which have been
conducted by school officials mot nee
essarily in regard to matters of NOR
ais aIone) it is not a matter of great
wonder that the teachers regard the
investigations of the department as
a rather negligible quantity.
It is hard to say where the blame
for these conditions lies, whether 1t
is with the executive officers of the
department, with the board with thf
laws under which the department /:
governed. or with that rather intan
gible factor called system. On one
Y hand one hears of instances whert
the high officials have chosen to over
look gross neglect of duty. On tn
other one hears how the commission
ers have seriously hampered the ad
ministration of the department b.
insisting on the making of appoint
ments against which the superintend
ent advised. That the laws are ridio
ulous is surely demonstrated by tn
one statute which compels Japanes
and Chinese to attend our schools. a
a cost of over $25 a year a head, tn,
:, plea being that thus will We qualif
them for citizenship. Leaving asid
: the well known fact that a Japanes
a will, speaking nationally, remain
> japanese even though you may edu
, cate him morning, noon and night, i
, seems rather amusing to be told tina
the purpose is to qualify them 70
, citizenship, when, as a matter o
= fact, the graduates of many of on
> schools do not know enough EnglisI
to qualify as jurors, and thus exel
else one of the most important funC
tions of American citizenship.
It is gratifying to hear that tn
commissioners insist on having Gu
down the frills and fancies whicl
] self-advertising pedagogues glory in
? presumably in the hone that they vii
thereby catch the eye of those il
authority, and incidentally rise highe
in honors and on the salary lis
Still, we hear at the same time Q
\ school time being wasted on a grea
singing festival in Kona, and tn
y schools where valuable time is bein
: frittered away every day in "schoC
city government" foolishness are il
creasing in number.
Would it not be nice if less after
S ton were paid to the teachers idea
and more were paid to the pupils an
knowledge which would be useful t
them? Then we might get some pra'
- tical results.
Meeting Of Piano Club.
HILO, June 30.-Mrs. John A. Scot
entertained the Piano Club Wedne