Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-11

would have to solve.
The Interior Department..
When asked Secretary Noble what the In
terror Department had been doing in the four
years of his incumbency he said: .'In the first
place, we have been clearing up all the back
work Of the land Office and we have disposed Of
all unad jus ted land claims and brought the bust
nees of the Office up to date. There were some
900 of these claims pending and they
were coming in faster than they were dis
posed OF. The relief began to be felt all
through the northwestern country within
six months and it continued to be felt
until the business was entirely cleared up. Then
there has been the opening Of the Indian reser-
vations. commencing with he great Sioux res
ervation, for which the commission was COM
posed Of Secretary Foster. Mai Warner and
Gen. Crook We had thirteen commissions in
the field at one time year before last We OBJ
tanned all the land that wen. to make Oklahoma
and opened it and all the Sisseton and wahpetou
reservation and several Others We have i'm
proved the purchases of Indian supplies In the
city Of New York so that il NAV be IDENTIFY
said that We deal with the best merchants, have
the best goods and buy ut fair prices. Fraud
has been eliminated almost entirely. The con-
dition OF the Indian agencies has been i'm
proved The educational system among the
Indians has been brought to q remarkable de-
gree of effectiveness. The pupils increased to
IL. 900 last year. The school houses, too, have
been improved"
The Secretary smiled as he said with 30 me
emphasis: The census has been taken, and it
has been we'll taken. that 1t stands today as
one OF the acknowledged scientific successes Of
the age 1t was greatly criticised, but now il is
established and acknowledged.
1.-The pension bureau" continued the Secre-
tary, "has been run effectively under the law
l wish to say right here that those who under
take to criticise the number Of pensions granted
vvok hat hnth
raj pension laws in the campaign in which
Gen. Harrison WAS elected. A great part of the
republican party favored n service pension. The
dependent pension law was a limited measure;
but they all forgot to count the number OF men
injured. directly or indirectly, in the war that
must be dependent through inability to earn a
living by manual labor. The complaint is
against the law itself Parties will have to
change their platforms If the law is to be
changed"
The work in the other bureaus. he said, had
been satisfactorily and efectually performed
UNsoLvED PROBLEMS.
II will not undertake to comprehend all of
the uusolved problems which will come before
my successor. They include the improvement
of the condition OF the Indian in . greater de-
gree, the completion of the work pths public
lands, and chiefly the encouragement and ad-
vaucement of the system of irrigation and the
settlement of the arid lands. and in common
with that the protection OF the forests. What
has been done in the latter direction 10 only the
cutting out of the rock. 1t hes stiil to be
sculptured The new Secretary OF the Interior
will have to deal with plans for saving water
and Introducing irrigation, and l anticipate
the most wonderful period in American history
when the desert shall be covered with fruitful
farms.
with the further elevation Of the Indian
will como amalgamation with the white race
through education. II has been shown that
this q possible by the example Of the Dels-
wares, who have attained great excellence in
agriculture. The Indian Il now disposed to
| turn toward making his own living a. the ne
cessity II realized. The disposition of the
white people is growing more kindly toward
the Indian. largely through the influence Of
humane and religious people and the magnan-
unity Of public officials having them in charge.
"There is nothing to solve about the pension
bureau except to complete the work by the lst
Of January next. In the patent oface there viii
be NO new problems except within tts own