The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-09-27
FRIENDS OF INDIANS.
A Big Meeting Of the Society
Yesterday.
GENERAL FISK AGAIN ELECTED
AS President of the Associatfon-Re-
forms Recommended in the
Indian Schools-Etc.
Friends of scalpers.

LAKE MoHAEK, N. Y, September o.
The sixth annual meeting of the Lake
Mohsnk conference of Friends of the
Indian was called to order this morning
by Hon. Albert K. Smiley. member of
the board of Indian commission. GEN
eral Clinton B. Fisk, president of the
board of Indian commissioners, was for
the sixth year elected president.
General Wbittlesly, of Washington
secretary of the board of Indian COM
missioners, gave an account Of the
progress of the Indian work, and of the
present condition. There were at
present, he said, about 260 coo Indians
in the country. 1t will be twenty years
next spring since General Grant inaug-
urated the policy of peace with the
Indians, and the governments man
agement of Indian affairs is decidedly
better than twenty years ago. There
were no schools worthy of the name.
Now the schools are attended by Il, goo
children of school age.
THE FIRST REGULAR PAPER
of the session was presented by DR..
Lyman Abbott on the need of a strong
SOfC1 AAAOAb 5IClh LII LII
dian children. He said that the United
States government might not merely
aid others, but itself must assume the
work of equipping for civilized industry
and intelligent citizenship, the entire
mass of Indian population now under
the age of Is. The entire population of
Indian children between the ages of 6
and l6 was slim ated at less than SO, 900
The children in less than half century
would solve the Indian problem. The
education thus to be afforded must not
be merely offered as a gift. 1t
must be imposed by superior authority
as requirement. In other words, tue
education of Indian children must be
made compulsory. Ii organizing such a
system OF education. the government
should assume entire charge OF all
primary education as fast as possible,
Contract schools should be passed over
to the entire control of the government
which maintains them.
In closing, DR.. Abbott said the Indian
schools should be taken out Of politics
There is only QUE way to take them out
of politics, namely, by making the head
OF the school system non-politlcal. So
ong as the bureau is part OF
the political machine and the schools
are part of the bureau, so long the
schools will b3 part of the political
machine. And so come to the fifth
last, but fundamental proposition OF
this entire scheme. 1t is that the Pres
ident appoint non-political commits
sion, who shall be authorized to Or
ganize and direct the new educational
system; that money for that system be
appropriated by Congress to that edu-
cational commission, and that the ap-
pointment of the teachers, the organiza-
ton of schools and the maintenance of
the entire system be placed under it's
direction and control freed from the en-
tanglements involved on the one hand
by connection with an administrative
bureau, on the other hand by the neces
sity of securing influence in the House
of Representative for needful appro-
priations.
The other speakers were Charles
Howard, of Chicago, and Miss Collins,
of the mission of Standing Rock
Agency, Dakota. Miss Collins COM
planned that no standard of education
or of morals was required of govern :
ment Indian teachers.