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CLUNIE BUILDING
SAN FRANCISCO. CALIFORNIA
April 6,1910
"TO
THE TRUSTEES UNDER THE WILL
OF BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP.
"Dear Sirs:-
"I
have received the opinion of Mr. Henry Holmes on certain points in Mrs.
Bishop's Will which you kindly sent me.
"When
Mrs. Bishop made her will she had considered two schemes for using the
income on the residue of her estate for the benefit of the people of her
country, giving to either plan the name of Kamehameha, and intending
that in the advantages from her benevolence those of her race should have
some preference.
"One
scheme was to establish two schools, one for boys and one for girls, in
which they would receive
a good education in the common English branches) with instruction in morals
and in such useful knowledge as
would tend to make good and industrious men and women,
and the other scheme was to establish one or more hospitals.
"She
chose the former, partly, 1 think, because of the existence of the Queen's
Hospital, and made
liberal provision for the establishment and support of the schools, leaving
much of detail to the judgment and discretion of her trustees, who were
not to expend over one-half of the fund coming into their hands in the
purchase of premises and in the erection and furnishing or school buildings,
the remainder to be used in the maintenance of the schools, with power
to devote a portion of the income to the support and education of orphans
and others in indigent circumstances, giving preference to Hawaiians,
which power and discretion have been substantially exercised in years
past and are now exercised
in the form of full scholarships in the Kamehameha Schools to a considerable
number of orphans and others in indigent circumstances, some of whom are
very young.
"Mr.
James M. Allen, formerly a judge or the Superior Court of San Francisco,
and now for nearly twenty years the attorney of The Bank of California,
to whom I submitted Mrs. Bishop's will as published, before and since
I received received Mr. Holmes written opinion, dissents very positively
from the opinion of Mr. Holmes. He tells me emphatically that
Mr. Holmes is in error and would be so held in court of law. He says that
the scheme of the will is clearly
for educational purposes to fit young people for industrious and useful
life and is not for the maintenance of indigents. but contains a discretional
obligation to devote a portion of each year's income to the support and
education of orphans and others in indigent circumstances in connection
with the schools.
He thinks that any other interpretation would not be in accord with the
intentions of the testator as expressed in her will. and that the adoption
of the view expressed by Mr. Holmes might open the way to misapplication
of funds and to partial defeat of the real purpose of the donor.
"I
am giving you substantially but not literally Mr. Allen's words, and his
views agree with my impressions, memory and belief. With the present Trustees
I would have little anxiety were you to be guided by the opinion ex- pressed
by Mr. Holmes, but who the Trustees may be in years to come of course,
no one knows. Should you not adopt the interpretation that will bear the
more rigid legal test? Under the circumstances, is it not wise to adopt
the more conservative opinion for guidance? I am sure that it was not
intended to make the Schools entirely free. Mrs. Bishop wished
the young people to learn to work
and provide for themselves.
"In
looking back twenty-seven years it is easy to see where some things might
have been done better suited to the present time than was possible to
foresee. I would have been pleased had a definite sum been set apart by
the will to be used for benevolent purposes in the discretion of the
Trustees, but it was not done.You know that the Estate proved to be of
much greater value than Mrs. Bishop knew of when she made her will or
than the Trustees estimated when they took charge. The cost of establishing
and the maintaining of the schools has greatly exceeded all estimates.
They have been maintained on a much more generous scale, both toward teachers
and scholars, than was at first necessary, or than is now necessary or
wise, perhaps. During, a number of years all of the income and some large
values of capital were consumed. The first, Principal of the Kamehameha
School for Boys was the Rev. W. B. Oleson, who had served a number of
years as the head of the Hilo school for boys where the pupils did a good
deal of work in producing food for their own consumption. It was
expected in the beginning that the Kamehameha boys or their friends would
contribute in labor and or money towards the support of the school.
The charge for board, lodging, tuition, etc., was set at a low figure
because of the pecuniary circumstances of the boys, most of them being
poor. So far, the value received from pupils has not equaled the cost
of board alone.
"Being
anxious that the Schools should be established as soon as practicable
and maintained in manner worthy of the generous purposes of their founder
and to leave no opening for insinuation that I was personally profiting
by the delay, I used all that I had received from the Estate in personal
property in building Bishop Hall, the Preparatory, a part of the School
for Girls, and the Chapel, and turned over some of my own lands and grave
up all the properties from which I could have taken the rental for life.
Even with these helps the Schools found use for it all and continued to
ask for more improvements and expenses.
"Rich
people find it very difficult to induce their sons and daughters to adopt
habits of economy, because the children soon learn that the means of the
parent are abundant and that there is no apparent need for carefulness
as to expenses or need of hard work. It early became generally known in
Hawaii that the Kamehameha Schools had a large endowment. The pupils and
their friends saw no necessity for economy or much work, and many others
having business with the Schools or the Estate sympathized in this opinion.
Lessons in economy and thrift will not soon cease to be pertinent
in Hawaii. The Trustees have faithfully and constantly
endeavored to carry out to Mrs. Bishop's wishes as expressed in her will
and to protect her Estate in order to secure the perpetuity and improvement
of the Kamehameha Schools.
"If
not all that was anticipated has been accomplished, enough has been done
that is apparent, to encourage the friends of the Hawaiians and all interested
in good, moral and practical education to continue their approval and
support of the Schools.
"I
remain, with much respect,
Yours
very truly,
(Signed) Chas. R.
Bishop."
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