OCR Text |
Show 8 REPORT OF THE OO~WMISSIONER OF IMDIAX BFF~RS. gang. This plan has been followed by Mr. Dagenett wherever the number of the gang would warrant the outlay. In almost all in-stances the employers have been willing to meet the expense of the overseer's salary for the sake of getting the labor needed and having it well organizedand kept steadily in action; and Mr. Dagenett has very wisely chosen for his lieutenants men who have already proved their efficiency in handling Indians by service under the Government. As a rule, also, the employers have been. willing to convey their Indian laborers back and forth free, or have procured from their carrying companies certain concessions inthe cost of transportation. Wherever it has been practicable Mr. Dagenett has set up a com-missary establishment at which the Indians could be provided with wholesome food of kinds to their liking and at a merely nominal Increase over cost prices; he has aimed to supply the camps of the young men who know English with interesting reading .for their occasional leisure hours; and if any of the Indians have fallen ill they have been specially cared for, and, if it seemed expedient, returned to their homes. One respect in which this sort of employment differs from anything of the sort thus far undertaken under either public or private auspices on the reservations, is the feature which especially commends to favor the sugar-beet proposition discust in an earlier paragraph. It con-taihs no essential element of philanthropy. It has been handled on rt strict basis of value received, cent per cent. All that the Office has done in looking after the Indian laborers has been to see that they obtained a fair chance and were well treated. The employers with whom contracts have been made have showna proper appreciation of the attitude of the Government in this regard and have been- ready to meet it halfway. The people of the country inwhich the Indians have been employed, while holding the usual view 'of the frontier West as to the general undesirability of Indians as neighbors, have nevertheless recognized and given intelligent evidences of recognizing the fact that the Indians are a permanent element in the community, and that it is wiser to try to direct their energies for the upbuilding of the country than to dismiss them from consideration as nuisances. The plan we have put into operation, therefore, meets with abundant good mill and support from the local public. Indeed, surprize is exprest on all sides that some definite effort of this sort was not made long ago. When the Congress was considering that item in the current appro-priation act which provides for the expenses of transporting pupils to and from nonreservation schools, I asked for and promptly received a proviso that a part of this money might beused for the transportation of pupils to and from places where they could be employed at profitable |