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Show 408 REPORTS OF THE DEPARTgENT OF THE INTERIOR. The acting president, R. A. Coehrsn, read gwetings from Ma' TV A Mercer. Eleventh Cevalry, pwzidmt of thedppanment, who mgcrred that ofic!a~bu&~ in tlte Stateof M'asbinpton prevented his atlendnnca. Tlw Si~per~ntmdaonft indinn *iclboalss tated t l~s to, wing to officialb usinesd detdking lnim in the \Vest, the Commi%qionero f I~tdian.U Tairs, Han. Francis 13. h u p p , muld not he pres-eut, but d~rirpdto extend ~weet i r~toa t he Indian tewhrrs and his hest wirhp.3 for a sut cess- ~~ ~ . -..~. ful meeting. The ~u~eriniendenrthen teachers the importanea of studying carddly the Commissioner's views, as New York Sun, New York Tribuns, and the Outlook, of reoent date, s a w in part: "The Commissioner is anxious to hsve the best and mat ppraotid methodsuaed in the schools from the kindergarten up. "He wishes the schools to -preserve and develop alone the k h t lines the best of the chil-e u ' s inhrrited trttits, and not attempt to rnake'tha Iidian o;er and transform him into s wh~tmr sn, with the ldra that this isneeessry inorder to bring him into harmon? with our e~tahlL-lt~odr der. 110 wh e a US to mesene h19 natural filial ntTrrtiun. and to mida and direct it wisely and tectfully to the ;1evelopment of character. We should work far the upbuilding in ihe young In&an of a strong ;erne of individual responsibilitv. \ Y e 8.1 real;zrthot ihc lnaliatl rlnust l~srntospealEt nglaln if hi i s roliva'snd thri\.e iosn En:I:llsh-sllcakirl!: ounrry. Rut in tcsrhing laim Foglisla the Commissioner urgrs us to see that no rl.ild shsU be forced LO forret the. Inrlrwsee of I.L. ancstorn. The child's lore for his mother tongue must be respected,\ven whil<m&ing him reweize the wisdom of leamine to speak, read, and write English. . . - "The Commissioner believes in usingns,turturaland logio~llmethodato bring theIndian to the hjghest exercise of his powers. As he puts it: 'I wish aU thst h isistic and original in an Indian child h~mghot ut-not smothered. Instead of sweeping aside the child's desire to draw tho ill-igr~s ian,ilrsr to :r in I ~ d i e nsr r, and givmg it XmZrican f l a p and sbiclds and stnrs to cop", rhr i.hild rho!ild be encourwed rr, do o n ~ n a lo r perhaps 1 ~110ulsda y a lw ririnal-vork. jf he shows nnv imuulse t11,reto.' ""He slso s&s: 'I sm now"mr&ging to bring into the schools a novel element inmusk. nar~sly,tl lc Gserrntion of the Indlnn !nusic iGell, for tho band, and fur singing. We are in tlarbgerof fosinl tl>..n?t~a*n d motifs of grear enisLic value brraure of a stupid notiuu that evervtllinr I n d l~n:a n demadstion nnd ,nust hn uruvlned our. We tllizla a s well rrush our the h e s t k t of ancient Gyeece md Rome because it was associated wiih the worship of the Olympian deities, or the Egyptian music, which Verdi helped revive, because it was associ-atad with the Pharaoh who played tricks on M-.' Let me assure sll the Indian teachers md workera that the.Commissioner,whose whole heart is in the work of eduoating and developing the Indian, not seainst, but alone: the lines of hi5 tlat!~ral impul:es, d&es us to pnrtcrr; an2 l>rinc.out i U thai i, best in tho Iiidian, and togui<lear~dIt n c l Ilk hl;rztlitury iaitinet*of racial ride endpatriorisnl, .rid toutilize them in brincinc out that srli-rrl~nneea nd cc,lf-res~ecta .Ia.lt will bmr sec.onr1 our eflona to mold him in& i useful, selfsuppotim~m ember 6 f our body politic. We must d me r a t e heartily and wlthc,ut ilsc6.b, rrni+.!uh~.rina~lw ays that iv; BE working fur a eomr~lobp ur-pure, and that ran lxit B C COI C ~ B I L I I~~ ~ rros~dlt*h y c~lmm$ou t fnirhfuug and intalli-g ~ ~ ~~~l.etploylw :r.d*e t,mtd must pmrtivbl 1.y the Inrd of tlna ludlan Service." ADDBE88 Hon. Charles J. Bster, superintendent of public instruction, New Jersey.-The child whether red, white, or blank, should a uire in the school not only habits of industry, but also learn that dl useful lsbor is honor%e. The soil h the chief souroe of the world's su port and the basis of its wealth. The culti-vationof fruits and wget%blesa bout t h e&o o~wi~cr n*ta slOvefor N T l~ife , AIew of our districts have established school gardens, snd results hsve roved mnst s&ti~facto~yT.h e assignment of individu&Ql?@hs stimulated independent t h g h t , pride of ownershi , and has resulted in individu mbp*tlve The interest aroused has been such thst the $st at school has been frequentlyduplicated at home. The individud plat will prove an impor-tant factor in reparing the I n d i a for the advantages offered through the provisions of tho land-in-sever& bill. Only those who cultivate their allotments of land instead of leasing them to others will resp substantis1 benefit from the emtment. Winning a subsistence from the soil creates a sense of dependence u on it, stimulates slave of locality, and results in home making, along with its anchoring duenoes of home interest, home comforts, home attmhments, md homepride. ilDDBE88. Hon. John J. Fitzemld,member of thecommittee onIndian Afiairs,United S t a b House of Repr~sentativra.--I am here today to iudicsto nty syvnpathy nith you in your work. During thn past six yeam, I L ~ti member of tho (.ommitteo on Indian .\Raim in the Unitt.d States ILow of Represeoratiuer, 1 I ~weg irro considerable sttention to emng phases of |
