Nuhou, Volume II, Number 26, 24 October 1873 — A Student's Labor for Knowledge [ARTICLE]

A Student's Labor for Knowledge

a CorresponAeiu A the N. V. 'l'un ', i visitinir tlie Corneli Uin;ver>kv, dc\?cribes. ul*. j . j other interesting i£.rueu'iars, a eonvcrsaUo:; Lc" • ; wit!i one of the students. The intervL'W gl»\ - j good indieatk v n of the; qualities uf the y_; ( maii, \vh? is a sample of a great iuany in :! Corneli and other of are obtaining an edueation Linder \vhat t:ie w;:l ! woiikl eall adverse eireumstanees. But alt;;c ! the la->or is hard and the deprivations great, tl. ! form the furnaee of triaj, t j iefinc the ir,telL\ : | and a menta! and moial state L«f,steri".:.. ! pnrity and value. ! 44 l looked arouud fjr some studeiīL whj ! iniomi me as t.> theprogvcss made lu t;ie specL.Lv !of Oomell—thc sclf-supportiog part of t... ( system. At !ast, by good ehanee, I eame up_;. ! room where a young feilow of tweaty-three w,,Btudying Sanscrit. llaving been la Inaia : many years. I was interestcd in his studics» ai - we coinmenccd an anlmated eonversatiē f j up. I roots. \Ye eritleised Mas MuL;. commented upon Busseu % s theory of the Pclasg.. ! people, and hearti!y agreed upou the absuriir |of stuiying Greek and Latlu t whiea werc d:L sponges, out of wuieh ejttrsthia££ooa hai le; takcn hy our aucestors. ! Incldeutally 1 lca;u. :that this most aecomplisl)icd geutlciuau wai pordrg li;msclf by laboring on tlie larm. I;r gencrally workt\l three, hours a day, aui ;hours on £aturda^> t and ,had alrcady get : his appolutcd labor for that Saturday\ I J hhn if tlus manual tabof of \e , lnot {?tupn?fj him, i\>utr4*t the brpu eells» i make lus apprehcnsiou diflkr, llejrepHed ll.;; did not» bceause Lc had, bcea l»rouilit furhur* aud liai to learn when he tlic collcge, Ue \vas the agricul;a: eee,r>e, but hai bceome iuterested īu and vne of the pi\)fcssor>, who kuew J hn.l oeeeme intercsted iu him, aud hai £ivc ' him lessons In that pe|feet ta;; MHiental studies aiv uot in thc curricuk:u, 1 salv\—l suppo?e yours uau tndividual Student —Ves, ;\s re^tds h the WtU\>Usy\ ; j !'

riot i\n % tlie lanu/ There are 29 of us who woik on it. i' ■ Corionpondcnt— Does it pay your expon>os ? lStudcnt —lt pajs 'iuine, but then 1 \vorked stcadily during the long three monthg vaeation, whieh ended in Septeu>ber. I eu.n go easv now if I ieel inciined. Gorrespondent—l euppose the hardest parfc of the work is done bv laborerB empiojed for that purpose ? ; Student—Not. niThere are only two teamsters hired on the farm, and al! the' ot!ier work is done by us. At this momeni: wehe laying down a Beries of draio3j and this is very lieavy work indeed. CorreBpondent—Did you do that this tiii'rnir«g? Student-~Y.es,- fbr sis hōurs. Corrc?pondent —And (}id yo*a not ieei str<pciied ■ ār tlred oiii'?-. . .:. I Studeut— Kot ut ail. f disliko the wovk, aiul' was very jzkv.l'to ->ack tb|hfe, but I. not tireu. i ... r ,■■■ ' ' ' ■■■■■-."■ . -i Correspondent—Are there auy other methods j .'i' eaniing oneV support here besidcs thc farm?' Student—Oli ye.>. Lf you ean priiit 5 you ean eaia morc iu thc pre>.- room than on the and soon therc wiil be lots of work in the maehine ihop. The men are going to māke eopies of lUliver'6 geomctrie modcls,\. Correripondent—What's that? Student— Whv, a Frenchmau oi' th«; name of i Uivicr made a eefc of models to' itiust.rate.all the of geometry. A set was'purehascd by the vStato oi'NewYork, and is, l think, at Aibany. Tliey are goiug to īuake copies.pf thesc. 'T\venty thousand dollar? were given, l ;believe, ior the iiret set that he lnid nuule, but our fellows here ean make them īoi eight hundred, Correspondent-—i see. Well, but meu who ean*t handle tools will not be able to dō that sorfc ■A thing. IStudent--Certainly not. Skilled iahoi is at the samc premium here that it is else\vhere. Correspondent—What ean the men do who have only their uianual strength ? Student —Well, t!icy ean work on the farm ? or thcy ean grāde thc square. Correspondent—They ean do tiuit, but thcn do they ? Student—4s a gcnera! thing they attempt it, and finding ife rather rougb, give it up in dēspair, aud go home. Correepondcnt—Wel 1. but that was hardly vvhat Mr. CorGell designed, was it ? Student—Nu; he espccted that the eDllege \vould give work to every one that eared to take it ? of a kind that lie eould do< I supposc that this will bc done in thc future by outsiders, but it ean never he aeeomplished by thc col!ege. * Corrcspondcnt—Bomething in the laetory you mean, I suppose something that will utili2e the grand water pbwer that running to waste bo the gorges. Student—(Laiigliing)—! I havc lieard that ("oniell suel. in his hcad. Correspondent — I >ut evett then pcrhap,-, t: ic men eouh! ūot eani enoiigh tu keep thcin. Let us , ealeulaie a little. I have been through some fae-! tories in Auburn htdy, and t leamed thc rate wages eurrent there. Sueh work as unskilled stu-. dents eouki do woukl be paid at the rate of sevcn, | \ eiglit ' U a week fora <kiy of twelve hours. N w. h n\ muv hours ean you i»f work t t u year '

Stui!uiit—About lialf a diy If I \V'.»rk sceadi!y through tlie Yacations, Correspondont—'\ T ery good ; thea that will orsly bo four dollar> a week throughoat the ve,u" f>r everythiag, StudeDt—That wou!d be quite sufsrient.. Mj j espenees are only tliree dollarB a week. and I "j earn enougli over t-,« keep me in eoarse el';>t!se>. CoiTcspondent —i beg your pardon for tlie scezhing impertinenee of the question I am about to ask, and I beg you to believe that the spiritj ! that dietates it is not one of inere euriositv, Are j !jou livingin this fashion from necessity, or do you perhaps wieh to show that it ean be clj\ie by those who have no resources ? Student—l do ir from necessity, [am vcry pīx>r. I Correspondent--Sir, froin my heart l honol' you, and If the sympathy of a etranger ean lighten a raad so stony, pray understand t!>at yon have it in the fullest sense of thc word. i We ehook l)ands hearti]y, and I left his Sanserit, feeiing as I walked away thnt Cornell meant something more toan showeu on the sur-j faco. We Ameiicans have- been rather apt toi worship the dollar, but when poverty is so lionora- j ble and honorcd as it is here } our. golden idol is like to tumble n nc£ or s > in the estīniation ōfi !society." j t 1 1 ■ i Thc above artiele ought v> awaken reficetion | in our nnnds as to whether Jabor has been ma.de i honorable in this eountry or not. Judging f| v om all appearanees, labor is \\ A lionorable in the | minds of llawaiians. Rvery one who reeeives a j snwttering oī education eonsiders himself as dis- j I graeed by labor; and m proport!on as we in-J ! crease our present system of instvuction we' | must expect a proportionate deerease of industry t This people ought to have been tought to work above all tliings. Kegular work would no doubt be the ehief means to effect the salvation of such, a people. -6ut as a peopla they work far less| now fchau they did in the old savage time, It is| not,:however, desirable (or them to bccomesav-i ages again; but every ellbrt ehoukl be made to; induce them to work. They have been taught only to increase their gift of gab to whieli tbey are naturally too mueh prone; and liaving the example set before them by their teachers of, seeking only ofißee and professions for ihelr ehil-j dren ; so fche Hawaiian takes some pains to send ' his clnld to eehool, so that he may beeome a| respectable bummer on soeiety, without work