a good knowledge of English

In 1896, English was made the official language of instruction in all schools in Hawai'i.

In 1903, a writer in Paradise of the Pacific wrote this:

"By the end of this century Hawaiian speech will have as little usage as Gaelic or Irish has now . . . The native children in the public and private schools are getting a good knowledge of English, and indeed, it would be doing them an injustice to deny them instruction in English speech."

quote in Shutz, Albert J, The Voices of Eden, Honolulu, U Hawai'i P, 1994, p. 355.