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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0292.001 2014-2016RES. 185-15 / COMM. 292 Vol- Ll. New York, Saturday, February 16, i9o7 No. 26» . Chp.wie&.1007. & HARrzx & Beorusne. All MoAb reserved rV r-� n Q n "77 M Cam- N SUBMITTED BY: KALE GUMAPAC Ref. T®:Cgf"G DCL, QAC DateBiJ-- "THEY'LL D®" HAIVAIFS' 'LESSON O HEADSTRONG CALIFORNIA HOW THE ISLAND TERRITORY HAS SOLVED THE PROBLEM OF DEALING WITH ITS. FOUR THOUSAND JAPANESE PUBLIC -SCHOOL CHILDREN By WILLIAM INGLIS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT FOR "HARPER'S WEEKLY" - HaNCm% Tammany or HARAIT. 70"r Y 15. ZM. T HE American, government in Hawaii has no trouble what- ever in dealing with the Japanese pupils in the public schools. Nothing can be more startling to the observer Who Comes from the bubbling volcano of San Francisco school -politics than the ease with which the annoying race question is handled by intelligent. Americans in this garden -spot of the Pacific: There are'more than 4000 Japanese pupils here, as against a meagre ninety-three in San Francisco, yet there is no vexation. There would be nothing to wonder at in the situation if most of the Japanese residents of Hawaii were people of culture and wealth, not competing with American labor. It I's the status of the Mikado's subjects in these islands that forces one to admire the diplomacy with which anawkward problem has been handled. For the Japanese in Hawaii are nearly all of the coolie.type. They are cheap workers, whetber as laborers in the cane -fields or s mechanics or artisanof any class. There is bitter strife between them and American labor. Strenuous efforts have been made to exclude Japanese laborers, to prevent Jape from working as mechanics, cabmen, or farriers; to prohibit them from owning drinking -saloons. The Palama, as the Japanese quarter in Hono- lulu is called, contains sir times as many Asiatica as the Chinese quarter of New York, and the Japanese is very fond of driving dull care away with a glass; yet a most determined effort has been made to oust the little -brown men from the profitable business of liquor -selling. An attempt was made, too, to compel the Japanese doctors who attend their countrymen here to take medical examina- tions in the English language, under penalty of not being allowed to practise in this Territory. All of these anti-Japanese campaigns failed of success bemuse the Territorial courts held that their basis was illegal, inasmuch as it was an invasion of treaty rights. I mention them merely to show how bitter and uncompromising has been the economic warfare upon the Japanese in these islands. The great difference between the situation here and in California is that the Hawaiian -Americans have fought the Japanese bitterly but according to law and the treaty rights of the foreigners, while the San -Franciscans, with far lessprovocation, have airily disre- garded both law and treaty in order to inflict upon Japan a gratuitous affront. There are more than sixty thousand Japanese in the Hawaiian Islands. Nearly all of them are laborers on the sugar-phmtations. Many of them are marritA, and on every plantation ,you will find a qyuaint reproduction of a Japanese village, the houses very like those.Of the Orient, Japanese women in kimonos going about their daily tasks, and chubby-cheeked, brown -eyed little boys and girls very gravely beginning the solemn business of life. Whether in town or country, these little folks work with an energy that amazes an American. Their parents want them to learn as much as possible about the history and literature of the land of their fathers; so all the Japaneseboys and girls go to s Japanese school from seven o'clock- until nine in the morning. Then they attend an American public school from nine o'clock until. two in the afternoon. The moment they are free they hurback ry to Japanese school and. work there until five or six o'clock in the evening. Imagine a school day that lasts from seven in the morn- ing until dark! 1 -et these brown children thrive on that system. It has been going on for ten years now, and it is impossible to find any record of shattered health or injured eyes as a result of this tremendous industry. Down in old Mulberry Rend, New -Yorkers have a public school of which they are very proud, because in it the teachers receive young Italians, Greeks, Syrians, Arabs, Japanese, Chinese, Scandi- navians, Turks, etc., as raw material and turn them out as a finished_ product of excellent American. citizens. The school is unique in its mixture of races,. and for that reason attracts a great deal of attention In Honolulu that school would pass un- noticed, for in every school you will find little folk of a dozen races working amicably side by side. Such a thing as race prejudice is unknown. Observe the remarkable mixture shown by the latest census of the schools of Hawaii, taken at the end of last June: Public. Private. Rbtala. Hawaiian .-........................ 4.045 800 4.845 - Part Hawaiian ................... 3,382 1,040 3.422 American 457 502 959 British ......................... 142 81 223 German ......................... 144 119 26.4 Portuguese ...................... 3;239 1.233 4.472 Scandinavian .................... 68 38 101 Japanese 3.578 719 4,397_ Chinese 1.489 603 2,02 Porto -Rican ...................... 338 .... 338 Other Foreigners ................. 242 104 346 Totals .................... 16.1111 5,2311 21.35N Thi Pupils of the Kaahumanu Eteuleatary Grades Public School at Honolulu TIIIS PHOTOGRAPH, TIIE CONTI%VATION OF WIII(AI WILL HE FOUND ON TIIE OPPOSiTF. PAGE, OIVF13 A COMPREHENSIVE IDEA OF THE MANY NATIONALITIES HAWAII HAS PF,A(•FFt*IXT ACCOMMODATED Ix THE CLANS-ROOMN OF HER SCHOOLS, AND HOW SHE HAS 8Er A. LESSON FOR CALIFORNIA'S SCHOOL HOARD 220 HARPER'S WEEKLY Was there ever such a hetero- geneous company since Babel? Yet they are all fused in the great retort of our American schools, and they are coming out - good American citizens. Inei- dentally it may be remarked that the people of Hawaii are prouder of their schools than of anything else in their marvellously rich and beautiful islands. There are 154 public schools, with 43.5 »- t teachers, and 58 private schools, ti gp" with 2¢1 teachers. The high r °, schools send pupils to the leading colleges in the United States, t ` and of these many have achieved distinction in letters and science. In the Kaahumanu and Kaiva- t lanipublic schools one finds the '• jumble of races hard at work. t " There is every hue of skin known to the human species except the " black, of the negro; which is con- i spicuously absent. At the same i desk in the Kaivalani school a dainty little girl with pink h cheeks, blue eyes, and hair of v i ty spun gold—the only, native Amer- ican in the school—was sitting beside a girl whose father was a white man and whose mother was Hawaiian. The half-caste child was dark as an Indian and her hair was long, straight, black and coarse as an Indian's. At the desk before these two sat two .Japanese girls, about ten years A Group old. Tiley were demure little THREE PER CENT. OF things in American clothes, very IMPERATIVE REQUISITE solemn and full of dignity: woaxlTi Their sparkling black eyes shone with keen speculation. A few feet away sat a Portuguese girl beside a Chinese girl who wore the loose silk jacket and flowing trousers of her native land. The boys were a sturdy lot, and, in spite of the wide divergence of race types, one saw a great resemblance among them, the re- aemblahce that comes of working at the same tasks, thinking the same thoughts, having the same duties, aims, ambitions, and re- wards. This resemblance was much more marked among the boys than among the girls. The costumes' were as various as the leaves in the forest, and very few of the children wore shoes. Every boy and every girl was scrupulously clean. Order in the schoolroom was perfect. There was no giggling or whispering nor any evidence of self-consciousness. The children regarded the visitor with a curiosity that was frank but well bred. At the suggestion of Mr. Babbitt, the principal. Mrs. Fraser, gave an order, and within ten seconds all of the 814 pupils of the school began to march out upon the great green lawn which surrounds the building. Hawaii differs from all our other tropical neighbors in the fact that grass will grow here. To see beautiful, velvety turf amid groves of palms. and banana -trees and banks of gorgeous scarlet flowers gives a feeling of Sumptuousness one can- not find elsewhere. Out upon the lawn marched the children, two by two, just as pre- cise and orderly asyoucan find er them at home. With the ease that comes of long practice the classes marched and counter. marched until all were drawn up in a compact array. facing a large %" American flog that was dancing "t in'the northeast trade -wind forty �x feet above their heads. Surely this was the most curious, most d diverse regiment ever drawn up 1 m ; ander that banner—tiny -Ha- 1 waiians, americans, Britons, Ger- mans. Portuguese, Scandinavians. JapaneSg, Chinese, Porto -Ricans. and Heaven knows what else. Attention!" Mrs. Fraser corn, marded: The little regiment stood fast. arms at sides, shoulders back. chests out, heads up, and every d eye fixed upon the red, white. an blue emblem that waved protect- ingly over them. " Salute!" was the principal's nest command. High School Every right hand was raised. ARE JAPANESE, THE forefinger extended, and the BEING A THOROUGH hundred and.fourteen fresh, child- ish voices ebanted as one voice: ENOLISH " We give our heads and our hearts to God and our Country! One Country! One Ianguage; One Flagl" The last six words were shot out with a force that was explosive. The tone, the gesture; the gaze flied reverently upon the flag, told their story of loyal fervor. And it was apparent that the salute was given as spontaneously and enthusiastically by the Japanese as by any of the other children. There were hundreds of them in the throng, and their voices rang out as clearly as any others, their hands were raised in unison. The coldesi clad of a man who sees the children perform this act of reverence must feel a tightening at the throat, and it is even more affecting to see these young atoms from all the world ' actually being fused in the crucible from which they shall issue presently as good American citizens. So much for the Japanese in the lower -grade schools. Every- body agrees that no children can be more polite and agreeable than they are. The principal burden of the complaint in San Francisco at the Honolulu THE PUPILS HERE E FOR ADMISSION O KNOWLEDGE OF In this Group may be found Representatives of at least Ten Natlonalfties THE. NUMEROUS JAPANESE CHILDREN IN THIS SCHOOL ATTEND IT FROM NINE O'CLOCK UNTIL TWO, AFTER II.ACINO MEN IN TIU:IR NATIVE SCHOOL FROM SEVEN UNTIL NINE. AFTERWARD, FRO\t Two O'CLOCK UNTIL FIVE OR SIX, THEY RETURNTI FOR INSTRUION IN THEIR OWN JAPANESE SCHOOL 221 "We give our heads and our hearts to God and our countryl One country, one language. one flagt" THIS SCENE SHOWS THE SALUTE TO THE AMERICAN FLAG WHICH FLIES IN THE GROUNDS OF THE KAIUALANI PUBLIC SCHOOL WHICH HAS MANY JAPANESE PUPILS. THE DRILL 18 CONSTANTLY HELD As A MEANS OF INCULCATING PATRIOTISM IN THE HEARTS OF THE CHILDREN is that parents cannot endure to have their girls exposed to con- tamination by adult Asiatics, whose moral code is far different from our own. Whether or not there is reason for this complaint is not the- question here. That there is such a feeling of ppre- hension anions parents is readily found by any one who inqires,. and it exists in= no less than in California. The Hawaiian school authorities long ago took steps to prevent the mingling ofgrown Japanese boys in classes with American girls. In the Honolulu high school there are 143 pupils, including a few more boys than girls. Most of them are above fifteen years of age. There is now, as there has been for the last six years, only five per cent. of Asiatics among these pupils—three Crcent. Japanese, and two per cent. Chinese. The boys are well behaved. Professor M. bf. Scott, the principal of the high school, was kind enough to call all the pupils, who were not taking examinations, out on the front steps of the building, where the visitor could in- spect them in the sunshine. The change in the color scheme from that of the schools below was astounding. Below were all the hues of the human Spectrum, with brown and yellow predomi- nating; here the tone was clearly white. What had made the change? Practically the Asiatics had been eliminated. But how? By building separate schools and brusquely. ordering the Japanese to attend them in company with Chinese and. Koreans, whom they despise? Not at all. The Hawaiian Commissioners of Public Instruction long ago made a regulation that no pupil may attend a school of the higher grade unless he has a thorough working knowledge of the English Inn guage: That rule," said Commissioner Wallace Farrington, "rids us of all individuals whose pre.,ence could possibly be objectionable. We have not now, and we never have had, any trouble over the presence - of Japanese or any other Asiatics in our public schools. I do not think the question will ever cause us any annoy- ance. " The rule under which the exclusion is accomplished is based on simple common sense-, and no one can object to it. The speed of any fleet is the speed of the slowest ship in the fleet. It would be most unjust for us to delay the progress of our advanced pupils by putting in their classes foreigners who do not clearly under- stand English; for their presence would make it necessary to waste time in long explanations. The fairness of that rule is so evident that we have never had any complaint from Japanese nor anybody else. It is—perhaps—a mere coincidence that the operation of the rule ride the classes of certain individuals whose presence may not be desired. We make no comparison with any other way of hand- ling the problem: but we know that in Hawaii the Americans, the .Japanese, and all the others, are satisfied with the plan on which we are working." Mr. Miki Saito, His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Consul -General at Hawaii, has just returned from a three weeks' tour of inspec- tion of the public schools throughout the islands, begun soon after the San Francisco incident was made public. He is, of course, devoted to the welfare of all the Mikado''s subjects, and during his three weeks' tour he questioned children and parents every- where. "You will be glad to know," said. Mr. Miki to me, "that the Japanese people here are entirely satisfied with the treatment of their children in the public schools. I have not heard one word of complaint anywhere; but on the other hand I have beard our people express satisfaction at the kindness and cooperation of the Americans. In the public schools our children have the same opportunities as the rest. On the plantations American employers have kindly Put up buildings in which the Japanese teachers can hold school rn our native tongue. I can find in the Hawaiian schools nothing to criticise and much to praise." It is difficult for the unprejudiced observer to understand why the impetuous San -Franciscans did not adopt the Hawaiian plan of dealing with the Japanese in the schools. Surely they must have known of the easy auceess of the scheme, for in community of in- terests Honolulu is as near to San Francisco as Philadelphia is to New York. The more one studies the subject, the harder it is to understand why the Californians took so much pains to affront the Japanese. The warlike spirit in a nation fresh from great victories may well be compared to a sleeping dog on the porch of a home he has just defended. The basty Californians seem to have acted on the prin- ciple laid down by an American philosopher whose thoughts out- stripped his words, so that he airily exclaimed. " Ob, let sleeping dogs bark!" A MOTOR -BOAT WHICH HAS RUN A KME IN 2.211-5 �.' 4 - . � ♦T �' -°-^AWL.. �- °(,y.+..� � � iE r IN THE-SIOTOR-BOAT RACES AT PALM REACH, FIANUDA. THE "DI%IE" RECENTLY MADE A NEW MILE RECORD AGAINRT THE. TIDE OF 2:21 1-5, WINNING BY THIS FEAT THE DEWAR TROPHY. RUNNING WITH THE TIDE HER TIME WAS ONE AND A FIFTH SECONDS LESS 228 fin' �„�W,71 AT • 9 w . "We give our heads and our hearts to God and our countryl One country, one language. one flagt" THIS SCENE SHOWS THE SALUTE TO THE AMERICAN FLAG WHICH FLIES IN THE GROUNDS OF THE KAIUALANI PUBLIC SCHOOL WHICH HAS MANY JAPANESE PUPILS. THE DRILL 18 CONSTANTLY HELD As A MEANS OF INCULCATING PATRIOTISM IN THE HEARTS OF THE CHILDREN is that parents cannot endure to have their girls exposed to con- tamination by adult Asiatics, whose moral code is far different from our own. Whether or not there is reason for this complaint is not the- question here. That there is such a feeling of ppre- hension anions parents is readily found by any one who inqires,. and it exists in= no less than in California. The Hawaiian school authorities long ago took steps to prevent the mingling ofgrown Japanese boys in classes with American girls. In the Honolulu high school there are 143 pupils, including a few more boys than girls. Most of them are above fifteen years of age. There is now, as there has been for the last six years, only five per cent. of Asiatics among these pupils—three Crcent. Japanese, and two per cent. Chinese. The boys are well behaved. Professor M. bf. Scott, the principal of the high school, was kind enough to call all the pupils, who were not taking examinations, out on the front steps of the building, where the visitor could in- spect them in the sunshine. The change in the color scheme from that of the schools below was astounding. Below were all the hues of the human Spectrum, with brown and yellow predomi- nating; here the tone was clearly white. What had made the change? Practically the Asiatics had been eliminated. But how? By building separate schools and brusquely. ordering the Japanese to attend them in company with Chinese and. Koreans, whom they despise? Not at all. The Hawaiian Commissioners of Public Instruction long ago made a regulation that no pupil may attend a school of the higher grade unless he has a thorough working knowledge of the English Inn guage: That rule," said Commissioner Wallace Farrington, "rids us of all individuals whose pre.,ence could possibly be objectionable. We have not now, and we never have had, any trouble over the presence - of Japanese or any other Asiatics in our public schools. I do not think the question will ever cause us any annoy- ance. " The rule under which the exclusion is accomplished is based on simple common sense-, and no one can object to it. The speed of any fleet is the speed of the slowest ship in the fleet. It would be most unjust for us to delay the progress of our advanced pupils by putting in their classes foreigners who do not clearly under- stand English; for their presence would make it necessary to waste time in long explanations. The fairness of that rule is so evident that we have never had any complaint from Japanese nor anybody else. It is—perhaps—a mere coincidence that the operation of the rule ride the classes of certain individuals whose presence may not be desired. We make no comparison with any other way of hand- ling the problem: but we know that in Hawaii the Americans, the .Japanese, and all the others, are satisfied with the plan on which we are working." Mr. Miki Saito, His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Consul -General at Hawaii, has just returned from a three weeks' tour of inspec- tion of the public schools throughout the islands, begun soon after the San Francisco incident was made public. He is, of course, devoted to the welfare of all the Mikado''s subjects, and during his three weeks' tour he questioned children and parents every- where. "You will be glad to know," said. Mr. Miki to me, "that the Japanese people here are entirely satisfied with the treatment of their children in the public schools. I have not heard one word of complaint anywhere; but on the other hand I have beard our people express satisfaction at the kindness and cooperation of the Americans. In the public schools our children have the same opportunities as the rest. On the plantations American employers have kindly Put up buildings in which the Japanese teachers can hold school rn our native tongue. I can find in the Hawaiian schools nothing to criticise and much to praise." It is difficult for the unprejudiced observer to understand why the impetuous San -Franciscans did not adopt the Hawaiian plan of dealing with the Japanese in the schools. Surely they must have known of the easy auceess of the scheme, for in community of in- terests Honolulu is as near to San Francisco as Philadelphia is to New York. The more one studies the subject, the harder it is to understand why the Californians took so much pains to affront the Japanese. The warlike spirit in a nation fresh from great victories may well be compared to a sleeping dog on the porch of a home he has just defended. The basty Californians seem to have acted on the prin- ciple laid down by an American philosopher whose thoughts out- stripped his words, so that he airily exclaimed. " Ob, let sleeping dogs bark!" A MOTOR -BOAT WHICH HAS RUN A KME IN 2.211-5 �.' 4 - . � ♦T �' -°-^AWL.. �- °(,y.+..� � � iE r IN THE-SIOTOR-BOAT RACES AT PALM REACH, FIANUDA. THE "DI%IE" RECENTLY MADE A NEW MILE RECORD AGAINRT THE. TIDE OF 2:21 1-5, WINNING BY THIS FEAT THE DEWAR TROPHY. RUNNING WITH THE TIDE HER TIME WAS ONE AND A FIFTH SECONDS LESS 228