The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1913-01-06

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against gambling is beginning t
bear fruit" Mr. Valentine polnte
TO the fact that two cinyictions wer
secured for the sale of liquor to In
dians in Washington, under tn
dome of our capitol" showing, h'
said, that the Indian though hun
dreds of miles distant from his home
has not lost his lust for firewater
and that the laws as now in force
are applicable anywhere"
, The home condition of the Indian
is one of the most unsatisfactory
features of the Indian problem, said
the commissioner, for which reason
special attention is being given to
the instruction of Indian girls. The
character and efficiency of the train
ing given to them must be improved,
| he said, because it is realized that
for the girls more than for the boys
| the instruction should be of inten-
sive form. Girls can be kept in
school only for few years after
they have developed into woman
hood, it was stated.
The greatest investment the Indian
service has, continues the report, is
in the so-called returned students
who have been away at the larger
schools and have returned to live a.
or near their home reservation. There
are about $4,000 of these Indians
who represent an economic invest
mert it is estimated, of about $50,
100000. These students frequently
are considered merely trouble max
ers by superintendents of the reser-
vatlons, declares the commissioner
The superintendents forget entirely
he adds, that this class of Indians
protest against the order of things
as they find it when they return
to their reservations because "they
have seen better things, but have
not quite found their own way to
them. And | am sorry to say, he
continues, that frequently the great
est obstacle to their finding their
way lies in the government machin-
cry and personnel itself. very In
dian school in the country shoul'
consider it vital part of its daily
work to keep track of the students
who have attended it. These return
ed students are the hope of the In
diam problem. We would hardly
think of spending similar amount
in training a race horse and then
turn him loose under unfavorable
range conditions to shift for him
self"
The property interests OF the In
dams constitute one of the greatest
estates ever held in trust by any
organization, governmental or private,
the report states. Including the
lands, forests, water powers, min
erals and funds held in tribal or
individual ownership the principal
held by the government for the In
dians amounts to $750.0OO,OO0; and
the interest and annual rentals pro-
duce a total of sl2,000,000.
Indian art and the industries
which produce it should be carefully
preserved, in the opinion Of the COM
missioner the making of Navajo
blankets, of the high grades of beaN
work and basketry and of pottery
should be fostered and preserved.
Among the Pimas and Apaches in
Arizona and some of the tribes in
California as we'll as elsewhere there
are expert basket weavers who
should be encouraged. he says, while
the 100000 worth of blankets male
annually by the Navajos constitu' es
their most important means of sup
port. He points to a woman basEe'
weaver who made a basket which the
merchant now owning it values .
$1,000, while she has sold other mas
terpeces for from $50 to $3.50.
No work is nobler or more nee
essary or more trying in the Indian
service than that of the field nat
rons and women industrial teachers
according to the commissioner. The
help given by these women varie
from instruction in sanitation to tn
supervision Of expenditures and the
settlement of domestic difficulties
and they save the lives OF many chill
dren.
Elucationay opportunities must be
taken to thousands of Indian chill