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Show REPORT OF THE COXMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 3 the money that has been lavished. In the last twenty years fully $45,000,000 have been spent by the Government alone for the educa-tion of Indian pupils, and it is a liberal estimate to put the number of those soeducated at not over 20,000. If the present rate is continued for another twenty years it will take over $70,000,000 more. But while it is not denied that the system has produced some good results, it is seriously questioned whether it is calculated to accom-plish the great end in view, which is not so much the education of the individual as the lifting up of the race. , It is contended, and with reason, that with the same effort and much ; less expenditure applied locally or 60 the family circle far greater and much more beneficent results could have been obtained and the trihes would have been in a much more advanced stage of civilization than at present. On the other hand it is said that the stream of returning pupils carries with it the refining influence of the schools and operates to elevate the people. Doubtless this is true of individual cases and it may have some faint influence on the tribes. But will it ever suffi-ciently leaven the entire mass? Itis doubtful. It may be possible in time to purify a fountain by cleansing its turbid waters as they pour forth and then returning them to their original source. But experi- ~ ence is against it. For centuries pure fresh-water streams have poured their floods into the Great Salt Lake, and its waters are salt still. What, then, shall be done8 And this inquiry brings into prominence at once the whole Indian question. It may be well first to take a glance at what has been done. For about a generation the Government has been taking a very active inter-est in the welfare of the Indian. In that time he has been located on reservations and fed and clothed; he has been supplied lavishly with utensils and means to earn his living, with materials for his dwelling and articles to furnish it; his children have been educated and money hatr been paid him; farmers and mechanics have been supplied him, and he has received aid in a multitude of different ways. In , the last thirty-three years over $240,000,000 have been spent upon a n Indian population not exceeding 180,000, enough, if equitab!y divided, ' to build each one a house suitable to his condition and furnish it throughout; to fence his land and build him a barn; to buy him a wagon and team and harness; to furnish him plows and the other implements necessary to cultivate the ground, and to give him some-thing besides to embellish and beautify his home. It is not pretended that this amount is, exact, but it i~ sufficiently so for the purposes of this diucussion. What is his oondition to-day? He is still on his reservation; he is still being fed; his children are still being educated and money is still being paid him; he is still dependent upon the Government for exist- |