The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-12-02

twenty years and may only be sold or
leased with the approval of the Secre-
| tary of the Interior. 1t is desired to
maintain the operation of the law
against the introduction of liquor into
the Indian country.
INSCRIPTIONS persons have secured
land on reservations and engaged in the
business of selling liquor to the Indians,
maintaining that an open reServa ton
is no longer Indian country. The COM
missioner of Indian affairs is determined
to oppose this traffic with all the means
at his command, but he is handicapped
by a recent decision of the supreme
court and by the fact that his office has
no fund from which TO derive the means
of prosecuting the offenders. 1t is
heartily to be desired that some meas
ures may be adopted for the protection
of the Indian against his most fOrmid-
able enemy. Experience proves that
his safety lies in keeping whisky out
of his reach.
once he touches it he completely
loses control of himself. Nevertheless
he is eager to buy it and willing to pay
any price for it. facts that offer strong
temptations to whiskey dealers to evade
the Jaw if possible.
There are probably 10000 Indian
children of school age. OF the majority
of these the government hopes to make
useful citizens, who will become an i'm
portant factor in the development of
! the western states.
The opposition of their parents to
their education is constantly diminish
/ ing, and there has been a marked in
| crease in school attendance during the
past few years. 1t has risen from less
/ than 10000 in 1898 to upward of $4,000
| in 1904. The government maintains SO
| boarding schools and 139 day schools
on the reservations. In addition to
! these there are % advanced schools,
I-of which Carlisle University and the
Haskell and Hampton Institutes are the
best known.
| The present commissioner of Indian
affairs is strongly in favor of practi-
/ cal education and industrial training
| for the young redskins, and his ideas
shape the policy of the principals. Let
me cite one instance that recently came
| to my notice in evidence of the substan-
| tial results that are being produced: A
| bridge to span a river was needed by
SnOhomish County. Wash. The officials
estimated the cost at $1,000. The gov
| eminent employed in the construction
! the schOOlboys of the TUalip reserva-
! ton. They completed the work quite
satisfactorily and at cost of $3.50, theil
labor being almost gratuitous.
| The affairs of the Indians We're never
in such favorable hands as now. Frank
z. Leupp, the present commissioner
understands and sympathizes with his
| charges. He has had the advantage OF
| twenty years of close intercourse with
the Indian in his natural environment
which is the forest and plain of Oul
sparseIy settled states, where, in the
old home and playground of the red
skin, must be found the field of his
future usefulness.
What of the future of the NORTH
| American Indians? AS a race they
have none They are fated not to ex-
tinction, but to absorption. The process
began long ago with the hardy from
tiersman who married the daughter OF
a red man and begat family of half
breeds. 1t has progressed in this di-