Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-21
WOULD CURB WASTE.
IN u. S. RESOURCES.
Wilbur and aNye Tell Nation
of Interior Problems
Over Radio.
Continued From First Page.)

through South America to Cape Horn
It seems quite clear the early in
habitants of North and South America
did not cross the great ocean from the
islands of the South Pacific; at least, in
any numbers. 1t must have taken great
natural ability, skill and strong bodies
to have succeeded as did this great In
dian group. The immigrants from Eu-
rope soon uncovered the great posi-
bilities of the continent from the
standpoint of forests and fields, mines
and water falls, and with the appear
ance of inventors bringing the steam
engine, the steamboat, the railroad
train, and then electricity in all of its
applications, the pioneer frontier ex-
tended rapidly in successive waves clear
across to the Pacific Coast. With this
advance. the Indians were left in GER
tain iSland-like territories surrounded
by new inhabitants. Often enough these
islands were the poorer lands rather
than the richer land. The Indian being
thought of as hunter and nomad
and not as a farmer, went to the iso-
lated places, or he was forced upon
them by military power. We now have
about 400 1000 of these Indians, many of
them living on these islands," not
merged with the life about them. They
are reminiscent of period that has
passed.
Maintenance Of Culture.
In some places their culture has
been maintained. They manufac-
ture their native products and con-
tinue forms of communal and tribal life
that are of unusual interest. For 100
years the Indians have been viewed
more as hostages, prisoners, or as
wards. While. large numbers of indi-
Vfduals from other countries and other
races have been brought in and mixed
into the general life of the Nation, the
Indian has been kept more or less in
soluble and isolated. The effect of this
wardShip has not been wholesome,
speaking broadly. With the passage of
time, some new opportunities have been
opened to the Indian. Since the De-
partment of the Interior, through the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, represents the
Government in its responsibility to the
Indian. study is being made as to the
most desirable policy in handling the
Indian and his property in the future
The aim is to think in terms of the In
dian boy and girl of today, and to try
to develop plans SO that they will be
able to merge into the full life OF
American citizens when they reach
maturity. There will be many diffi.
culties in this. In some instances it
will not be possible or perhaps de-
sirable to bring it about But, if the
Indian can be viewed as a potential
citizens with full rights and responsible
tiles, q step in the right direction will
have been taken. 1t is anticipated that
study will be made of the capacity.
mental and physical, of the various
Indian groups, and that educational de-
vices will be created to develop these
capacities, SO that the Indian boy or
girl on reaching maturity can be in a
self-sustaining, dignified and normal
position. With help in regard to the
problems of health and education, there
is every reason to believe that the full
capacities of the Indian can be brought
out 1t is clear that in the past they
were skillful in the use Of their hands.
Mechanical Ability Needed.
As modern civilization calls for a
great quantity Of mechanical ability, a
part of this the Indian should be able
to supply. With the appointment of
MFR. Rhoads as the commissioner of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs it is antici-
pated that plans will be adopted which
within 25 years will be able to settle a
large part of this great national prob
lem. AS We have obtained great values
from many others, so must our civiliza-
ton get, if possible, the value from the
many fine qualities of the Indian.
Because of the very fact that the
seemed to be the undesirable lands, we
now find that with the development of
mineral and oil resources, some of these
lands are the richest in the United
States. The best known perhaps is the
great petroleum pool under the Usage
Indian Reservation, in Oklahoma, but
in other places the lands occupied by
the Indians contain great stores of min
eral wealth. The property of the In
dams is thought to be worth over a
billion of dollars. 1t is great
business proposition to handle this enor-
nous trust in way which will be fair
and helpful, rather than harmful, to
those who should get the benefit of 1t.
This question of petroleum resources
leads to another one of the intimate re-
Interior. Through millions of years
small living organisms called diatoms
grew in immense quantities in brackish
waters. Each one of these had very
tiny globule of oil. In time the aggre-
gate of these globules became the great
oil fields underlying portions of the
American continent. In many ways
these oil pools are one of our outstand-
ing natural resources. Unfortunately,
they are limited in size and distribution
and are exhaustible and can never be
replaced. We have destroyed many of
the natural resources in our forests and
in other ways. The great buffalo herds
were slaughtered. We could replace the
buffalo with cattle and other domestic
animals and still use the prairies as a
source of food supply. While it was
wasteful, it was replaceable. We find a
different situation in regard to oil. We
have built up civilization here on the
gasoline engine. We have before us the
era Of the air. The airplane as weapon
of war and as a method of commune
cation is dependent upon the gasoline
that comes from the oil. Recently,
through rapid drilling and the discovery
of many oil pools, more oil has been
produced than could be wisely consumed
Modern chemistry has made 1t possible
to "crack," as it is called, oils in such a
way that an increasing amount of gasoline
can be obtained from it. Any procedure
which burns the gasoline in the oil In
anything except the gas engine, Is waste
full. If oil containing gasoline is used
for substitute for coal, of which we
have immense quantities available, an
economic loss is made and we have by
that amount reduced the potential
strength of our economic life in the
future. With immense quantities of oil
produced and the expense Of storing 1t
above the ground. oil has been forced
into use as substitute for coal In
many parts of the world. 1t has seemed
important to call a halt to these waste
full procedures, and particularly the
great wastage of gas which takes place
in the natural gas and oil fields, and
also to endeavor to control the drilling