Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-04-25
A TRIUMPH OF PETTY SPITE

CnaIrman PaxS0n OF the special Sub-cOmmlt
tee investigating school conditions is to be con
graduated on the skill, Che ease and the dexter
ity with which the entire investigation has been
conducted to bring out one-sided, one-man re.
port twisted to the ends that the chairman
wished to serve.
There was never a doubt from the moment
the committee began its work that the report was
to be biased, partial and unfair. The committee
held no generallpublic hearings, called just what
Witnesses it wished to hear in order to get pref
udiced evidence, burrowed and nosed and delyed
ID devious ways to secure statements that would
help to make out a case against Superintendent
~ T. Pope and Principal Edgar Wood OF the
Normal School.
The one thing Chairman Paxson did openly
was to advertise that the committee was pre-
pared to listen to indthe-back evidence
Otherwise the work of the committee was done
n the dark. KS matter of fact, it is very evil
dent that Mr. Paxson really constituted the COM
Uittee, and the tar-Bulletin is informed by a
confidant of the eminent chairman that Paxson
wrote virtually the whole report and some Of the
members did not know specifically what it con-
toined. sa
The Star Bulletin said weeks ago that the
committee's methods were discrediting its work
and would discredit its report, and the statement
vas not exaggerated The report submitted to
house and senate is foil of inaccuracies that look
suspiciously like Intentional inisstatements
Circumstance will suffice The committee "is Of
the opinion" that Miss Eta Davis, for whom it
takes up the cudgels, was not informed. that she
would be required to teach third grade work un-
til the actual converting of the school year. This
sopinionY is given by the committee although
the committee had the statements of three mem
bers of the department that Miss Davis had been
Informed long before by Commissioner Wilcox
were made before the committee but apparently
overlooked when Mr.. Paxson came to write the
I<pert, for Commissioner Wilcox's declaration
Is not even referred to.
This nstance above is mentioned not because
Il is particularly important for the petty SQUAD
bling of some discharged teachers has been
fhrashed out dd ndasedm in the past, but because
Il shows the level of the committees investiga-
|ons and the level of its report
The investigation was carried ON in the dark,
he report was showed in on the house and senate
at the busy end of a handwriting session, and
was perforce accepted.
And Representative Paxson now has made
good his campaign boast about what he was go
ing to do to the department of education For
this he is to be congratulated
The amazing thing about this report is that it
contains so little constructive criticism, so much
petty spite and amateur observations on educs-
tional subjects And another amazing thing is
that the report should have been aput over on
several fair-minded and intelligent committee
members. Thesonly explanation for this latter
fact is that they have been too busy on other
matters to pay particular attention to this, and
that is just what Chairman Paxson was able tol
count on