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Show 16 COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. to see that the course is understcod and complied with and to report any unavoidable conditions that seem to call for modification of ib requirements. Its academics1 features are such aa will enable pupils readily to enter the public schwle without retarding their pmgrervl and are designed to subserve the general policy of the bureau of encouraging the attendance of Indian children in the State schools. There are now , upward of 30,000 Indian children in the public schools and under the provisions of law far paying their tuition, equal to the per capita cost for white pupils, aod provid- . ing the Indian parents pay no taxes, the number ia rapidly increasing and objection to such attendance by white patrons is alao diminishing. HEALTH. The health problems in the Indian Service are concerned with tuberculosis, trachoma, infant welfare, and epidemics of contagious diseases. ! b ~ ~ ~ cmo s ~ s . - Tchoend itions which are met in the solving of the tuberculosis problem are the tendency of many of the Indians to neglect seeking the physician's aid until the appearance of warning symptoms, such as hemoptysis, the disinclination of many of the Indians to accept the white man's methods, failure to continue treatment long enough in many instances to effect a cure, and the neglect in some instances of observing the principles of modified quarantine with respect to young children. Strenuous efforts have been made to improve the sanitary conditions bearing on this ques-tion, and throughout the year all health employees have endeavored to improve conditions in the Indian homes, institute measures .looking to the separation of open cases from others, especially where there are young children, and the treatment in sanatoria of all cases which may reasonably be expected to benefit from sanatorium treatment. A stay of considerable dkation in a sanatorium has been found to be of great educational value and the Indian reacts very well to this form of treatment. The sanatoria are certainly a success, and the demand for enlarging the institutions now in existence and the establishment of further sanatoria far exceeds the supply of available funds. The Indians are realizing more and more the value oE the sanatoria and many of them now have waiting lists. Thisfact indicates the value of the educational campaign which has been waged consistently during the past few years. 1 T s n c ~ o ~ ~ . - T hdeif ficulties met with in the campaign against trachoma are the foci of the disease among the older Indians, which results in the constaxit stream of new cases entering the Indian schools, the disinclination on the part of many of the older Indians to submit to treatment for a long enough time to effect a cure, and the painful nature and long duration of the treatment. The corps of special physicians have accomplished a great deal not only in the education of the members of the medical fraternity who have recently entered the Indian Service, but in the operation |
