| OCR Text |
Show tions. During the last three years a large am~ u n to f work has bee11 done to render the Indian schools on the reservations decent and corn- : fortable, and some new schoo1s haqe been built. The sum absolutely needed to carry on the work successfully during the coming year was stated by the Commissioner in his commi~nicatio~tol Cong~estso be over $300,000, and it is safe to say that this entire amount could have been very profitably expended in thg improvement and cnlargen~eio~f t the Indian school system. The amohut allowed for this purpose, how-ever, is only $100,000, or less tha.n a third of that which mas stated to be necessary. This will of necessity prevent the establishment of new schools where they are greatly needed and the enlargement and im-provement of otherswhere the facilities are very inadequate. Thegeneral fundfor whichtheIndian Office urgently asked, $1,300,000, was placed at $1,075,000, or $225,000 less than what was earnestly re-quested. This cut checks at once the rapid and healthy expansion of the school service, and confines the office to the carrying on of the yhools substantially nx they were at the close of the last fiscal year; and it has made necessary a reduction in the amount allowed contract schools. A detailed statement of the needs in tbis direction was made by the Indian Office, showing the enlargement of the capacity of schools al-ready existing, the new schools that have been established, those that areiu process of establishment, those that ought to he enlarged, and places wherenew schools should be built, and on tbis careful figuring it was est,imated that not less than $315,000 increase of the general fund should be granted. By refusing to do this Congress has made it im-possible for the Indian Office to extend the work of education, and thus has checked for the time the plans which mere being so successfully carried into exeontion. Every friend of In~lia~end ucation milo realizes that the future of this interesting people depends so largely upon the proper industrial train-ing of their childre11 will regret the policy of Congress in refusing to appropriate necessary funds for the enlargement 21.nd carrying out of the work which is being so successfully prosecuted. Nevertheless there has been great progress, and when the schools in process of establishment can be completed, which in several instances will require considerable sums of money, a large majority of Indian children will be provided for if the work can be carried forward a few years longer in the same lines. By limiting the expenditure at reservation boarding schools to $200 per capita Congress has jeopardized the very existelree of some schools. In most instances the per capita cost is much below $200, bnt there are circumstanccs under which it will probably be found impossible to main-- tain an cflicient achool at that cast,. The effort will be mado, however, and if it can not be done the fact will be reported. |
