The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1906-09-25

place means of seIf-support within
| their reach. This meeting of October,
| 1888. was probably the first of it's
kind in the United tSates and It is
7chiefiy noteworthy as being the fore
runner of those great annual meetings
known as the Lake Mohonk Confer
+; ences-great house parties which
haze made the name Mohonk known
| in circles where even its great fame
| as summer reSort has not penetra-
| ted.
Z, In this connection, 1t is interesting
/ to examine the motives which induced
Mr. Albert X. Smiley I'd undertake the
Mohonk Conferences. Mr.. Smiley was
| appointed a member of the Board of
| Indian Commissioners in 1879, and inn
mediately entered into an exhaustive
| study of the Indian problem. After
! a few years he became. so firmly con-
| WINGED that grave evils existed in the
service which could never be elm
/ mated by introspection that he hit
upon the plan Of calling periodic
meetings of private citizens familiar
with Indian affairs who could thresh
out the whole matter untrammeled by
| official oversight or political infiu-
ence. The results OF the conference
have proven the wisdom of his view.
In the twenty-three years of its exis-
tence. the Lake Mohonk Conference OF
CIiCtlQS vi the mas Drought OUT
and thoroughly aired many grave de-
fects in. the administration of Indian
affairs. nearly all of which the gov
| eminent has taken up and for the
| most part eradicated 1t is a remarka-
BILE testimony to the power OF public
! opinion that these great house parties
for they have no regular organiza-
ton and hence no executive power
have produced so decided a betterment
of existing conditions by leading IN
to wise legislatnan affecting the well
fare of the Indians. The meetings of
the conference have steadily increased
in size and each annual gathering
now numbers some two hundred per-
sons, nearly all of whom are in one
sense or another experts on some phase
of the subject under discussion. Among
| those who have attended and contrib
uted to the success of these conferen-
ces have been such men as ex-Presi-
dents Hayes, and Arthur, the late
Senator Dawes. of Massachusetts, and
Theodore Roosevelt.
Some five years ago, when it be-
came increasingly apparent that many
of the pressing needs of the Indians
were at last being intelligently met
and when the acquisition of the Phil
| ippines and Porto Rico had brought
fresh problems to this country, the
conference extended it's scope to In
cluue THESE OIHef dependent peoples,
and two years ago took formal action
by changing its name to The Lake Mo-
honk Conference of Friends of the
| Indian and other Dependent Peoples.
This new departure has commanded
| the public attention to a marked de-
gree. and the discussions of the con-
ference, being free from political in
fiuence and participated in by men of
many different shades Of opinion, have
done much to clear up misunderstand
ings regarding the real conditions and
needs of our new possessions
The twenty-fourth annual meeting
of the conference is to be held at Lake
Mohonk, October 18th. 18th and 18th,
and promises to command a large at
tendance Hon. Andrew S. Draper.
New York's well-known Commissioner
Of Education, will preside. and the pro-
gram will include addresses Nand dis
eusslons on conditions ,.mong the
Indians and in the Philippines, Porto
Rico and Hawaii. Recent utterances
of the conference have been in favor
of a federal appropriation FOR the ex-
tension of education in Porto Rico and
in favor of the unrestricted entry of
Philippine products into this country.
Questions of imperialism and related
political issues are not discussed.
Among those expected to participate
in the conference are Major General
E s. Otis, DR., George Wshburn, Di-
rector\ of the Philippine Civil Service;
Judge Paul Charlton of the Bureau %
Insular Affairs. Drs. Fred B Atkin-
son of Brooklyn and E. B. Bryan OF
Franklin. Indiana, both. former Super
intendents of Public Instruction in the
Philippines; Rear Admiral Franklin
Hanford of NSw York. Rev. j. H.
sutherland, Chaplain of the 2srd Uni
ted States Infantry; Congressman
Frederick Gillett Of Springfield, Mas