The daily sentinel., 1902-12-03

main for other than actual settlers
and the consequent prevention of set
Element. Moreover. the approaching
exhaustion of the public ranges has of
late led to much discussion as to the
best manner of using these public
lands in the west which are suitable
chiefly or only for grazing. The
sound of steady development of the
west depends upon the building up of
the homes therein.
In dealing with the Indians our
aim should be their ultimate absorp-
tion into the body of the people. but
in many cases this absorption must
and should be very slow. In portions
of the Indian territory the mixture of
blood has gone on at the same time
so that there are plenty of men with
varying degrees of purity of Indian
| blood who are absolutely undistin
guishable in point of social. political
and economic ability from their white
associates. There are other tribes
| WHICH, llhNe rs Net IHhue uo NlSoPti-
BILE advance toward such equality. To
try to force such tribes too fast is to
prevent their going forward at all.
Moreover. the tribes live under wide
ly different conditions. Where a
tribe has made considerable advance
and lives on fertile farming soil it is
possible to allot the members lands in
severalty much as is the case with
white settlers. There are other
tribes where such a course is not de-
sirable. On the arid prairie lands
the effort should be to induce the In
dians to lead pastoral rather than
agricultural lives. and to permit them
to settle in villages rather than to
force them into isolation.
The large Indian schools situated
remote from any Indian reservation
do special and peculiar work OF
great Importance. But, excellent
though these are. an immense amount
If additional work must be done on
the reservations themselves among the
old, and above all among young In
dians.
The first and most important steI
toward absorption of the Indian ia tc
teach him to earn his living; yet it is
not necessarily to be assumed that il
each community all Indians must be.
come either tillers Of the soil or stock
raisers. Their industries may prop.
erly be diversified, and those who
show special desire or adaptability
for industrial or even commercial
pursuits should be encouraged SO far
as practicable to follow out each his
own bent.
Every effort should be made to de-
velop the Indian along the lines OF
natural aptitude, and to encourage
the existing native industries peculiar
to certain tribes, such as the various
kinds of basket weaving. canoe build
ing, smith work and blanket work.
Above all. the Indian boys and girls
should be given confident command of
colloquial English. and should ordi-
narily be prepared for vigorous
struggle with the conditions under
which their people live. rather than
| for immediate absorption into some
more highly developed community.
| The officials who represent the gov
ernment in dealing with the Indians
work under hard conditions which
render it easy to do wrong and verv
difficult to detect wrong. Conse
uuently they should be amply paid on
| the one hand and on the other hand
particularly high standard of con-
duct should be demanded of them and
where misconduct can be proved the
punishm ent should be exemplary.