To the Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands :

In conformity to law, I have the honor to lay before you the following Report of the Bureau of Public Instruction, and the transactions of its Board for the biennial period ending March 31st, 1874.

School Statistics.

II.—common Schools.

Attendance.

Table 1 shows the number of pupils in attendance in the common schools at the present time to be 5,522. The number in attendance in 1872 was 6,274, leaving a decrease for 1874 of 752. Of this number 220 must be credited to the increase of pupils in the select schools, during the past biennial period, thus leaving a decrease of 532 to be accounted for.

The tables of the schools on Hawaii show a decrease of 258 pupils, those of Maui of 150, of Oahu 98, of Kauai 39, and of Lanai of 11; whilst Molokai is credited with an increase of 23, and Niihau of 1.

The withdrawal of children by their parents and guardians immediately upon the expiration of their lawful school age, is probably one of the causes of the decrease of pupils in the common schools. The percentage of school children over fifteen years of age in actual attendance at the common schools is very small,—probably not over three per cent. The demand for labor on sugar plantations also tends to draw all available help to itself, including the labor of school children. Still, eighty-seven per cent, of the school population of the Kingdom are in attendance at school, as shown by the census returns of 1872. (See table 5.)

Efficiency of the Common Schools.

The principle of grading classes in the common schools has been adhered to during the past biennial period; and in proportion as this principle has been understood by the teachers and applied, it has produced the most satisfactory results. The proportion of teachers who have applied the theory of graded classes to their school organization has largely increased, and their schools are in a progressive state. The system upon which the common schools are now conducted is briefly this : Each school is graded into two, three or four classes, according to the intelligence and proficiency of the pupils.

Class I. Curriculum of study.—Reading, mental and written arithmetic, geography, penmanship and composition.

Class II. Reading, mental arithmetic, geography, penmanship.

Class III. Reading, first principles of arithmetic, penmanship.

Class IV. Primer, use of slate and pencil.

The youngest children are not classified until they can put letters together in syllables.

Vocal music is taught wherever competent teachers are found.

Teachers' Conventions have been continued, and have added much to the efficiency of the teachers. They have supplied in page 4 a measure the place of normal schools in the training of teachers actually employed as such, but do not afford fresh material from which to draw in case of need.

School Books.

The following is a list of text books in use in the common schools :

Kumumua, ano hou—An illustrated primer.

Ao-heluhelu—A progressive reader.

Helukamalii—An elementary mental arithmetic.

Helunaau—A translation of Colburn's Mental Arithmetic.

Huinahelu Hou—A translation of Thompson's Higher Arithmetic.

Ka Honua Nei—A translation of "Our World," number one, with Hawaiian geography added.

The edition of the "Ao-heluhelu" is running low, and another edition, revised, will be needed before the close of the current biennial period.

"Ka Honua Nei" is an elementary work on geography, finely illustrated, for the publication of which your Honorable Body at its last regular session voted means. An edition of 7,000 copies has been printed, at a total cost of $3,968 56. The book has been extensively introduced into the common schools, and will be the means of extending the knowledge of geography amongst both teachers and pupils. Copies of the book will be submitted for your inspection.

A translation of "Our World," number two, is in the course of preparation at the office of the Board. The maps and plates for the work have been received, at a cost of $1,800 44, paid for from the proceeds of the sales of school books, but a further appropriation will be necessary before the work can be completed and placed in the schools.

School Houses and Furniture.

Every district of the Kingdom is now supplied with good school houses, and but a small amount of money is necessary to keep the same in repair. There is a great lack, however, of the proper school furniture, such as comfortable forms for the pupils, and desks for the teachers. These deficiencies are gradually being supplied by the school agents of the various districts.

School Finances.

Owing to the liberality of your Honorable Body in past years, the common schools of the Kingdom have been enabled to keep full sessions. Your supplementary grants to the destitute districts are still necessary, and will I trust be continued.

III.—Government Select Schools.

The English language is made a vehicle of instruction in these schools, though by no means to the exclusion of the Hawaiian.

Government Boarding Schools.

Lahainaluna Seminary.

Number of students, 88.

This institution maintains its reputation for thoroughness of instruction in the branches taught. A beginning has been made in normal school instruction; but, to reap the full benefit of such a course, a normal school department should be added to the institution, which should been entirely separate from the collegiate course now pursued, and be continued for two years. That period would be sufficient to thoroughly prepare young men for the vocation of common school teachers. At present not more than one-half of each entering class remain at the institution during the full term of four years. The remainder drop out gradually, for various reasons. A normal school course of two years would tend to obviate this evil. Pupils could enter such a course, regularly graduate at the end of two years, and receive diplomas as graduates.

This plan, fully carried out, would necessitate the employment of an additional assistant in the seminary, so as to enable one of the chief teachers to devote the greater part of his time and attention to the normal school department. Our common school teachers ought to be specially educated for their work; and if Lahainaluna cannot do it, where shall it be done?

Haleakala Boys' Boarding School.

Number of pupils, 41.

This is now a boarding school, and is in a flourishing condition. The discipline of the school, based upon the military plan, is a success. It banishes the rod, and teaches the boys self-government. It develops a vivacity and precision of movement, and a quickness of perception not easily learned, but of great value. The health of the pupils has been excellent, and the diet, though plain, is abundant.

The school is an industrial one, and the pupils share in the pecuniary profits of their labor. The washing, carpentering, fence making, and dairy work is all performed by them. A ten acre lot has been enclosed with a wire fence put up by the boys, under the supervision of Messrs. Clark and Rogers, and it is now being plowed by young oxen trained by them.

The Dairy is a very important adjunct of the school. On the first day of February, 1871, the live stock connected with the school numbered 197;—consisting of 91 cows, 16 calves, and 90 miscellaneous cattle. The valuation of dairy-house stock at the same time was 125 dollars.

On the first day of January, 1874, the live stock had increased to 406; consisting of 140 cows, 30 calves, 30 trained oxen, and 206 miscellaneous cattle. These figures are exclusive of 41 head of cattle killed for the use of the school. At the same date the dairy-house stock was valued at $462.50.

The present accommodations at the school for boarders being filled to their utmost capacity, and the need of a good dwelling house for the principal having long been a necessity, the Board of Education, in January last, authorized alterations and extensions of the school buildings and of the dwelling house of the principal to be made. A contract was made by the Inspector General, acting for the Board of Education, with Messrs. Snell & King, carpenters, to do the whole work according to specified plans, and including freight and cartage, for the sum of $5,401.75.

After the alterations and additions shall have been completed page 7 the buildings will accommodate sixty pupils. At present the school labors under the disadvantage of an uncertain water supply. The summers of 1872 and 1873 were protracted seasons of extreme drouth; and the water supply at the school was made to last out the drouth, only by the severest economy and at a great sacrifice of cleanliness. Two new cisterns are in the course of construction and every foot of roof surface will be utilized; and should no more long continued drouths occur, the cistern capacity, about 3000 barrels, will be sufficient, if the institution is enabled to enter upon each summer with full cisterns. However, a sufficient and certain water supply can be secured for all purposes connected with the school and dairy, by laying down pipes two and one-half miles to a spring in the mountain, called Waihou. This spring is on government land, and flowed, during the driest months of the drouth of last summer, 380 barrels of water every twenty-four hours.

No school under the control of government possesses so great advantages, as this institution, for development into a practical, industrial school, at which the mechanical trades in common demand may be taught to the youth of this Kingdom. I would respectfully call the attention of Your Honorable Body to the importance of this school, and to suggest that means may be furnished to obtain a certain water supply.

Industrial and Reformatory Schools.

School at Kapalama.

Number of pupils, 56.

This school continues to merit the support of the country. The youth committed to it receive the benefit of continued occupation. They are schooled in book knowledge three hours page 8 per day for four days in the week. Those of their number who show an aptitude for acquiring English are taught the rudiments of that language, and the remainder receive a good elementary education in Hawaiian. The lands belonging to the school are cultivated by the boys, who likewise do the tailoring for the institution, under the general supervision of the teachers.

A department for girls, in the Reformatory School, is very much needed; but heretofore it has been found difficult to secure a suitable teacher or matron to take charge of it; and to have made it an entirely separate establishment would have caused an expense exceeding the means at the disposal of the Board.

Government Select Day Schools.

Hilo Union Free School.

Number of pupils, 182; boys, 92; girls, 90.

This school, under the energetic guidance of its present efficient principal, maintains its place in the front rank of our schools. The progress made by the pupils has been very commendable. The plan pursued is to afford an elementary education in English to all the pupils who show an aptitude therefor, whilst those who do not are offered the advantages of acquiring a better education in their own language than they can obtain in the majority of common schools.

The corps of teachers is paid, as formerly, partly from the fund for the support of English and Hawaiian schools, and partly from the school fund of the district.

Lahaina Union Free School.

Number of pupils, 168; boys, 94; girls, 74.

This is a new institution, modeled after the Union School at Hilo. It was inaugurated by resolution of the Board of Education in April, 1873. It comprises the pupils of the five common schools existing at that time in the town of Lahaina. The commodious and central premises known as "Halealoha" were secured from the trustees of the Wainee Church at the nominal rental of ten dollars a year for the term of five years, with the privilege of a renewal of the lease at the expiration of that time. One of the common school houses was moved over to the premises, and an additional building erected thereon, the cost of which was very nearly met by the sale of two of the remaining school houses of the town. During the opening year of the school much time has been spent in the fatiguing labor of reducing the wild, undisciplined youth of the common schools of Lahaina to a state of order, and in grading the classes.

The corps of teachers is paid from the fund for the support of English and Hawaiian schools, and from the Lahaina school fund. The school is in a satisfactory state of progress.

Royal School.

Number of pupils, 167.

The primary department of this school has not latterly been carried on with as much energy and interest as is desirable, and I trust there will be a change for the better.

Pohukaina Girls' School.

(Formerly the Mililani School.)

Number of pupils, 75.

This school was reported in 1872 as being in a languishing condition, the number of pupils at that time being only 38. I am happy to report a different state of affairs at the present page 10 time. The number of pupils has doubled, and the school is in a very prosperous condition, owing to the indefatigable efforts of the principal, ably seconded by her assistant. In January last the Board of Education exchanged with the Minister of the Interior its right and title to the school premises at Mililani for a retired and very desirable locality on Punchbowl street, called Pohukaina. To this spot was conveyed the upper wooden story of the Mililani school house, formerly known as the old Charity school house. This has been put in thorough order, and a fine commodious building also erected on the new premises. The two buildings will afford accommodation for one hundred or more pupils, and the total cost for the transfer of the school to its present site has been $4,438 54.

Fort Street School.

Number of pupils, 69; boys, 64; girls, 5.

I cannot report as satisfactory a state of affairs at this school as I could wish. With a view to bring up the standard of the school to the requirements of the English-speaking portion of the population, and make it a school at which their children might acquire a useful education, the Board of Education, in September of last year, authorized the Inspector General to prepare a curriculum of studies for the school, which should embrace an elective high school course. Such a course was prepared, approved by the Board, and published; and will be enforced.

This school is much more expensive to the Board than was anticipated, and more so than it ought to be, considering the means of many of those who patronize it. It is to be hoped that payment for tuition will be made more promptly; and that the school will increase in merit and popularity.

IV.—schools Aided by Government.

The English language forms the chief vehicle of education in all of these schools.

Boarding Schools for Girls.

East Maui Female Seminary.

Number of pupils, 51.

This institution maintains the efficiency of its educational advantages. The domestic training of the girls is excellent, and their school room education is unsurpassed by any institution in the land. It is to be regretted, however, that the parents of some of the pupils do not pay their school bills more promptly.

Those parents and guardians who send their girls to the family boarding schools, and pay $50 or less per annum for board and tuition, should bear in mind that they do not pay the whole cost thereof. The capitation fees from the Board of Education, contributions from benevolent societies and individuals, gratuitous services of some of the teachers, and others, free rent, etc., make up the large deficiency.. The interests of the schools and the cause of education call for more strictness in collecting the bills for board and tuition. The natural inclination is to undervalue those good things which are received without effort or cost.

School of Saint Cross, Lahaina.

Number of pupils, 37.

Although the number of pupils attending this school has decreased, its excellence is unimpaired. There has been a considerable amount of sickness at the school during the past few months, probably caused by the unusual amount of rainy weather, and one pupil has died. At present the health of the pupils is good, and their progress in education fair.

Kawaiahao Female Seminary.

Number of pupils, 40.

Prosperity continues to attend this popular institution. The health of the school is good, and the pupils have progressed commendably in their studies.

Waialua Female Seminary.

Number of pupils, 31.

This Seminary has had many obstacles to contend against during the past year. Its moral health has suffered, and twelve of the older pupils have been expelled on account of gross insubordination. The trustees may be carrying on the school with too small a teaching force to maintain an efficient discipline, and the boarding fee charged is too small to give a satisfactory bill of fare and pay the current expenses of the establishment. Instead of $30 per annum, the charge should be at least $40, and $50 would not be too much.

The principal and her assistant are laborious, conscientious teachers, and at the present time, the Seminary appears to be gaining a more healthy tone. The pupils remaining in it are, for the most part, very young, ranging from three to sixteen or seventeen years of age.

St. Andrew's Priory.

With several Assistants.

Number of pupils, 73; boarders, 26 : day scholars, 47.

This large and important school continues to share the confidence of the parents and guardians of the children attending it. Applicants stand ready to send their children whenever opportunity is offered them.

With the purpose to encourage the entry at family boarding schools of girls at an early age, before they may have formed vicious habits, and in order to so apply the limited means at its disposal for the benefit of those who attend such schools as to do the most good, the Board on the 22d day of January last made and published the following regulation, viz:

Notice to Family Boarding Schools for Hawaiian Girls.

From and after July 1st, 1874, no capitation fees will be allowed by the Board of Education for any pupil over ten years of age who shall have been entered at any family boarding school after the date above named; and no claim for capitation fees will be allowed after July 1st, 1874, for any pupils over sixteen years of age.

Capitation fees will be allowed for pupils who shall have attended schools of this class regularly from their tenth year, should they have been transferred to another family boarding school at any time between their tenth and sixteenth years of age; but the rate of capitations for such pupils shall be reckoned only from the date at which they shall have been admitted into the school claiming fees thereon, without reference to the time that shall have been spent in schools previously attended.

It shall be necessary that pupils transferred as above stated, and for whom capitation fees shall be asked, shall have been creditably discharged from the schools previously attended; and that the schools claiming fees thereon shall be subject to the regulations of the Board of Education published June 8th, 1865.

Boarding Schools for Boys.

Hilo Boarding School.

Two native assistants. Number of pupils, 79.

Amount of aid granted, $1,800.

This school continues to be in a prosperous condition. It has recently sustained a severe loss in the death of its energetic native assistant, Mr. Huluhulu. An invitation has been extended to Mr. Makaimoku, of Lahainaluna, to return to his former charge at the school.

Oahu College.

Number of pupils, 89; boys, 51, girls, 38.

This institution has more than doubled the number of its pupils since the last biennial report. It is in reality a high school, and stands at the head of our public educational institutions. The three government scholarships are worthily filled by youth of Hawaiian extraction.

Ahuimanu College.

Pupils, 41.

The Board of Education having been applied to by the faculty of this school for aid, voted to grant to it the sum of $400 for one year from September 1st, 1873. This grant was made in the form of eight Hawaiian scholarships, to be given to pupils nominated by the principal, and approved of by the Board, and it is hoped that the Board will be enabled to continue this aid.

Iolani College.

Pupils, 20.

The Board of Education maintains ten scholarships at this institution, at an annual cost of $100 per annum, per capita for board, lodging, and tuition.

Iole Boarding School.

Number of pupils, 20.

The native teacher is paid fifty cents a day from the Kohala District school fund.

Day Shools Subsidized by Government.

Hilo Foreign School, (formerly Miss H. F. Coan's School), Miss E. A. Arms, teacher. Number of pupils, 29; boys, 11, girls, 18. A board of trustees elected from amongst the foreign residents of Hilo, has the control of this school. It is in a flourishing condition and receives an annual grant of $100 from the district school fund. The Board of Education has recently made a grant of $300 to the trustees to aid them in building a school house.

St. Joseph's School, Hilo, numbers 54 pupils on its roll; boys, 34, girls, 20; and receives a grant of $200 per annum from the Hilo district school fund.

Mrs. Lidgate's School, Hilo, receives a grant of $40 per year from the school fund. No proper return of the number of pupils in attendance has been received at the office of the Board.

West Maui English School, G. W. Hart, teacher. Pupils, 60; boys, 31, girls', 29. This school receives an annual grant of $200 from the Wailuku School Fund.

Rev. Aubert'S School, Lahaina, numbers 82 pupils on its roll. The Board of Education has made an annual grant to the school of $150, to be paid from the Lahaina District School Fund.

Bethel Chinese School, Honolulu; E. Dunscom be, teacher; pupils 13. This school receives a grant of $200 per annum, from the appropriation for Hawaiian and English schools.

Miss Johnson's School, Hanalei, continues to receive $500 per annum from the same fund. Number of pupils, 37; boys, 21, girls, 16.

V.—Independent Schools.

The following table gives the returns from all this class of schools. The English language is taught in them all.

VI.—The Census.

In accordance with the provisions of law, the Board of Education ordered the census of the Kingdom to be taken, December 27th, 1872. Every precaution was observed at the Office of the Board to insure as correct a return as possible. The following figures relating to the children in the nation will tend to diminish the sorrow felt at the continued decrease of the population.

The total cost incurred in taking the census has been $3,515.

Copies of the tables accompany this report.

VII.—School Laws—their Operation.

The great majority of our school laws have worked well, and have been faithfully carried out. The Act passed by the Legislature in 1870, providing for the election, by the parents and guardians of children attending the common schools, of a third member for the school board of each district, and defining the powers of those boards, has been inoperative. During the four years that the Act has been in force, observation has proved that in a great majority of school districts, not only are parents and guardians entirely apathetic in the matter of the choice of a third member for their district school board, but it has also demonstrated that a door has been opened by it to a very shiftless portion of our population to enter our common schools as teachers.

The Board of Education, through its authorized agents, has ever been ready to listen to all the reasonable requests of the parents of any district in matters pertaining to the education of their children. I respectfully recommend that your Honorable Body repeal this Act.

Manual Labor in the Common Schools.

I am of the opinion that manual labor should be made a part of our system of common school education. There are Government lands lying contiguous to common school houses, now unemployed. In many localities a portion of this could be utilized by the pupils and teachers in raising remunerative crops. I would recommend that an act be passed by your Honorable Body empowering the Board of Education to introduce manual labor into the educational course of the common schools, and setting apart, under certain conditions, portions of the public domain, adjoining the various school houses, which may be fit for cultivation of crops, to the uses of the pupils and teacher, wherever no school lands can be made available for the purpose, and also to lease suitable lands and to arrange for the cultivation of crops on shares or otherwise.

Three or four hours per day of earnest attention to school lessons, and two or three hours of manual labor out of doors, page 18 would promote health and industrious habits; the avails of the labor would add to the income of the teachers and furnish the pupils with means to pay for books, and would, if properly carried out, be an improvement upon the present system.

It is frequently remarked that the rising generation are not as industrious as their ancestors were; that they—and especially those educated in the higher schools and in the English language—have wrong ideas about labor; in short, are lazy and idle, and have much more of pride and conceit than is good for them.

If the general effect of education under our present system, is to destroy or lessen respect for honest industry, or for thrift and independence acquired by manual labor, then is there something wrong or wanting in that system, and it behooves all friends of the race to search for a better one. But if such ideas are exceptional, and proceed from the inexperience of youth, and the lack of proper home instruction and training, then may we hope that their bad influence will be temporary, and that time and necessity will correct them. Hawaiian parents are as a rule over-indulgent with their children, and no schooling which the Government can provide will wholly remedy the damage resulting from neglect of paternal discipline.

It is important that in all of the schools, those for girls as well as those for the boys, a desire to be able to provide for their own wants in an honest way, and respect for the industrious and virtuous, however humble their station and employment may seem to be, should be inculcated. Where else so well as in family schools, or in well-ordered households, can such instruction be given and such ideas imparted?

The school tax of two dollars pays only about thirty-seven per cent, of the whole annual expenditure for education; and though the expenditure has seemed large considering the amount of the entire revenue of the Kingdom, it is confidently hoped that your Honorable Body will not be inclined to reduce the sum asked for in the Budget for the current two years, which is $8,300 less than the appropriation for schools 1872 and 1873.

God Save the King.

Hawaiian and English Schools.

Support of Common Schools.

Industrial and Reformatory School.

Building New School Houses.

Printing, &c., of Hawaiian Geography.

School Fund.

Cash Receipts and Disbursements.

Receipts and Expenditures for Common Schools.

The Schools of the Hawaiian Kingdom, January 1st, 1874

Census of the Hawaiian Islands, Taken December 27, 1872.

Papa helu I na kanaka o ka Pae Aina o Hawaii, I heluia I ka la 27 o Dekemaba, 1872.