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Show 62 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIA?-AFFAIRS. in overcoming the difficulties of inadequacy and bad arraqgment, time and strength which to much better purpose might otherwise be devoted to cariiig for the highest interests of the children and advancing them in school room and industrial pursuits and in home odture. he cheap, poorly built, poorly planned, rambling, and patched-together buildings which 1 harefound at many agencies, are a discredit to the~o' reru~i ieanntd do not fairly represent its real desire to elevate the Indiuus by e(1noation. The Governme~c~atn atford to furnish suit- .able iudnstrial-school buildings when and where they are neetl'cd. In. the end it does afford them, but under the existing restrictions that no buiiding shall cost over $12,000 the Government ultilnately loses luoney and colit.i~~uouslloys es ettioiency. It will be observed that the above eetimate conte~l)latesa n expendi-ture on bnildings of $33'2 per pupil. As an illustration of the a~nount of money needed to establisll a school, I cite thecaseof che Rhode Island Home and School atid Orphan Asylum, mitll whose history I happeu to be acquaitited. This institute is very situilar in its aims to 111dian boarding 8chools, and I know that very rigid ecotlomy was exercised in foutidiog it. In reply to my iaquiry, Hon. T. B. Stockwell, commissioner of public schools for the State of Rhode Island, wrote from Providence December 31,1890, as follows : In reply to your inquiry of the 30th inst., I have the honor to submit the following statement: Original cost of Walnut Grove Parm:with buildings, ioolnd- . ing mansion house, two wooden cottages, barn, eto ....... $12,000.00 Additional laud ............................................. 8,000.00 Rep~i r sa ud intprorements up011 the grounds and sdditionial boildioga ............................................... 10,033.00 New huildiugs (five) ....................................... 30,842.32 Furnielliug ................................................ 9,395.69 Sewers .................................................... 612.32 GBB woPks .................................................. 585.00 itearn and water supply ......................... .i. .......- 7,1-02.59 78,572.92 If yon wish to take out the value of the laud, I should say that it would be safe to call that aboot $l5,000. The number of iumates varies somewhat. We have had over 100 now for nearly two years. Tho average will not be Car Cram 110. Deduct cost of laud and furniture, gas, and sewerage and the cost for 110 inmates conles to over $481 per capita. The following is a list of various institutions in the United States, with the per capita cost of the buildings and grounds oocupied by them. This list was furnish~db y the Gommissioner of Education with the ex-planation that the v?lnation of grounds and builrlings is taken as the basis and the number of inmates during the year as the denominator. These institutions do work similar to that undertaken in Indian board-ing schools and need similar facilities and acwmmodations. |