Twenty-five Cents a Year,
January
1911.
Vol. XI. No. 10
Our Institutional Money
Nearly a year passed from the time
we planned to have institutional
money and the materialization of our
plans. Mail that was missent, some
that was entirely lost, together with
ship-wrecks, the usual delays, the
unusual time it often takes packages
to reach us all combined to hinder in
the carrying out of our plans. But
the last day of Hec. the money came,
and we began using it with the new
year. The first pay day came Jan.
7th.
Each boy and girl lias a book in
which the conduct and work is mark
ed each day, and for each misde
meanor at least 10 cents is charged,
breakages the result of carelessness
must be settled mr. Hoard and
clothing mus' be paid lor each week.
Complaints are heard sometimes
when new garments are given out as
the one who gets them would prefer
to get along with the old worn on s
rather than take from his savings to
pay for the new things.
If a boy or girl becomes bankrnpt
through laziness or shiftlessness and
is unable to pay board, the penalty is
a bread and water diet for a specified
number of mee Is. On the other hand
we are planning to place to the
credit of the boys and girls in genu
iue U. S. coin a liberal percentage of
the amount saved of the institutional
money during a specified time.
As these plans are more or less ex
perimental just now, we cannot tiis
cribe their working in every detail
Then too they are subject to change
as circumstances may demand. Thus
far they are working very well.
Every effort is being made to fost
er a spirit of carefulness and econo
my jn regard to clothing as well as
other things; also to incite the child
ren to save their money, but in this
we have to combat the inheritance of
past generations of reckless spending
of money, when there was any to
spend, and living on their neighbors
when their own provisions were ex
hausted. This improvidence is a
most discouraging characteristic of
the native people today. As an ill
ustration: One family whom we
know very well, sold their cozy little
home for #50.00 and in a very short
time had squandered the money and
were hunting some place in which to
live. Again: Nearly every native
on the island in winter, cuts com
wood and sells it to the mission, but
with two or three exceptions none of
them 1 ul and store any for their own
use i 11 summer, but go to the woods
and bring home just enough for im
mediate use or to last a day or two,
and ofteu the women are obliged to
hunt wood for themselves.
We are trying to counteract in the
children this inborn tendency to