Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-04-03

a character and largely theoretical.
Details, mainly In regard to items Of
expense a nd their bearing on results,
the actual application of the official
course of study and the like, must be
courses TO follow with scientific accu-
racy of detail To be OF real value,
in any scheme of governmental i'm
proyement, the utmost accuracy of ba-
sic facts is indispensable. b.
You will, / take the liberty to sng-
gest, overlook a seeming presumption
If ] venture to compare the situation
which confronts the man who would
undertake to take charge of the De-
partment of Public Instruction, in a
smaller way, with that which has
confronted the Governor of Hawai-.
While having in mind, firmly estab-
lished, certain principles for improve,
ment, a close study and an absolute
intimacy with data on hand is essen
tia4 before these principles can be
applied in the most effective manner.
If rather graphic expression may be.
pardcnad Ii would be presumptu
for me to sit here and presume to
solve the entire educational problem
Of Hawaii, big and intricate as it is,
IN detail and with pretense of exac-
titude, right off the bat. Still, with
your letter In mind, | will outline the
lines along which | think improve
ments should be made, and venture to
trust that in case you have sufficient
confidence in my ability to appoint
me to the Office. you will do so with
the assurance that i will be able to
snalyze and apply the detailed data
and information which win, in such
case, be at my command. There is
no reason why the Department OF
Public instruction should not be-. as
far as 1t maya source of strength to
the administration. rather than drag
as it has been in the past, and this
Is the condition which | would, If al
lowed the opportunity, want to bring
about y
81 proceed on the basis that it Is
the wish of the administration to
have the Department of Public In
struction accomplish in the main two
things, namely, to curtail its expenses
very materially in consistency with
the demands of the difficult financial
conditions which now confront the
territory; and, second, to increase its
efficiency and its value as a. purveyor
of practical rather than theoretical
benefits, feel assured that this may
be attained.
Buildings.
II note from articles in the public
press that the increase in the public
school expense for the year 1914 ex-
ceeds that for the year 1918 by the
sum of S141, ,179, of which S135,20 is
for buildings and $4,977 Tor teachers
salaries and expense. In other words,
the increase is almost exclusively in
the buildings item. the consideration
of which, from the economy stand
point. becomes thus Of primary i'm
portance.
'1t may not be altogether irrelevant
to note that when the former admin
istration turned over to the counties
the construction and maintenance Of
school buildings, it was a questionable
blessing. The, reason was advanced
that this was a step further towards
tOCdl GOulIcl, du dOfGuCS III tue SdUS6
of county self-government. l can tes-
ttfy that no gratitude was felt in the
County of Hawaii, where the super
visors declared, bluntly, that they
had been handed a gold brick Pass
ing over the incidents of obviously
foolish expenditures of school money,
as when in Hawaii county various
schools We're furnished With 'disap-
pearing beds "a glorihed type Of fold
ing bed), at S119.50 each. and which
the teachers would not use; II is still
a fact that the application of the
funds was, generally speaking. not al.
cient. A very undesirable feature was
that authority was divided between the
territorial school department and the
various counties, which could not but
be unsatisfactory in many cases. How
ever, this phase is outside of the strict
scope of the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, and therefore give it but
passing mention.
While the system for supplying es-