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Show COMMfSSIONER OF INDIAN ABBAIBS. 21 ical Survey and Inspector Code the di5culties heretofore existing will beovercome, and sufficient water supply provided for thesedeserv-ing Indians. EDUCATION. The past.-When, in 1492, the banner of Spain was unfurled in the New World an era of development began. A rich and fertile land teeming with untold wealth was discovered. Its millions of miles of territory were inhabited by roving bands of savages living by the chase and taking pleasure in the clash of primitive arms. Savagery and civilization could not exist beside each other, and the conflict began which has lasted'without intermission into the present. The Spaniard, with his idea of civilization, carried the sword of destivction in his hand. Coming from a land where freedom of thought and intellectual independence were unknown, he proceeded to the civilization of the Indian with the lights before him, and with the result that the fair islands of the Gulf were soon decimated of their,aboriginal inhabi-tants. Fortunately the territory of the United States came under the benign influence of the Anglo-Germanic races, who, cradled in liberty, bad some regard for the rights of the wild untutored savages. Early, thoughspasmodic, efforts were introducedto bring the red man into con-tact with civilization and enlightenment. The onpressing crowd of immigrants were unfortunately imbued with the white man's desire for "more land," and soon, by the artful ways of peace, the seductive spell of the treaty, and rarely by the sword, the Indian was gradually dis-possessed of his lands. The buffalo and the deer, the beaver and the bear began to disappear. Subsistence cut off, the savage realized that the " happy hunting grounds" bf this world were no more. Angered by the result, his hand was raised against the "pale face." The torch was lighted, and theinevitableconsequences werestarted which, though conceived in the womb of acquisition, have conspired to create the greatest republic of all times. With no means of subsistence the lndian was forced to become either a vagrant and robber or to become fitted for American citizenship. The reservation system was a natural outgrowth of these conditions. Through the shifting policies of an hundred years it was the central thought dominating Indian legislation. It served the purpose and prevented the extinction of these people, as without the Chinese walls built by the Government around limited areas, it would have been impossible to have prevented reprisals by Indians and surrounding settlers. While the earlier settlers and immigrants were not as a class favor-able to the introduction of educational methods among the redskins, |
