The Daily Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883, 1881-04-28
INDIAN EDUCATION.
Views Of Capt. ]. A. Sladen. of Gen
Howards STAFF.
New York Express.

SCHOOLS are conlerrlhg any great
benefits upon the Indians. They
are, of course, not failures, for
nothing which seeks amelioration
Of a race can be failure, but they
are simply unsuccessful in attain
ing their object. 1t IS with diff
Guilty that the parents can be in
duced to part with their children,
and though they fully appreciate
the advantage of a good education,
still they seem to regard such an
action on the part of the agents as
q sort of demand for hostages, and
therefore object. or all the good
the schools can spread, not one
iOta of it influences the brave of
to-day. The children of the chiefs
and the children of their children
may in time become units in the
great sum of American civilization,
but to expect such thing during
the present generation is to wish
for the impossible. OF course the
reservation is a thing of the past.
No tract Of country can now be
staked off for the occupancy of the
Indians, and the only way TO dis
pose of them is either to Danish
them to Canada, kill them or scat
ter them across the continent in
townships, surrounded by the in
nuence of law and order. Ii will
be, think, absolutely impossible
to bring all the tribes of Indians
and civilize the entire mass. 1t has
been attempted in a few minor in
stances, where three or four tribes
have been commingled, but the at
tempt has always resulted in an
utter and ridiculous failure. Each
tribe has its various customs, which
has been observed from time i'm
memorial, and each other tribe re-
CARDS such customs as follies.
Hence such squabbles which would
continually occur, and which
would sometimes result in a gener-
al war. If this civilization of the
Indian is to be carried out, infu
ences of single characters of worth
and integrity must be brought to
bear on the savage. Such has
been done in the cases of the
missionaries, and with signal effect.
The influence of the military posts
on the Indians surrounding them
is and has been uniformly good.
The Indians regard the post COM
mandant as a great medicine, and
when he is a good man they
respect and love him. In the in
Stance ofChief Joseph and General
Howard, after the chief had been
beaten be wrote to the General
and asked his advice, saying in the
body of his letter that lie re-
GREETED not not taking his
advice before. The soldiers are
kept under control by their of
fcers, not alone for the moral of
the army, but for their own safety.
The Indians always treat the Of
licerS with courtesy, and, although
they appreciate the fact that they
are in = state Of war, they never
theless regard the men with great
friendliness. The great evil done
to Indians is not produced by the
speculations and vices of the Indi-
an agents as much as by the white
men who are stock-raisers and
hard cases of the frontier. The
Indian does not take kindly to
trading. He prefers the pony as
means of sustenance-that is he
raises horses and sells them to the
border ranches, with considerable
profit; for the Indian, when he de-
sires it, can be as sharp in a bar
gain as the most thorough Yankee
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