The Maui news. [volume] (Wailuku, Maui, H.I.) 1900-current, 1920-01-16
SUPERINTENDENT MaCCAUGHEY
TALKS TO MAUI WOMEN


and overload, of inferior and superior, of chmel and master a existed for
must come to stay. not the fictitious equality SC sdnuIy devised during
the age of chivary n the world Off romance, and of that in all modern society
today, SO suave and polite, placing woman IN a pedestal yet secretly en-
shaving her; the chivaly that has the polish of delightful manners, but un
rs ~ rasnr ar or fn5r~riaI ayo,~thon pI tMs annrtn, annaInI e t @p %m,
taking root, '
Another word concerning this particular series IF discussions: This is
the age of organization, of team work and it is significant that you are will
ing to com together for a part of a afternoon, to ONE together for a part
OF an afternoon to come at som little difficulty and sacrifice of time and
convenience, to IN as a body, as a group. This is directly in the line Of
modern development, full of one endeavOr: organization, teamwork, a large
number doing collectively what the individual cannot do.
And ne Of the reasons why womens organizations in the past failed in
he dscnaion of if after in y,r meetings Nany vonens c1nbs for oyouno
have read Browning and had rectattons from Shakespeare, and many other
famous poets and thinkers, but have never brought their energies to a focus
on practical community problems. So there has been a tendency in the
past among business men and men of affairs, the practical lei who bear
the burden Of community responsibilities, to dscredt womens organizations.
They lok pon then IS places where there is a del Of talk rather in the
ethereal atmosphere, but ot much in the way of a cutting edge that produces
tangible results in the life of the community here and now. am sure one
ront ,ocn,ras On, ,Ini' WIN he onrstncH,t uNrr, in roaard TO rra""oai n~r.
lens. We are all more or lessi interested in Ibsen, for example, but we are
also interested in the WaHuku sewer system We are all interested in lacquer
work, that beautiful art of Japan, but we are also greatly interested in
chicken coops, in plantation camps, and in the increase Of the meat supply,
because people get hungry for meat merely choose these laughable com
PARSONS to illustrate the growing interest in practical problems rather than
To give you another concrete example: In a few days DR.. Henry S.
and will be O Maui for a week He is at your service, and has been sent
demonstrate to and address address % and sp pT davs in II h. We" yarions " School no 10
assist in every possible way in stimulating a program OF physical education,
to supervise playground work and recreation.
Now I finally com to my theme, which is that of:
BABIES AND TAXES
Perhaps you wonder why chose that theme. Because everyone is in
terested in babies, and everyone is interested in taxes, have to pay taxes,
directly or indirectly; and directly n indirectly in every wOman-and very
feminine organzaton-a large, though perhaps unconscious, element of her
organization is the maternal point of view. 1 planned to discuss this sub
jet, however, in order that there may be IN opportunity or general dis
cussion from the floor; and I should like tic point Out that in the m@ts success
nm pu ~ to N ta f ~T t. s no,, ma a aI orahaf ar a u "a mmY r fn , ts nn n
1t is not fair to go before n audience with a discussion N vital problems of
the day and monopohze the entire time, because people 20 way without
points they would like to bring up, or criticisms The best of the modern
thought is that of fair play: half of the time for the speaker and half for
the audience. Even in New York City, where there ire thousands sin the
audience, they follow that rule In order to understand at least o OF the
problems pertaining to the schools in this Territory it is necessary to speak
rapidly in the limited time at r disposal On some of the stages in Ea
waits school history am going 10 do that as rapidly az possible.
Let US g back to the primitive Hawaiian people before the coming of
the missionaries. There wa then a population of about three hundred thou
to- tbDp of th7 civTt1attnn as rabor crrda md tndesnIe a voc u ~w
maHhnis, who have never studied Hawaiian history well get that point of
view; but they are quite wrong When you make a careful study of the
ancient Hawaiian civilization you find at many points it was highly develop
ed. They had three hundred thousand people II Whereabouts; and W know
from the records there We're n O hungry people as there are in these times.
The AGRICULTURAL system "a so highly developed that all had food in plenty
even though they had a primitive method of distributing water. The old wa
ter law vas called a kana~a, and there weret times set apart for each kuleana
to get its share O. water; n everyone gt "A SHARE n hen you consider
the background it "a a very just system.
ould demonstrate at many points on the degree Of development in the
been unfomed in hat oIdttmeH hawaiian cvlhaioD % I tvut ~m%m , rmhm nU
charms and delightful characteristics. OF course, it had its evil side, just
a ur civilization has many evil features, of which W e are ashamed. But
on the whole the odtme Hawaiian civilization represented a comparatively
high level of intellectual and physical attainment Then anne the mission
aries, with culture and the gospel from New England. The period following
hhr coming ws m OF extraordinary interest and it is safe to say that 40
other people made o rapid a transitional stage Is did the Hawaiian from
ancient feudaism to modern civilization.
PAN0oRAs BOX OF PROBLEMS
The Hawaiians received the missionaries with open arms: schools were
Christian people. and an American peopI 10 from 1870 there was less
niteracy among the Hawatans than in many PARTS OF the mainland. And
in 1910 the Hawaiian people had a higher standard If readisa than o
exists in Hawaii in 1920. 1t was more Christian; there was more of the
human in the real sense in 1910, more of the home than in 1920. The re
cord of those early missionaries is a splendid and marvellous record, with
n o equal in the pages Of history. l have not time 20 discuss all the agencies
that brought about the defamation If the Hawaiian people-the hightu
curse o alcoholism and venereal diseases, n man other diseases, with
which the population heretofore had been unH lfHar Strange diseases being
brought to them, among them leprosy-"mai pike" from China. And all these
diseases came hom foreign counties! We opened the Pandora box. 1t is
sufficient to point ut that these agencies had a deleterfous effect OF the
people, who diminished rapidly. And win the decrease Of the hawaiian
people came the agricultural development with an increasing demand for
adequate labor Some o you know OF the development of agriculture on
Maui how the enterprises were bull up, with an ever increasing demand
for labor; and this in the days of an ever increasing death rate among the
natives. This led to a search in o mel parts IF the Pacific for people who