Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1920-06-11

diaas and giving even closer atten,
ton TO the incompetent Indians. that
/ they may the more readily achieve
competency. Broadly speaking, a pol
| icy of greater liberalism will hence
forth prevail in Indian administration
to the end that every Indian as soon
as he has been determined to be as
competent to transact his own bust
ness as the average white man. shall
| receive fnll control Of his property and
| have all his lands and moneys turned
over to him. after which be will no
longer be a ward Of the government
This is new and far-reaching
| declaration Of policy. It means the
dawn of a new era in Indian admins
tration. 1t means that the competent
! Indian will no longer be treated as
half ward and half citizen. 1t means
| reduced appropriations by the govern
ment and more self-respect and inde-
+, pendence for the Indian. 1t means
the ultimate absorption of the Indian
race into the body polite of the ma
ton. 1t means. in short, the begin
ming of the end of the Indian prob
lem In carrying out this policy. !
cherish the hope that all real friends
of the Indian race will lend their aid
and hearty cooperation"
AS fast as they become competent
the Indians are placed on individual
| footing. receive fee patents TO their
| lands, and are turned loose" In
pursuance of this policy 1886 patents
have been issued in the last three
! years, more than were issued in the
| preceding ten years.
| No matter whether the Indian gets
the franchise or not he is rapidly be-
/ coming a factor in the nation. Here
are some facts indicating his progress j:
AS TO the present-day educational
social. and domestic conditions of the
Indians, 1t appears from Commissioners
| soils report that 81 600 out of $4,000
! eligible children are in school; that
$4,000 out of $1,000 families live in
houses; that there are only 22G polyga.
nous marriages; that $4,000 Indians
ere churchgolng; that 10000 speak
| English; that 81 600 are literate in
English: that 1911 900 wear citizens
clothing; that 10000 are citizens, and
that 10000 are voters.
The United States has reserved TO
! them some 6000o.ooo acres of land.
which If brought together would make
4 a region more than twice as large as
/ the State of New York. 1t is very
conservative to say that this land Is
worth S363 100000.
They raise about S11 100000 worth
Of crops. sell about S4000000 worth
| of live stock annually without deplef-
ing their focks and herds. gather in
about S5,0o0lo00 year from brother
whiteman as landlords, sell about $4,-
100000 worth of land year, receive
about $1,7O0.000 year as interest on
trust funds 100000 on treaty account.
and. in the last fiscal year. about $20,-
100000 more from Indian money. min
eral royalties. and hard work. the
latter item alone amounting to about
! 100000.
More than $4,000 adult Indians are
now supporting and less than 1900
I ahle-bodied adults receive rations with
or without labor equivalent
( In fact the Indians as a class are
now so prosperous that they were
able TO invest about s25,000000 in Lib
erty Loan bonds, or approximately S75
per capita. which is FAR better than the
per capita showing Of many Of the
States, besides investing about 81 Co.,
600 in WarSaving stamps.