Evening star., 1917-03-11
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING

. 1t Is the opinion Of officials Of the In
dian Office that there is no single fea-
ture Of Indian administra-
Indians' ton presenting a more difficult
problem for solution than the
HuAus. manner in which individual
Indian money should be handled.
1t is a problem because in this tho
experts are dealing with individual
lines rather than a race. and. II they
succeed, wholesale methods must be
abandoned and the needs Of each indi-
vidual considered. The Indian office Of
J ficials have set as their endeavor,
through a proper use of individual In
dian money. the following:
81 To assist every Indian to the es-
tablishment of a permanent and sub
stantial home built upon land to which
the individual whose money is being
expended may expect to obtain fee
simple title.
"2. To acquire independence of
Thought and action and sturdy self
reliance looking to eventual self-sup-
port, substantial progress and perma-
nent prosperity.
from tribal relations into those of in
dividual citizenship with full knowl-
edge of all the rights. privileges and
responsibilities which accompany it,"
In this connection the experts say
that they have been able to see, even
in so short a period of time as three
years, that there has been a marked
increase in the number of Indians who
have built and are building substantial
homes on their allotments or who have
purchased farms with their own money
and have equipped and improved them
with good buildings. more and better
stock, and are surrounding themselves
with the comforts and pleasures of an
enlightened and more advanced civil
liZation than they have hitherto known.
1t is said that there has been pro-
nounced increase in the number of bank
accounts and in the amounts on deposit,
also a steady increase in the interest
earnings on the accounts of individual
| Indians.
Some are reaching out into business
| enterprises of various kinds. looking for
| Investments and finding profitable
ones in farm and city real estate, and
| others are launching forth into spe-
and some. of course. with failure ahead,
| but many making of their efforts a pro-
| nounced success.
Indian office officials say that tho ideal
| can only be realized when every In
| dian shall be fully competent to care
| for himself without assistance. The
proper management of an Indians bank
| account Is one requiring delicate tact
and skill in order to teach him how to
| care for it and himself without rob-
! binE him of his manhood and independ-
| ence. IT is really an educative process,
and calls for time in it's development
| 1t is felt by the experts in charge of
| this work that the plan being pursued
| VIII bring success, for the complaints
| regarding the Management of the In
dams money can be made to serve him
| rial things he needs and. through eX-
| perlence in its use. inculcate in him
| principles of business and thrift which
| shall contribute permanently to his
personal and material development
| According to study which has re-
Gently been completed by the office of
| public roads and rural
| Work for engineering. there has been
I c. steady trend away from
| prison shop employment
for the convicts to construction of pub
lie works and highways.
| The systems of convict labor have
been classified by the experts who un-
| dertook this study lease, contract and
| piece-price systems, under which the
| labor of the convicts is for the benefit
\ of private individuals or corporations,
often in the manufacture of commodi-
ties; the public-accounting system. I'M
der which the convict-made goods are
sold by the state: the state-use system
| under which goods are manufactured
| only for use in state institutions and
the public works and ways system un-
| der which the labor of the convicts Is
! devoted to public structures and roads
| 1t is pointed out by the officials that
the latter system has grown in popu-
| larity because it makes use OF the con-
wet labor with minimum of competi-
tion with free labor. contributes fairly
| lasting benefits to the whole community
| affords healthful and even somewhat re-
| formative employment to the convicts.
and reduces congestion in penal institu-
I tions.
| The most satisfactory use of the sys-
tenn, in the opinion of the road special
| lists, is under state rather than county
administration Since 1885. 1t was
| found. the percentage of convicts in a
! large number of representative institu-
| tions working under the public-account,
| state-use and public works and ways
system. has increased from 80 to
| Sc per cent. while the proportion en-
gagged in road work alone has increased
! from 1.3 per cent to nearly 13 per cent
| The employment of state convicts in
| road making. it is said. first became gem
eral in the south in the early nineties
Such use of state convicts has been
| made by northern and western states,
however. mostly during ahe last ten
years.
State systems of pensions or retire
| ment for public school teachers are
maintained in thirty
Teachers three states, according to
n Il survey which has just
direction of the bureau of education.
| The study showed that contributory
systems. supported partly by public
funds and partly by contributions from
| the teachers. prevail in twenty-one
| states. thirteen having a statewide
pension law and eight having local
| systems. The non-contributory plan,
| where the state finances the entire
scheme without the aid of contribu
| tions from the teachers, is in force in
the following eight states: Alabama.
Arizona Colorado. Maine, Maryland.
| New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Ten
| nessee.
| This teachers pension movement is
| comparatively recent development in
| the United States. one of the earliest
systems. that of New Jersey. dating
| back only to 1896. Most of the develop