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Show CXXXVIIl REPORT OP THZ COMMISSIONl3B OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. have complained frequently, and with justice, that their children were neither properly fed, clothed, nor instructed. I have found everywhere evidences df nait ne'glect. and verv mailv of the schools are stiliim~er-fectly equiplied. 1Cis my pnrP&e to "give very careful attentiok to these matters, and I shall endeavor more earnestly than ever to make these schools in all resnects what thev ounht to be. in order that thev may accomplish their d'ifficult and inviluafhe work.' I see no reason for any essential modification of the plans adopted and now in successful operation of providing for the <dncation%f a large number of pupils in the industrial, non-reservation training schools. I t is a cause for rejoicing that there are to-day at Carlisle over 800, at Haskell over 600, at Cenoa 220, at Albuquerque nearly 200, at Chilocco 170, and at other of these schools an increasing num-ber, who are receiving a kind of training in immediate contact with our beit civilization, whioh, from the nature of the case, can not be given on the reservations. I was delighted. however. to find that the reservation boardine schools are not only capable of doing a much better work than I sup-posed they could do, but that they areactually doing it. No morehope-fnl work than this is in progress anywhere. The difficulties and em-barrassments incident to reservation life are manv and various. and yet there are great advantages in having a well-ordLrt,tl acl~ool plaure#l iu the n~idato f a reserv:~tion wbero its iutl~iencis~ felt immed~atrls, directly, and powerf~illyu pon the semi-barbarous people for whose be& fit it has been established. These schools are epitomes of our civiliza-tion and tangible object lessolls brought to the very doors of the In-dian wigwam. One of the pleasantest sights that anywhere met me was that of Indian parents with their blankets, paint, and feathers witness~ng with interest, delight, and pride the exercises of their children in the reservation schools. These schools should be increased in number and efficiency. For the present the places where day schools can be profitably main-tained on the reservations which I have seen are not many, and get their work as I observed it warrants me in recommending the estab-lishment, wherever the conditions are favorable, of more of this class. I studied carefully both the Government schools and the contrzrct schools, and, while I know that LL comparisons are odious," and I may be suspected, possibly, of partiality, I think it due simply as a matter of justice to say that no better work is now being done for these wards of the nation on the whole than that which is done in the Govern-ment institutions. I would not withhold credit from the contract schools nor would I undervalue their work in the slightest degree, but it is due to those who are working so faithfully, intelligently, and effi. ciently in institutions established aud maintained by thcNational Gov-ernment to give to the thousands of pupils intrusted to their care such training of bodv. mind. and heart : such instruction in morals. manncra. and co&lnct ; &;ch dekelol,mrut of skill i i r all the varied rormb of'iuduu: tries, to sag that their avrk is not surl,nssetl elucal~ere. I n no single instance his anv contract school which I have visited even vrofessed~to atford to its puGils the variety of i~~rlirst~.tirnali ning whieh'ix providrcl tor in the (:over~tment tic.hools,ai~dius e\.er;ll of them the lack of iuc111s. trial training was paiufully apparent. I wish to hear emphatic testimony to the good work wrought by de-voted missionaries, and to express the earnest wish that the churches will extend this work by sending a large number of earnest, intelli. gent, and industrious workers to establish missions and to bring the |
