Newspapers / Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.) / July 3, 1930, edition 1 / Page 1
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VOL. LIL ^==9<9e^e--£S*£» iY 3,19S0. NO. 27. Irpy aiftv 9tm% »»t? *■$*> ?■ $$ ift .:& ,, 1 a. *•?;-;'. S,.i' . ft «>^P' «ft . ft $ By P. L.Prattte Staff Correspondent of The As Port au Prince, Haiti, June.— As the first week of investiga tion into the educational sys tem of Haiti of the Moton Edu cational Commission comes to & close, it is possible to discern that the information which the commission has obtained is of two types. The first type, obtained prin cipally from Haitian, American and Roman Catholic Adminis trative officers, is composed of the facts relative to the curric ula, the physical equipment and the management of the Haitian national schools, ; the Roman Catholic schools and the so called “farm" schools of the Americans. The second type of information, . volunteered by Haitian officials, newspaper men and the leaders of various Haitian societies, is the date of criticism in connection with the operation of the American schools. It is important to point out here that all the public mon-. eys of the Republic of Haiti are controlled by the so-called treaty, or American officers, and that by virtue of that su pervisory {relation the Ameri cans, through budget control, determine the scope of practic ally all Haitian activities. Thus there is supposed to be a Haitian system of national scnoois. rnese scnoois are planned to take children at the kindergarten age and to re lease them when they have fin ished the Lycee,-the-ftnal year of which has a course of study about equal to that of the Sophomore year in American colleges. But expansion of phy sical equipment, salaries of teachers, repairs and all such items of expense, are actually determined by the American financial advisor, who, with the Haitian finance minister, must approve the budget of the Hai tian Minister of Education and may, at his discretion, strike from the budget items of which he disapproves. More fortunate in respect to physical equipment and super vision are the parochial schools. The Catholics have the finest and best equipped school build ings. The parochial schools are an able adjunct to the national school system, but they are not ample enough to supplant the national schools, nor would it be wished that they should do so. The Haitian point of view is that these schools should at some time De mane a part or the national school system. The American schools are of the greatest public interest at this time. They are operated by what is called the Service Tech nique de 1’Agriculture. This department was established by law in 1922. It has been under the direction of Dr. George Freeman, now absent in the States. In the schools which nave been established under this department the program has been to give the students in the rural districts training in agri culture, trades, and rudimenta ry academic subjects which would aid them in their farm and shop work. The Service be gan with twelve schools, having taken over several Ifaitian rural schools and some of the teach ers. Seventy-five schools are now operated with more than 7,000 pupils. The work of these schools heads up at a central school at Damien, where teachers are supposed to be trained to take UP the work in the farm schools. Eligibility for admission to Da mifcn ^graduation with a certif icate f$om the Lycee, The best students at Damian arq sent to the States to complete their stu dies, r The Service Technique also; operates a variety of agriculture experiment stations, a farm ex tension system with demonstra tion agents, and interests itself in the development of crops which have an export future. Much attention has been given to the growing of cotton and si sal. • 4. The ^Service Technique is maintaiwi on almost a strictly American basis,- It has been ex tended iqto all parts of the Re public as rapidly as conditions would wlwrant. There are two parties to the criticism^ %hich one hears in a discussion of educational condi tions in the island. The mote important and vociferous is con stituted of the Haitians who di* rect thei#- principal shafts atifte Service Technique. , The other party is made up of the men with the Service Technique, who justify their program by point ing Out Haitian defeets. * Haitian' leaders voice a vari ety of complaints- Fundamental with them i« the fact that the Service Technique is maintained with Haitian money. In six years neai^r four million dol lars have , pen used to expend i is much more has been used this Servici money the Hat nati forif budget for nique for gourdes, a ! Teel the service 1930 is 2,796,600 gourde being one fifth of a dollar. The 1930 budg et for the Haitian Department of public instruction is 1,947, 268 gourdes, there thus being a difference of almost one million gourdes. Both budgets are ap proved or disapproved by the American financial advisor. The Haitians believe that not only too much money is spent in taking their money to impose upon them a system of educa tion which Americans think is best, for them, but they think the money is unwisely and un fairly spent. They complain first that the buildings which the Americans construct are too costly for a country, with as little money as Haiti has. Second, they complain that the salaries of the Ameri can teachers, referred to- jocu larly by all Haitians| as 4Amer can experts,” are too high, and; an unjust burden upon the |[ai tian people. Thir& they feel that money has been mid 4s be ing wasted in some of the agri cultural developments. Thus they agree that the experW ments in sisal are unwise be cause that crop is not profitable unless grown on a large scale, the planter owning this factory, and that. most . Haitians, are small farmers and must-contin ue to be. Further they state that the Service Technique ex? perimegts in animal husbandry have been costly because high price American stocky unsuited to the climate, has been import ed with very poor results^ There is a further complaint in connection with salaries. Americans are employed to head up practically,every phase of the. work of the Service Technique. Haitians are em ployed .as assistants apd. teach ers. The Americans are called, “experts.” Their salaries seem to begin at three hundred dol lars a month and go up. The salaries of the Haitians seem to stop at two hundred* and fifty dollars a .month and oeme down. The u Haitian tx charges - Erectly that many ctf these “experts” have not been experts at all and claims that, there isadouble pcale qf salaries not depending on merit, and under which the Haitian is allowed to makejust half as, mueh as an American in the fame position. An anabasis of the Haitian charge.0/ incompetence against the j&gmrican “experts” shows that the Haitian feels the job bdeanee he dees not know the -language, does not know Amerieanjsoften ill fit for his tropiealjagjeiculture^ and is not only, ignorant of the tempera ment of . the people he works with, hat by iholding: himself aloof , and above the Haitian, shows himself to have no ap parent desire to become better acquainted with the. Haitian people.. A number of special examples of incompetence of one sort or another has been^jpt Another cause for all feeling against the Service Technique has been what the Haiitans re gard as a sort of high-handed ness in its administration, Hai tian teachers, th§y say, were seldpm if ever consulted about the work ol~ the department. t The!.' Haitians feel that the Americans ran it like they want ed it without regard at: all for whajf' the< Haitians thought about r it. The. ■*. Haitians , of couhse; always had in the back cf their heads the fact that the Americans were spending Hai* tiamjnoney to do the job. Many Haitians who feel that the Settee -Technique itt*y still rendeiK’godd service to the na tion, complain that it has not produfehiofesttlta SO far. Thejf wish to attend the \ central school- at Damien, because they do not feel* tl#e work in the country afterward offers a big enough opportunity for them. Thus the directors of the S«r vice Teohnique are said to have had to offer a large number ^of scholarships1 to obtain students for the school and to have ad mitted students who were una*’ ble to pass the entrance re quirements. It is charged that not one practical farmer has been graduated from the school in the six years of its exist • I Counter to the charges con stantly being made by the Hai tians in their newspapers, are those-'made “ by the Americans of the Service Technique. While they show the disposition to al -that some: mistakes have beert'made, they offer reports showing progress of the sort they set out to make, and say that before the Service Tech nique began operation, the Hai tians-were doing nothing for themselves'. They rather feel that useful education would have: continued1 to be a neglect ed field among the Haitians if the Americans had not done something' There is a sugges tion in some things they say that they consider the Haitians intel ligent, but irresponsible. They don’t seem to think that the Haitians can handle large sums of money, event hough itis Hai tian money, as wisely as Ameri cans can handle it for them. Your correspondent does not in tend to make « charge in the above statement, but merely to reflect the sentiment of state ments he has heard from Amer icans. All of the past week was spenl in Port au Prince by the'mem* hers of the Moton Commission. Thursday was a holiday, the Pete dti bleu. Wednesday and Friday afternoons the coimnis sion visited in the national schools in Port au Prince. Mon day morning they had visited —■ t i. rn . t. , .- - - (Continued on page 4) would live his life es^%ie foein the conflic|t win; but he elects to go aking - forward to some things'; though he be on (filer oiF'his land. m* . 1 Chapman. aarfMiss ftp Mi«fl Chapman was a * in Scotia when Dr. Luke & the first President of i was there. When I made ft-vi$it to tins dear okf forty years ago I met jUpHy women. I use this go because it expresses titude they have exhibit ‘ these years toward the wuum mey came 10 “ from ignorance. These stian women retire^ as in Scotia years ago and ide Concord their eve l{fe home. ‘ Old Biddle . and. old Scotia grad isrt tSiotia’s eommence r le hope aj)d expec seeing these two faith in, who came here and among our people for not for a dollar, godly women are mem Rev. Wilson’s churcla ^ter, and attend servic regularly and contri ely. We feel at home . for their attitude and otherwise toward eroughly godly, no pro ne strain on the social The^ are just at ease re the Man of Galilee; all. lent fflHM of firinpeton University, says tion fs a failure” on the ground that menin high society‘ are still drinking and that, he1 says: “I am almost alone when it comes to dinners with various kinds of liquid refreshments.” President Hibben says that the law should be rescinded. Is it not expected that the plain man with the low brow, receding forehead, nearby look with child-like simplicity should take such position when a Presi dent of an institution like Prince ton gives out such for publica tion? Why rescind a law because a large number of people disre gard it; or because it is not properly or rigidly enforced by lawmakers? The sixth, seventh and eighth commandments are being broken daily in every vil lage and hamlet, byway anc highway; but men who see the social fabric held together ae the result of the very existent of these commandments do no1 feel or express the conviction that they aTe failures and therefore should be rescind ed.” Many high-brow groupj say that prohibition is a limi tation on man’s liberty. Bui all law is a limitation on man’; liberty for the welfare of so ciety; for instance, the thre< commandments to which I hav< just referred. The sixth com mandment limits man’s liberty in taking human life withou giving an account, or satisfyinj the law that protects huma* life. The seventh commandmen is a limitation on man’s libert; in his desire or effort to remov the keystone of all human soci ety; and the eighth command ment is a limitation on man’; liberty in his wicked design and intrigues to deprive anothe of personal possession. The ai imat or fowl ruite his competitd , down and takes his prey with out fear of redress from his « fended, helpless creature. No so with'man lest he finds th eighth commandment informin where his legal* rights end an another’s begins. . r V ^ ,f5(. . A Reunion of the grads an undergrade of Johnson ™ 48^- iii liit.n jimil in' ii ■il A, jj o. y •• iri t twss from Bfcdle (1877) haw* patted, R*r. J. P. Cnpatfordand Prof. - - *#«“. tlje latter of Jack the otter, |tw|>—there were tfoilr fn tfle class—Dr. R. P. W^chh'fia Prdf.Johh Ei- Rattleyj yet livW, and are-very^aetive.- - - ( Outbid college mate and friend, D. C. Stubbs, df Ben-1 ndjt«$JK £. C.f aaarf , that he ™ > at theL ffuiuon next jtFrom The I^esbyterian) Those of us who§e b^pnh i PftBtArs is now years befe rest interest'and, It may apa pige of envy. In of all that is said by ttfttfiff Wtok : start * With iiiobe*' delightful dutibbk.c? T^ey go into a comwtihtoy Wip a plate made for them4 which oth ers! must win after ptbvii^g theiir worth: Peop^nVgeftjBfrV of their ow# iehur&i hs'weirjfe of other tinwteiilfl#*® church, look with* ifttffestjtoOn ott the new minlMPKHpi Wofthftfes: Soeiatly^and in ev er oth^ way;: he starts with the! beat hr* his community. He will also becon^C at once a lead er and guide to ms own partic ular congregation, who desire to please-him and follow him. There is a value in pur Presby terian instolfethm service by which Presbytery solemnly places a man as leader over the church. Rightly conducted, it is very impressive and strength-5 ens the young.,man in his place. Soon he will find the way* op en for him .to. enter the^lives and homes of his people/ espe cially- in their* hard experienc es. It is onaha£ the high privi* eges for a ypHQg man to be welcom.e^h^ife difficulty and sorrow have -come. Ip sdch cir cumstances ^e ^ill learn much, and if rhjpvtrapEt; be right,: will do far more (to help and com fort than, he realizes. *. Then th^ is pn, exhiliration in gliding ;p^)ple in public wor ship an^.to^hay^^em wait to lear his Bejrigton.,.People of far larg^experien^r and greater ability, will sit pt. his feet as he proclaims, toyhgin the things of God.’ He is dull of spirit and not fully fit for his task who esteerns this privilege lightly He may properly tremble before hie task and be. strained as he prepares, for it, but trusting the Lord and trying with hie Plight, fie. should be thriUec ^[whenever, he enters the pulpit Next- to the calL which takes into the work*younj minister must have full anc tat is whj are-so im tbemwJve forth, ant the belief, . r the churches. t the seminary be , careless ii ^scholarship and dndiffeiient ir t^ddetrine,. great harm is done a^Ttaining^ defective, ih scholar tship or orthodoxy, will great* cripple the. young man in hi work. If he haye no training o partial training, his work, wit pare exceptions, will not endun however charming and graciou t) ry hejnay be. There are some things a young man starting a pasotrate does well to have in mind. The Presbytery installs him with a view to a long pas torate. It s a great harm when a. young minister starts in one pltfce with his eye wandernig around to see the next place, rhe church over which he has been installed is his field, re quiring all the powers he has. He should take it as if it were to be his only pastorate. If Providence sees a place of greater usefulness, it'will be brought to view without undue, effort on the young man’s part. Probably every minister has times when he wishes he were elsewhere, but that field may have its hard things likewise. Physicians, lawyers, merchants, farmers settle with a long stay in mind, . So should, the minis- t Most ministers are poor and. paid, and at times the financial burden is hard: Never* • -' theless, nothing will hurt a roung ipan more than to think too nntth of his safety. It is about the last * question he should ask when contemplating a field and his work is ham pered if he becomes too eager for mere. Let the 700% man r*naem fOre he came te ft, and hfs pre fer that the church existed be decessor was not all wrong nor totally incompetent. This mat ter comes to view if one suc ceeds aa another who^has been a long timeJn the ehurdi. No -a a doubt as he grew older, some thingfcjfcarp left undone and some parts,, can be improved. The young pastor will usually fe th*.iajt places quickly;_but SbSSIm**slow l^^ne^things Have be€nf lpi*e- " cious through long usage, and he who rips and tears out too soon of too harshly will wound the substantial part of his con gregation. Though they submit the wound is sore. Most men can reform a clnSrch in time, provided Jdue ddnsideration |i$ given to the past history and the people who lovSd the church before the young pastor was heard of. In this day the temptation is to get away from the two great essentials of successful church leadership' which are sound preaching and devoted pastoral work. These are old-fashioned and simple, but all said and done, they are the real things yet' So many begin at once to agitate for a new and expen sive building, tp form organiza tions which are at most only semi-religious, to turn the church into a restaurant. These are superficial and may have their place, but they are too ex pensive if paid for in time need ed dn pulpit preparation and pastoral calling. The best work is done where a pastor is devoted to his peo ple and where the minister proclaims the strong old truths with all the ability he can com mand.. Too great concession to merely ethical preaching or to “new views” proclaimed so ve l_ hemently by some will cause a weakening in the spiritual life of the church. “Hold fast the form of sound words,” as Paul j wrote to Timothy. THE CHILD OF GOD * Bad will be the day for every ■ mhn when he becomes absolute ? fy contented with the life that i he is living, with the thoughts |; that he is thinking, with the • deeds that he is doing, when ■ there is not forever beating at r. the doors of his soul some great i desire to do somehting larger, r, which he knows that he was i mehnt and made to do because ;, he is still, in spite of all, the s child of God.—Phillips Brooks.
Africo-American Presbyterian (Wilmington, N.C.)
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July 3, 1930, edition 1
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