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Show ,462 REPORT OF SUPEEINTENDENT OF INDIAN SCHOOL8. boarding schools of the reservation. In such csses trnnafers from day school to reservation school are often not difficult to make, especially if the day-school teacher realizes that his work ia essentially primary and that in justice to the younger pupils he should not attempt toretain the more advanced pupils who take up more than their share of time. If on reservations where there are boarding sch001s the limit for dayohpol work were set at three years, the results would be more satisfactory and t e jalnt efforts of the teacher and superintendent could in most cases secure promotion to the boarding school. Unless the day schools are very evenly distributed there will always he a large number who must be taken direct to the boarding school, and the length of time during whloh they should remain there varies somewhat in the different schools. In my ex erience the work of the reservation schools nhould be finished by the fourteentg year, three yearn in the day school and four years in the boarding school, or six or seven years in the boarding school, it' the day school is not accessi-ble. At this age the pupil should have aquired a fan knowledge of English and should be prepared to get the greatest benefit from a five years' course at a training schooi. After s .~cha rourse the young man or woman, who will then be about 20 years old, should be readi to take hisor her place in the ranksof the workers. A pupil then desiring further knowledge is abundantly able to earn it himself, and if not able to earn it wil, not rotit by further gratuitous instruction. The drfe. ts :n this scEeme are the probability that some will not be allowed by their parents to .,esin attendance at any school st 7 years of age, or perhapsat my age. and the certa uty that a lazge number will not be allowed by their parents to go to dlxtant sonaols until too old to reoelve the most benefit. Persuasiqo and a certain amoi.nt of force may keep the greater number in the home schools, but persuaaiun fai.s in m a y c ases when a transfer is desired to a tra~nings chool. I t is jnsi at tm~is point that a detinite system is especially needed. For some tlme it has been customary tor agents to visit the reservations and mske a personal canvass for pupils. Whenever chis occurs during the sohool year the schools are for the time demoral~zeda. nd i t ta.es time torecover-time which is needless y lost. Within the past year no fewer than eight schools have had representatives on the Oneida Reservation seeking pupils. It is evident that much time and money are lost by this method of collecting pupils. It is also evi-dent that the person so oollectiugpupils can have noknowledge of the fitness of the children he may find, and in sume instances neither the mental, moral, nor physi-cal fitness waa inquired into. Tbis is decidedly wrong, since, if the child is physi-cally unfit, an injustice is done him, and ii morally unfit, an injustice is done the school to which he is taken. A partial remedy may be found in restoring the old rule providing that only certain schools shall take pnpils from a given territory. The agent in charge of the reservation should be required to report at a given time what children have reached a osrtain proficiency, stating whether or not the consent of the parents can be secured and to which of the specified schools it was desired to send the child. In this connection I desire to say that not too much latitude should be given in the choice of schmls. If the pupil is at all in earnest any accredited school is good enough, and if not in earnest he is not capable of choosing. With these reports the Indian O5ce can qnickl ascertain if the capacity of the various schools is likely to be exceeded, and can $ h t such division ss will equalize the attendance, or, if the number is too small, can direct in what places a special effort shall be made to secure transfers. If this or any other scheme for promoting pupils is to be effective, the agents and superintendents mnst act in harmony, and the reservation authorities must feel that them is the highest responsibility. As a further aid to the transfer of desirable pupils to the training sohools I think a law might be passed @.ling pupils of the age of 17 the right to leave home to attend 8chool without the consent of the parent. TEE ESSENTIALSO F INDIAENDU CATION. [T. Q. LEHaoN, sowriotendent Brand Sanction Indian khool, Colorado.] peprincipal element b which the Indian mnst be drawn and held a glittering gram in the sand ytle an8 a dependable element in the ntate, is patnotiam: the other elements oeofol to him ns an indimdual and aa n c~ommunitv element are ~~~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ p p ~ ~ - ~ . ~~~~ honesty, industry, frognlitg, and intelligence. As characteristics of the good citi-zen these are unqnest~onetln, or am they more tho demands of modoru than of rho oldent civilization the world has known. |