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Show 56 COMM188iONER OF JNDfAN AAFAfRR. 'critically the work done by the old Indians and the shtdents, they exclaim, 88 they paas along, that the lndianis equal toany other ram, and the only difference hetween them and other people iq tbat of de\elopment. They real i~eth at the Indian's tal-ents art. the same an the whlk man':. tnlente, except that in the one they liedormant. They realize thnt erluwrlon devnlope~th ese talent#, and when developed the Indian:. are prepared to cope succeesfuily with life's'problema. ~ h e ~ l e atvhe building with their minds freed of the belief that the money spent on the education of the Indian ia wasted. They know now, because they have seen with their own eyes, that the Indians will work; that they are ordinarily endowed physically, mentally, spiritu-ally; that they are not abnormal in any sense; that both boys and girl6 are well favored; that they can talk; that they can sing; that they can learn; that they are docile and obedient; that they are human. Verily the St. Louis Indian School may well be called the Hall of Revelation. The Indian exhibit is the talk of the city of St. Louia and of the exposition. Die-tinguished educators from America and foreign countries, here to study our educra-tional svstem, es.~ ecial.l vr e~.r esentativeso f End.. and.. France, and Germanv that have to deal with primitive people in their exu,nsive and diatant eoloniep, come, m y to atodv, and co away antided that our Government i? doinc the richt thing for ita - - - - wards in the right way. Theattendance has been moat gratifying, thousands visiting the school and exhibit daily. SALE OF LIQUOR TO INDIANS. My k t annual report pointed out the necessity of having a fund for use in prosecuting violators of the law which forbids the sale of liquor to Indians and for the employment of detectives to obtain evi-dence against liquor sellers. With this in view Congress qas asked for $10,000, but the appropriation was not made. The past year's experience only emphasizes the necessity for such a fund. Prosecutions are dependent entirely on the Department of Justice, whose funds are insufficient to attend to all the cases that arise. Hence only the more flagrant violations can receive attention, and minor offenses are often passed over. 'The result is that matters drift until the situation becomes specially bad at some particular point. When this occurs the Department of Justice, on request of the Department of the Interior, dehils a special agent to attend to the matter. Usually the result is all that could be desired; but such prosecutions being only occasional are therefore unsatisfactory. If the evidence was first obtained the Department of Justicecould attend successfully to the minor cases that now go by default. The only way to success in hreaking up this traffic is to prosecute the first offense, be it great or small, and to look after all violations as fast as they occur. A number of couvictions have been secured during the past year, hut in some localities conditions have not improved; indeed, the sales of liquor to Indians seem to have increased at some points, due largely to local conditions and the present inabiiity of this Office to obtain the evidence necessary to convict. |
