Evening star., 1925-07-19
BY Carroll BINDER.

BY Carroll BINDER.
BY Cable to The star and Chicago Daily News.
HONOLULU. July 1S.-The long
and costly controversy over the
japanese schools here has been trans
ferred from the Territorial and Fed,
era1 courts in this city to the United
States Court of Appeals at San Fran
cisco. A decision is hoped for before
September. D.
The issue has been tearing asunder
the Japanese community in Hawaii,
arousing widespread prejudice among
the anti-Japanese. The Japanese die
hards. local people inspired by the
Supreme Court decision in the Ben
raska German language case, hope TO
restrain the local authorities from
regulating the schools here, which in
some instances are violently pro
Japanese and un-American.
But the territorial officials are con
fident that their school law is consti-
tutional and that this case is not
parallel to the Nebraska case. There
has been no attempt to suppress the
teaching of the japanese language,
but merely to see that such teaching
does not conflict with the territorial
school system and that nothing un-
American is taught
Frear Holds Law Valid.
49, Former Gov. Walter l.. Frear heads
the territorial counsel, and the best
elements of the Hawaiian japanese.
including the last two consul generals
and the leading Japanese daily ap-
prove the law and advise the language
schools to obey it. The Hawaii Hochi,
on the other hand, opposes the law.
claiming that it is a violation of the
treaty. American attorneys for the
plaintiffs have received SIG 900 of the
S25.0 200 expended here in the last two
years and they are partly responsible
for the heated controversy carried on
in every Japanese group in the terri
tory.
Ten Chinese and nine Korean Ian
guage schools comply with the law, as
do 81 out of the 142 Japanese schools,
but 13,069 pupils, of whom 1927 per
cent are American citizens by birth,
are in unlicensed schools defying the
law, while only 5,7S5 pupils are in
licensed schools complying with the
law.
The Japanese started the language
schools in 1896 to tit the children to
return to their homeland, and in ad-
dftion preserve their ancestral culture
and ideals. The schools We're support
ed by the parents of Japanese chill
dren and assessments were made on
all Japanese, including bachelors. The
Japanese government was asked for
subvention, but did not grant it.
The children at these schools as
semble at o'clock in the morning
and are released in time to attend the
American schools. The pupils then
are too tired, frequently, to profit by
the lessons in English. When the
American schools close for the day,
the Japanese pupils are again as
sembled in the japanese schools,
where they remain until dark because
their parents are employed.
America is Ignored.
These Japanese schools place en-
phasis on the ethics and history of
Japan and ignore American institu-
tions. The children are daZed by be-
ing compelled to salute the Japanese
flags in one school and the American
flag in another. The teachers are
aliens and frequently ignorant of
American institutions. Yet these
Japanese pupils, by birth American
citizens, are given an education in
dual citizenship. This is symbolized
by a picture in a Japanese first
reader which is used in the islands.
In the frontispiece is an illustration
showing the crossed flags of Japan
and the United States.
BY 1921 the Japanese schools were
as numerous as We're the public
schools. The territorial Legislature
in that year passed a law formulated
jointly by the local Americans and
Japanese, licensing all the schools
having teachers who speak, read and
write English, and who are familiar
with the ideals of democracy and
American history. The spirit of the
law was to regulate rather than pro-
hibit schools, and time was allowed
for teachers to qualify themselves.
1t obligated the teachers to try to
promote American citizenship. They
were not to conduct any other school
before or during the hours set aside
for the public schools. The time for
school attendance during the year
was limited, and penalties were pro-
vided for violations of the law.
Measure Well Received.
The measure was well received and
most of the teachers qualified. A
Joint committee of Japanese and
Americans prepared textbooks adapted
to local use and supplanting the
Japanese-made texts then prevalent,
and substituted modern pedagogical
methods by which a course could be
completed in six years. They recon-
mended barring children not complet-
ing the first two years IN an american
school, thus conserving the health of
the children and giving them start
in English before attempting Japanese.
Then a violent agitation ensued and
this increased when a license fee of
81 per pupil was imposed to meet
the expense Of inspection and the
preparation of textbooks. The Nebraska
decision was an additional incentive
TO the agitators who falsely alleged
that the territory of Hawaii aimed to
suppress the Japanese schools.
Henry b Schwartz, supervisor of
the language schools, says that the
law works well so far as it has been
given a trial. He believes that good
citizens are being trained in the
schools which are now open to pupils
lns hnr o. N