| OCR Text |
Show 112 REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. ernments, should have funds sficient to set aside enough to conduct their schools properly for such length of time as may be deemed wise. They have omitted the sacred duty of looking to the welfare of their children. Congress will be required to appropriate the money of the public or else these thousands of children will be left without school facilities, to grow up in ignorance, with its attendant vices, and become a burden to the country. This contingency should have been foreseen when the agreements with the several tribes were under consideration. The present school system is now costing about a half million dollars annually. Will it be continued out of the public treasury or turned over to the States, with the Indians' lands untax-nble for a series of years? Whether it is now too late to make pro-vision for the support of schools from tribal funds and lands, is a great question for the determination of Congress. The issue musL be met in some way. It appears from reports that there has been a commendable growth in the schools of the Territory. The Territorial schools may be sub-divided as follows: I n boa rding s c l s.. .............................................. 33 Separate Indian day schools ............................................ 100 Combined white and Indian day schools. ................................ 445 N o a c b o l s. .................................................... 78 Denominational and mission schools .................................... 25 Public schools (Incorporated towns) .................................... BO Private business or commercial schools- -----..--.---..--4- -.--..-.-----.- Small subscription schools for whites ................................... I30 The Indian boarding schools are maintained exclusively for mem-bers of each tribe. The Cherokee and Creek nations make annual appropriations for the freedmen, but negro citizens are not allowed any assistance from the Choctaw or Chickasaw nations. The day schools are in the rural neighborhoods, and are supported almost ex-clusively by the full-bloods. The combined day schools are similar to the ordinary public schools of the West. The denominational and mission schools receive both whites and Indians, and are supported by various religious societies, supplemented with tuition fees. These schools have a great field, but are usually not well supplied with funds, and as a consequence teachers and others are poorly paid. Public schools can be organized only in incorporated towns. Some of the larger towns have substantial buildings and fairly good public schools, but the smaller ones are not in a condition to do a great deal toward a first-class system. Only towns with a population of 1,000 can issue bonds, and those which can do so are the only ones which can put up anything like adequate school buildings. This leaves scores of villages powerless to provide for the public education of their children. The densely settled farming communities are unable to raise a dollar of public revenue for such purposes. |
