The Hawaiian gazette., 1912-01-26
SCHOOL QUESTION BECOMES LIVELY ONE
AND PROMISES TO BECOME LIVELIER STILL
Pedauogues Defend System from
Crlticism-No Farms to
Work, Says One.

ton in The Advertiser of two articles
from the pen Of Bishop Restarick, in
which ne embodied the opinions of
majority Of the plantation managers
and superintendents of the industrial
concerns of the Territory. The general
opinion of the man in the street ap-
pears to be that Bishop Restariek has
put his finger on the weak spot in the
territorial school system when he
points out the fact that there are few
of the graduates of the industrial
schools either on the plantations or
in the factories, while they are crowd
ed in the political positions, in minor
clerkships and such. On the other
hand, the leading educators of ahe Ter
ritory believes that Bishop Restasick
is mistaken in his premises and wrong
in his conclusions.
1t is probable that The Advertiser
will be able to give considerable space
to the discussion of this very material
question during the next week or two.
Professor Grifiths of Punahou, Pro-
lessor Wood of the Normal School and
Professor Horne of Kamehameha have
been asked to contribute articles on
the subject, and other authorities will
doubtless be heard from.
Yesterday The Advertiser received a
further communication from Bishop
Restarick and an official communica-
ton from the department of public in
GOnff nf tho
High Schol, in an interview, makes a
number of interesting statements.
Kamaaina Principal.
Professor Scott expresses no little in
terest in the fact that "plantation
managers and Bishop Restarick are so
concerned about the well-being of the
youth of the land, as note through
the bishops articles published in The
Advertiser" but he takes exception
to some of the conclusions drawn in
these articles and some of the premises,
and states also: 81 must protest
against plantation managers setting the
educational standards for Hawaii"
For instance, Professor Scott thinks
the bishop is putting the cart before
the horse in dealing with the industrial
SO--N~N~
be blamed he asks, "for the peculiar
industrial conditions which pertain in
the Islandsf"
II is idle. Professor Scott declares,
to talk of industrial school pupils shun-
ming agricultural pursuits, because
there is no agricultural industry for
them to follow.
No Farms Here.
fsThere is no use in deceiving our
selves in this matter" said Professor
Scott. "Canefields are not farms, and
plantation cultivation is no longer an
agricultural industry open to white Ia
Dor. Outside of a few positions as
chemists, lunas. bookkeepers, stenog-
raphers and clerks, the plantation offers
nothing to the industrial school grad
uate. 1t needs no industrial education
to load cane at $50 month. AS for
mechanical occupations, what adequate
opportunity is there in the Islands for
the product of our industrial schools
Where are the thousand and one trades
and crafts that are found in any other
part of the world 7 To what form OF
manual labor is student to apprentice
himself after he leaves school There
is no chance for him in the field of UNI
skilled labor; there is limited Held
of skilled labor. What result more
natural could be expected than that
they should become freight clerks, work
in stores, drive hacks, run automobiles,
or try to get a clerkship under the
county or territorial government
Best in the World
t!The Industrial school system OF
this country is the best in the world.
But YOU cannot make farmers of the
students in these institutions when |
there are no farms to go to, and you
cannot make all of them mechanics
when there is limited field for
mechanicians.
81 am not in sympathy with the
idea expressed in the Bishops articles,
and with opinions expressed by planta-
ton managers quoted in those articles,
upon the subject of giving boy an
education compatible only with his own |
particular sphere, and inspiring in him |
desires and tastes which he cannot graf |
ify. This proposal of giving content
ment by limiting education along GER
tain lines is often heard from the too
coldly practical. Again, too many peo- |
pie have warped conception of the
meaning of the term education Fun
damentally, education is that which !
gives light to the understanding. To
gain knowledge that will aid directly
in earning living, is one kind of edu-
cation; to gain other knowledge that
will give better understanding and APP
probation of life, is another. Who is
to judge when one shall be given and
the other withheld 7 And, finally, is it
right, and American 7
Hours Long Enough.
"As for tho suggestion that school
hours should be heightened, i am fur
Their out of sympathy with the Bishops
ideas. 1t is well TO remember, in
making criticism of the public school
systems, that you can get out of a
school, just as you would get from a
machine, product proportiOnally val
liable as the material you put in. With
the great mixture of races here, accom-
plishment must necessarily be slower in
the main, and less perfect in the end,
vet the Hawaiian schools are doing
wonders against the great handieaps