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Show I REPORT OF THE COMMIBBIONER Ol? INDIAN AFFAIR8. 31 could with economy further the civilization of thp Indian in his own home. More reservation boarding schools and fewssc , nonreservation institutions are required. The possible enrollment of Indian pupils should be provided for, which can be done under this policy. A division of work and study in his home school should fit him either for transfer to nonreservation school or to return to his home with those rudiments of a literary training and a cultivated habit of work, to solve the problem of his own future. His knowledge of ag~icul-ture, stock raising, dairying, etc., will be learned under similar con-ditions which he must put in practice on his own allotment. Remove, then, the incentive to idleness by forbidding him to lease his farm and home, cut off his rations, and he will soon learn, as does his white brother, that "by the sweat of his face" can he hope to live. The next generation will then appreciate the day schoolu, and boarding schools can with safety gradually be abandoned, and the once wild Indians thrown absolutely upon their own resources, to be no longer a charge upon the General Government or vagabonds at the mercy of the State. THE PEOPLE WHO WORE IN INDIAN SCHOOLS. Indian schools are the training homes of Indian children in literary culture, in home and domestic life, in mechanic arts, agriculture, and stock raising. Their counterpark, if they can be found, are probably the white and negro industrial and reform schools; but the employees of these institutions do not commence with the raw material, as does the worker among the Indians. The Indian child life and home envi-ronment are utterly different from those of tbe little paleface who toddles by his mother's side to the public school. The Indian child must be taught by matrons, housekeepers, and others to be cleanly, to eat properly, to care for the sick, and to use the appliances as well as adopt the customs of civilized home life. The faithful matron of one of these institutions must have a motherly heart and a devoted disposition. Teachers must be patient while the little ones learn the intricacies of civilized language and gain an insight into the wonderful mysteries of a, strange vernacular. Taking the school service in its entirety, ib employee8 are a, band of faithful, ewnest men and women, who, in a strange environment, with strange material, are slowly evolving characters who hereafter are to mold their own race in the ways of civilization. he application of the classified service to this branch of Govern-ment employees haa raised the tone and elevated the morals of the Indian school service. Merit, the touchstone which brings out the best qualities of the honest man and woman, has been substituted for political favoritism and personal influence. Under the present system , the humblest employee can by merit alone reach the places of honor |
