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Show 400 REPORTS OF THE DEPARTXENT OF THE -INTERIOR. sickness, is in school. On the Navaho Reservation in Arizona, on the other hand, there are no day schools, and few of the Navahos can read, and but a small percentage know enough English to carry on an ordinam conversation. The combined capacity of the two Government schoqls on this res-ervation is less than 300. with a school oooulation of more than 2.000. A series of day schools'located near thehavaho villa es would not only result in direct good to the children but would in$irectly, judg-ing from what has been accomplished ekewhere, have a good effect upon the older Indians. This would apply with equal force- to other reservations where similar conditions exist. The benefit to the chil-dren can hardly be overestimated. They would be taken from the roving, idle life of the plains and would soon become clean, tidy, Eng-lish- s eakingchildren. On the Pima Reservation therearenow six day schoo f s where there were but two a few years a?. The,beneficial results are very evident amon-g the Indians in t e vlcnntv of the schools. Many of the Indian tribes have reached such a state of civilization that it would seem advisable to endeavor to induce them to establish district or neighborhood schools, especially where Indian and white settlers are living in close proximit The majorit of the Indians in the vicinity of W andotte, Ind. 2; are capable o transactin their K F' own business. T ey have large tracts of excellent land,. muci of it well ada ted to farmin The white settlers are near ne~ghborsa nd several fay schools migtt be established here which eventually could take the place of the boarding school. These Indians are mostly mixed bloods, who should be compelled to care for their children as do their white nelchbors. In educatincthe children at the day schools we are at the same time educating their oarents and relatives. The civilizinz lessons absorbed b the p;pils diking the day necessarily leave their-impressions upon tze home. The prejudice of the older Indians gradually disappears and they learn to a preciate the benefits and advanta es derived by the children from tRe instruction received at the scho8. A vi orous extension of the day-school s stem is earnestly recom-mendet. By bringing civilization to the d? oor of the Indian mstead of attempting to take him to civilization you strengthen the famly ties and early sow the seeds of industry and self-rehance. There has been a steady increase during the past seven yeam in school enrollment and attendance. The average attendance has risen from 19,915 in 1898 to 25,104 in 1904, and the ratio of attendance to enrollment from 81 er cent in 1898 to 85 per cent last y!ar. m e t.,-h e n-i imher of schoo7 s remains about the same their caoacit"v has been enlarged from 25,944 to 29,161. During the past ear the progress made, while not especially strik- ing in an articu9 a r direction, has been steady and substantial in nearly al?tranches of school activity. We have endeavored, by personal talks with superintendents and teachers, by temporarily taking up in man instances the actual work of the class room, and bv the issuance oYcirculars of mstruction, to strengthen weak spots wherever found, to simplify and unify existing methods of instruo- |