On the other side, the organization initiated December 20, 1863, by its character of ad interim in so far as it refers to the directive centers of the provinces, seems now to feel the need of reform which afflicts those centers, when among other things it names repeatedly the provincial chiefs.
This superior government ought, then, to limit itself for the present to inciting their zeal, so that they may energetically aid it in the noble work undertaken by it, namely, to establish the primary instruction in these islands upon a solid foundation, without demanding from them an initiative incompatible with their occupations. It is enough that they do not render sterile the occupation of the parish priests. Enough on their part is the pure and simple observance of the royal decrees of December 20, 1863. The immediate installation of the provincial commissions, which has not been attended to at this date, will also permit the chiefs to delegate to the reverend parish priest of the chief city the functions which they cannot accomplish by their own efforts. Only they shall be very careful to send monthly statements to this superior government, in accordance with the circular of the twelfth of the current month, explained by the communication to the alcalde of Tayabas on the twenty-second of the same month; for this data will serve me in the exercise of the superior supervision with which the regulations have entrusted me. Nevertheless, it is to be hoped that the provincial chiefs will make compatible with their many attentions those things which are so grateful to an intelligent man that they engrave their indelible memory on the heart of new generations.
Although I am also told that the condition of the country and the humble organization which primary instruction has at present, advise us not to expect from the supervision all the fruit which it is called upon to produce, when, placed under the immediate direction of an initiative and responsive center, it may exercise in regard to the matters of the department the oversight which belongs to it by right, this consideration, although a powerful one, does not prevent me; and it is impossible, in a mediocre organization of public instruction, to renounce the establishment of general supervisors, considered in all countries as the key of the pedagogical edifice. The royal order of June 6, 1866, supplementary to the regulations of the civil professions of the colonies, opens the door or combinations which permit, without great sacrifices to the state, or to the villages, the appointment annually or for the period which her Majesty designs, of a public functionary of recognized ability to visit the provinces in the character of supervisor general and to promote, hasten, and give unity and scientific direction to the development which the institutions of primary instruction are acquiring. In this sense a respectful report will be sent to the government of her Majesty in a short time.
