El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-06

war of 1912 was Hiram Cronk, of Ava,
y Y, who died in 1905, aged 105 years.
1872 We're still carried on the pension
rolls in 1911.
The bureau Of education is a part of
the department of the interior and aims
to serve as a sort of national clearing
house for educational information 1t
seeks to gather such data with refer
ence to the educational activities Of
every progressive community of the
world as well enable the more back
ward communities to take advantage
OF the lessons OF progress, and TO
D5lns tnelIlseIEeS 20 the loreIront oL
educational work Il one community
happens to make marked success Of
a system Of transporting pupils to ru-
raj schools, the bureau of education
sends experts to study all the details
Of its operation. and then prints the
results of this investigation in pamph-
let form so that interested educators
and legislators the country over may
have the benefit of the experience
Betfer school Systems.
The school administration division of
the bureau aims to secure the estab-
lishment Of better systems of school
accounting and school statistics
throughout the country. A specialist in
higher education is engaged in gather
ing Information relating TO standards
OF cOlIeglate and professional educa-
ton, the statistics and accounting sys-
TENS Of colleges and universities, CO
operation in graduation studies, the
for students from foreign countries.
and many related matters. The bureau
also has charge Of educational work
among the EskimOs in Alaska, and is
giving them instruction in agriculture.
cooking, sewing bench work washing
clothes, cleaning houses, sanitation,
and hygiene It also helps the desti-
tue natives in their hours of need, re-
curing all able bodied natives who re-
ceive such help, to perform. in eX-
change for supplies received, an
equivalent amount of labor I'm furnish
ing nreWOOd for use in schools in
cleaning the premises. or in the re-
mOval Of refuse from the vicinity Of the
native houses The bureau also has
charge OF the reindeer herds of Alaska
There are $4,000 reindeer in the "a
herds in the territory. The income from
the sale Of reindeer products more
than quadrupled in a single year, and
dustry one of the most important fea-
lures in their economic life.
Looking After the Indians.
The commissioner of indian affairs
has charge Of indian tribes of the
United States exclusive of those in
Alaska. their lands, moneys schools,
the purchase OF their supplies and their
general welfare. There are now ap-
prOXimGtely 800. 600 indians on the
reservations Of the United States For
merly It was the policy OF the govern
ment to deal with the indians as tribes
instead Of as individuals All Of this
has been changed, and the efforts OF
the interior department are toward the
progressive assimilation Of the indian
into the body polite, with the great
est degree Of protection to the indian
and with a minimum Of injury to the
community to which he may belong It
has come to be recognized that the
only way to accomplish this is to deal
with each of them as an individual
Therefore. as rapidly as an indian
demonstrates his ability to perform the
duties of a citizen and the be subject I
TO the same social political, moral. and
legal obligations, he is given his free I
dom from the tutelage Of the federal (
government and made to hoe his own
row as any other American citizen To |
change the characteristics of a race.
il to surrender its tradi- [
tons its customs, ard its impulses, is
a matter of generations rather than
years. The fullblOOded indian of today
the afforts of the government to (
trans 5orm him into a farmer. with
fixed habitatiOn. or 20 interest him in
the trades or common vacations of life
In the governments policy of indi-
the indian for civic useful
ness. one Of the most potent influences 4
Is the distribution Of tribal properties /
among the individuals who constitute
the tribe Copyright,1911, by Frederic |
!. Haskin.
CThis is part Of a chapter on the de-
partment of the interior from the book
The American Government bv Fred
eric J. Haskin. which is now offered to
the readers Of The FL PasO Herald on
most advantageous terms. See notice
on this page)