The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-12-07

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~ port of the secretary of the
4 y interior the general condition
of the Indian wards of the
government has been satisfactory and
"a reasonable degree" of progress to-
ward education has been made.
Exclusive of the few Indians in New
York state, there are 266,6S9 red men in
the United States, of whom S4,75O be-
long to the five civilized tribes of In
dian territory, the Choctaws, Chicka-
saws, Creeks. Cherokees and Seminoles.
The total number shows an increase of
1853 over the previous year. The United
States government during the current
fiscal year will spend on these Indians
in various ways $S,S73 1924 or little
more than $33 apiece. OF this money a
third is for Indian education, nearly a
third is for fulfilling treaty stipulations
and the remainder for a variety of
purposes. The amount which actually
reaches the Indians through the gov
ernment, after expenses of Indian adj
ministration are deducted, is about &c.
900 a year, to which may be added
81, 100000 that the Indians themselves
earn in different ways. Thus 1t may
be said roughly that every Indian on
an average has an income of $50 a year,
rations included. Since March 4, 1889,
the government has expended $S6S,35S,-
217.17 on the Indians, not counting the
cost of warfare and policing of tthe In
dian country.
In food the Indian costs the govern
ment about million and a quarter
dollars year. Rations are issued regu-
cost of $21.40 percapita: and to 1850 old
and INDECENT Indians occasionally. The
law requires able-bodied male Indians
between IS and As years of age to give
labor equivalent for rations and the
government is trying steadily to reduce
the free issue of food and to encourage
self-support.
The problem of Indian education Is
the hard one to solve. Deducting sick
and disabled, there are about $4,000 In
dian children outside of the civilized
tribes to be educated. OF these 26,45l
were enrolled in some form of school
work last year. an increase over the
previous year of 1,249; and the average
attendance was 21,56S, an increase of
1,046. A compulsory attendance law Is
advocated. The Indian school system
does not contemplate giving the In
dians what is known as higher edu-
cation" 1t aims to provide a training
which will prepare the Indian boy or
girl for the everyday life of the aver
age American citizen. Instruction is
mostly limited to what is usually
taught in the common schools of the
country, with the addition of industrial
training in the trades, agriculture, and
the domestic arts. The training of some
of the Indian girls as nurses is also
being undertaken in few of the
schools.
The Indian schools are of three gen.
eral types, namely, government con-
tract and mission. The government
school accommodate nearly 80 per cent.
of all the Indian pupils in school at
tendance and they, in turn, are OF three
kinds. Non-reservation schools are, as
Il rule, the largest institutions devoted
to Indian education, and are located off
the reservations and usually near cities
or populous districts, where the object
lessons of white civilization are con-
stantly presented to the pupils. The
three largest and most familiar are at
Carlisle, Pa, Phoenix, AriZ, and Law
renee, Kans, having, respectively 1000,
@
boarding schools averaging 200 in
capacity and located on the different
reservations. They stand as object les
sons among the homes of the Indians,
the latter being permitted to visit their
children wherever possible. The agency
workshops are co-ordinated with the
training received at the schools. Finally
the government last year maintained
147 day schools, which accommodate
30 to 40 pupils each and are usually
conducted by Il man and his wife, who
have garden, some stock, few tools,
and furnish the pupils MONDAY
luncheon. The boys get the rudiments
of an industrial education and the girls
some lessons in cooking, sewing and
laundry work.
The government is doing what it can
to make man out of Lo. But truth
to tell, it is not receiving much help
from the object of it's solicitude. Civil
ization to the Indian has been bane.
The fact that last year the value
OF American exports exceeded the
value of American imports by $544,-
54l,S9S, sum almost equal to the en-
tire cost of operating the federal gov
ernment, and equivalent to upward of
81 per capita for every man, woman
and child in the United States, causes
wonder as to how this balance of
trade is settled. That it is settled
somehow goes without saying. The
common belief Is that II is settled by
payments of freight and interest to
foreigners, by money of Americans
spent abroad and by the return for