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Show XEPORT OF SUPERINTENDEYT OF INDIAIi SCHOOLS. 845 very mnch in favor of abandoning or modifying the.empioy6s' mess in order to seoure for the children the advantages above indicatad. This will require on the part of employ& mnch self-abnegation, more partic-ularly, at the beginning, but I am pleased to note that there is in the school service a commendable degree of philanthropic fervor anda high sense of duty that shrink from no sacrifice of personal'conlfort in behalf of the Indian children. The chief diftjcnlty, therefore, that presents itself is of a financial nature and has reference to the acconnts between the Government, which furnishes the food, and the school. This matter, however, oan be arranged. It will only be necessary to compute justly the amount of food - consumed by employbs who may have joined the children's mess, to collect tliis am'ount from the employ6s concerned, and to report it nnder the head of 'lmiscellaneons receipts." At some future time, when snccossfnl experiments shall have proved the value of the.measure, it, may become possible to provide a uniform plan for carrying it into eEect. I sincerely trost that the comiua sear will find a number of employ6s' ~nesses'aboli~beda nd the respective children's messes so organized that at every meal a certain number of employ& shall pre-side at the children's tables. Indian Employes.-For similar reeasns, the appointment of Indians as employ& in all positions in which this is practicable shonld be not only recommended bnt consistently enforced. The positions of assistant matron,, assistant cook, assistant seamstress, aud assistant laundress should lu every instance be filled by young Indian women. In fact, in many instances the positions of seamstress, laundress, and cook are even now filled bv comnetent Indian women. SimilarIv. all indns-trial assistants, and i i v e r h a n y cSasest he f o~e u t uof tile w ~ ~ k n l ~aos ~ s , well as the disciplinariann and falnicr.p, xhonld be competent il~dian*. There are now em~lovedin Indian schools excellent v & ~In dians in thew capacities. 1 hive in inind at least two excellen"t ~lis;.'i~linarians, a nnmbcr of assistant farn~eruf, oremell of workshops, assistaut watrons, seamstresses. teaehers. etc.. whom I found, in the character of their , work as well'as in the& pers'onal character, deserving of high praise. By this policy the Government will aiford to Indians fresh incentives for faithful work at school. additional reasons to l&e and foster the sel~ool,w l~ile:i t the sume time it will make the scl~ooHl ~)~dc*ticalubject leason of a life in \r.l1ic11t he two races labor haud iu hand toward a common purpose. Normal deoartments.-In order to acoomnlish this end in another ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~ - ~ ~~ - ~~ ~~ ~- ~- direction, normal classes have been estabiished in three prominent training schools, at Darlisle; Pa., at Lawrence, Hans., and at Santa FB. h'. Mex. In rach of t h e ~ esc hools a uuperior norn~atle acher has been employed wl~o, under the general direction nf the principal teacher of the ael~ool, a l~dw it11 the aid of the uet~eracl orns of teaehers. llas charmof tllr wo1.k of this normal class. rndians nnaer the age of 20 are-admitted to candidacy for entrance only under extranrdinary conditions, and full entrance is rranted o~ilvto madnates of a nonrescrvation school of full standara, or to 1ndians who can prove that they have received eqnlvalent training. The specific normal course embraces a period of two years. It affords instruction not only in professional subjects and literary school work, but also in various phases of educative manual training in industrial, agricnltural, horticultural, economic, and artistic pursuits. They are admitted to practice in the schoolroom only after one year's successful training. |