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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF I ~ D I A NA FFAIRS. 5 condiLion of thiugs,is rapidly and forever passiug away, and tltat tliey mnst prepare themselves for self-support. This is the iuevitaGle, from which there is no escape. They should be taught that their futtire lies largely in their own hsuds, and that if they improve the opl)ortanities. for education now 80 generously otfered them by theGovernmeot, they may become intelligent, prosperons, stroug, and happy; but that it . they neglect them they will be swept aside or crushed by the irresist. ible tide of civilizatiou, which has no place for drottes, 110 s,ytupathy with idleness, and no rations for the imlirorident. .- (3) Clea,rness of outline.--In the process of elevatiug a rude an! bar-barous people to the plaue of civilizatiou there is involved :b combiuation of mauy forces-heredity, tradition, soil, clitoate, food supply, and the neetts of surrouuiling civilization. There are also involved the great forces of legislation, administration, and institutions-such as indus-trial schools and missionary agencies-and a failure to comprehend the legitimate work of each of these great factors l&&du inevitably to gross errors iu judgment. We can not gather grapes from thistles nor figs from thorns. Perhaps one of the most mischievous fallscies is the assumption that becairse the AngloSaxon race has been ceoturies in developing its pres. ~ ' ent proud civilization it is therefore uecesJsrj that the same leugth of time should be consurued by tthe Indians in passing through the succes-sive stages of economic and social evolution. Time as an element in 1 . human progress is relativt;, not absolnte. Indian children taken from a life which represents Anglo-Saxon barbari6m of more than a thousand years ago may, if placed at an early age in proper relatio~isw ith mod- .1 , ern civilization, euter very largely into participation of the best results ' ~ of nineteenth century life. A gooil school may thus bridge over for . them the dreary chasm of a thousaud year3 of tedious evolution. (4) Adaptation of means to ends.-If the Indians are expected to thrive , ' by agriculture they should [lot be thrust aside onto sterile plains or into the mountains, but shoulrl be allowell to occupy such portions of the wuutry as are adapted to agricultural pursuits. If the forces of nature are too stroug for them to cope with single-handed, then they should - have such assistance Erom the Goverument as will enable them to suc-ceed. A little timely help would, in many cases, be sufficient to pnt them upon the road to self-support and iudependence when withhold-ing would doom them to hopeless struggle. If we expect the rising gen- ! eration to become intelligent, we should see to it that they have ample ' opportunities for education. I€ we design that they should be itldns-trious we sltould encourage among them all forms of handicraft. If we wish them to become self-reliant we should throw them upon their own responsibility and exact of them strict,obedience to law. If we expect , .- them to be just we sholild set them au example. ' I t is as true in our dealings with them as it is in the uatnrd world that " Whatsoever a man . soweth that ahall he also reap." |