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Show REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN SCHOOLS. 425 Salem school, 0mgm.-This is one of the largest and best equipped schools in the West. The natural surroundings, together with the many fine buildings, make this one of the most beautifully located schools in the service. The course of study outlines advanced work in all that pertains to general knowledge sufficientt o preE a re pupils for the everyday walks of life. Wagon making, blacksmit ing, paint-ing, harness and shoe making, carpentering, engineering, gardening, stock raising, and farming are taught in a practical manner. This school has one of the finest hos i d s in the service. Siletz school, 0~egm.-The Etl!l etz school is situated 9 miles from the railroad. The Indians on this reservation are quite advanced in civi-lization, most of them being self-supporting and takin an interest in the education of their children. The facilities for teacfing the trades are very limited indeed. Farming and gardening are extensively carried on, as the soil is productive. Warn Springs Ayeny, 0rey.-This agency is reached after travel-ing 75 miles by wagon. The climate is temperate and healthful, and the land along the water courses fertile and well adapted to stock rais-ing and farming. The Indians on this reservation are industrious and anxious to secure good homes, but are lacking in economy and the proper care of their households. A number of churches have been established here, and the teachings of the missionaries have been most valuable in maintaining order and morality and in encouraging industry. PlcyalZu-p school, Washhgtm.-These Indians are fairly well civilized and own excellent tracts: of land. The literary work was unusually good, but the facilities for industrial teachin were poor. Several churches have been erected near the school an f are doing good work. At all of the schools visited the morals of the children are carefully looked after, and a happy Christian influence pervades the atmosphere. Statements in detail concerning the condition, requirements, and defects of the various schools visited have been placed in the hands of the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs. COMPULSORY EDUCATION. As heretofore advocated, a general compulsory law for the Indian schools should be enacted at once and stringently enforced. The num-ber of Indian children of school age in the United States is between 35,000 aud40,000, the average attendance being 21,558. But it is not obligatory upon the father or mother of the child to send the little one to school, and if the parents so will, the child need never attend. Of the thousands of Indlan children of school age, many will not attend, and many more are not required to do so, and it is to overcome these difficulties that the proposed measure is urged. Civilization only comes to a eople by the slow process of educa-tion, and unless we educate anLivilize the majority of the children the downpull of the ignorant will be greater than the uplift of the educated. The Government is endeavoring to educate the Indian for independence and citizenship, and to confer this boon upon a people without first requiring their education is the reatest unwisdom. It is necessary for the protection of the state 5n % of the nation that the youth of the country-white, red, and black-be educated, for upon |
