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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISS~ONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 41 TABLE 1.-Aannal appropriatio+ta made the Govnnmmt sixm the ,fiaeot year fS7Yfw sr~ppovt qf Indian 80ohools. ' -- ..~ . . Year. 'Deoreaes. The above table represents the appropriations made by Congress from the public treasury for the work of Indian education. (It does not include a~nountpsr ovided for the same purpose in accordance with specific treaty agreements.) .It will be seen tllat Congress entered upon the work of providing a system of education for the Indians at public expense in the year 1877, but that 'very little progress was made . . until the year 1882, when the appropriation was increased by 80 per cent, and there coiltinned to be increases until 1886, when it reached an aggregate of $1,100,000, when the increase nearly ceased and the . . annual appropriation continued to be about the same until 1891, when - , there was again an addition of 35 per cent, followed in 1892 by another - ~ addition of24per cent, bringingthe annualappropriationup to$2;A91,650. The appropriation for this year is less than 1 per cent more than that for last year. By former statements submitted to you, and by you presented to Congress, I have shown that it will require an annual appropriation of not less than $3,000,000 if the work is to be carried forward on a scale oomme,usurate with the exigenoiev of the case. If it is worth while to undertake to educate the rising generation of Indians, it certainly is desirable to educate all of them that can be reached. The experience thus far, I think, has demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt to a11 who are acquainted with the facts that this money is well expended, and that the work is fall of helpfulness, and that the urgency of it is now greater than ever before. There is every reason why the annual appropriations should increase until they reach the point of meeting the necessities of the situation. After that, of course, for a few years the appropriations will remain large, and then will gradnally decrease until there ceases to be a.ny necessity for their continuance. W u e it is a sourceof disappointment to me personally, as well as to others deeply interested in this work, that the appropriations should have ceased to grow and the work be checked, it is nevertheless very gratifying to see how much money Congress has been willing to devote to this most worthy object. The above table is a most eloquent com- , mentary upon the criticism sometimes made upon the qovernmentthat it is dealing unjustly with the Indians, since- it exhibits what in one I I |