THE C H E M A W A
A M E R IC A N
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on th eir farm s as they should and as hereafter I earnestly desire them
to do. It is alm ost discouraging to contem plate th at after years of em
ploym ent of men who have been especially charged w ith th e w ork of
advancing th e farm ing interests of the In d ian s no more has been ac
com plished.
Com m encing im m ediately I wish word to go dow n the line from th e
Indian Office in W ashington to the A gencies, and from the A gency
th ro u g h o u t every reservation and on to each allotm ent th a t every I n
dian Service farm er shall give his tim e to actual farm ing and th a t under
no circum stances shall he continue, as so generally has been done,
m aking the office w ork the first consideration and the prom oting of the
farm w ork of th e In d ian s secondary.
T hese th in g s m ust be reversed.
Congress, the tax -p av in g public and th e In d ian s have a rig h t to e x
pect full retu rn for every dollar appropriated and such perm anent in
d u strial advancem ent of the Ind ian s each year as will ju stify th e m ain
tenance of the force of farm ers and stockm en now em ployed and give
prom ise th a t eventually th ey m ay no longer be req u ired .
N or am I satisfied w ith the fact as I am now convinced th at the
S uperintend en ts, generally speaking, spend altogether too m uch tim e in
the office atten d in g to d u ties w hich properly belong to clerks, when the
S up erin ten d en t, to accom plish the best results, should be out in the
field am ong the Indians looking into th eir hom e com forts, after health
conditions and in close contact w ith them , giving personal atten tio n to
th e ir farm ing, stock raisin g and other relationships th a t they may be
encouraged to do for them selves the th in g s th a t they cannot have done
for them for an indefinite period of tim e.
H ereafter, the S u p erin ten d en t, in place of devoting th ree-fo u rth s or
more of his tim e to office duties, shall devote a very large part of his
tim e am ong the Indians on the reservation.
I do not anticipate th at the carry in g out of these directions will bring
about any appreciable congestion of the so-called " p a p e r w o rk ” of the
office. I believe th e greater portion of the office w ork will be found to
fit in w ith the field work so th at it will be done in connection therew ith
and w ithout hindrance to it.
R eservation em ployees should know the In d ian s and know them
well; understan d th eir conditions and su b stan tially aid them in th eir
forw ard m arch tow ard self-support and equipm ent for citizenship.
Sincerly yours,
C ato S ells ,
Com m issioner.