live, means that many who need the most practical training can get it at home. Home economics for the girls is especially stressed. One of the major problems of the Pine Ridge Reservation is that of developing better and happier home life. The most important training that can be given these girls is effective home training. The percentage of full bloods, among the pupils who will be accommodated by the proposed school is far greater than the percentage of full bloods among pupils on the Pine Ridge Reservation now attending nonreservation schools. One of the important features of this bill is to join the education of whites and Indians in the proposed high school. It is our opinion that these Indians should be assimilated as rapidly as possible with the whites and should be given a public-school education as quickly as local conditions permit. The focal authorities in this section of South Dakota have cooperated in a plan for the development of a combined high school on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Studies by the Indian Office show that there are now approximately 255 Indian children belonging on the Pine Ridge Reservation enrolled in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth high-school grades and 295 in the seventh and eighth grades of some school, making approximately 500 children enrolled in what are now considered high-school grades. The local high school authorities estimate that there are 50 white children who would attend the suggested consolidated high school. The establishment of this union public high school will hasten the day when all of the children on the Pine Ridge Reservation shall be educated in the public schools. The successful operation of this union high school will do much to eliminate the prejudice against educating whites and Indian children together. Moreover, it is generally recognized that if the Indian is to have his rightful place in American life he should learn the duties of American citizenship by contact with other citizens. One of the principal reasons for the establishment of this reservation union high school is that full bloods and those who are almost full bloods will remain longer in this reservation school than they would elsewhere. A careful study of full bloods and those almost full bloods enrolled on the Pine Ridge Reservation and in nonreservation schools indicates that a much higher percentage of these pupils would continue their high-school education if high school facilities were available on the reservation. The establishment of the public union high school will serve the needs of the Pine Ridge Indians better than the system of education now used. There are many Indians on the Pine Ridge Reservation who do not fit into reservation life as well as, it is confidently believed, graduates of a reservation high school would do. The Indian child should have a general education which will fit him to adapt himself to any community in which he may live. However, the large majority of the Pine Ridge children will probably spend their future lives on the reservation, and will help to solve vocational problems which are in some respects peculiar to this location. It is believed that a high school at Pine Ridge could and would be of unusual service to the children of the reservation, particularly in vocational guidance and training. This bill will undoubtedly bring aid in the most economical way where it is most needed. The Sioux group is one of the largest of the Indian groups in the United States, and the group at Pine Ridge is a particularly important part of the Indian population. We further urge the establishment of a high school because it would enable the children to stay at home or near their homes during their high school course. It is our conviction that this is not only the humane plan to follow but is also the one which will produce the best results educationally. Indian home life should be encouraged and every effort should be made to utilize the home as an important factor in the education of Indian children. Indian parents are encouraged to visit their children who are attending the boarding school. They appreciate this privilege and visit frequently. Pupils are often allowed to go home over Sunday, or when illness or other emergency at home makes their presence necessary. This practice keeps children and parents contented. The tie between Indian parents and children is very close; and the full bloods especially are unwilling for their children to attend school so far away that they must be separated for months, or even years, at a time without sight of each other. From the information obtained from the Indian Office and otherwise we are convinced that the school building now in use at the Pine Ridge Agency which was erected in 1899 is totally inadequate and unfit for the first eight grades and is wholly unsuited for educational purposes and should be condemned. Furthermore, as will appear from the memorandum submitted by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, if this proposed high school building is not constructed at an early date major new construction and repairs to present buildings. will involve expenditures possibly in excess of $200,000. Copies of the report of the Secretary of the Interior and the memorandum of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs follows: Hon. LYNN J. FRAZIER, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In response to your request of December 21, 1931, for a report on S. 2340, which is a bill to provide funds for cooperation with the school board of Shannon County, S. Dak., in the construction of a consolidated high-school building to be available to both white and Indian children, I transmit herewith a memorandum on the subject that has been submitted by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to which attention is invited. After a review of the proposed measure I agree with the commissioner. In this connection, we are advised by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget that the expenditures contemplated by the proposed legislation would not be in accord with the financial program of the President. Very truly yours. RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Memorandum for the Secretary. This will refer to the request of the chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate, for report on S. 2340 which would authorize an appro priation of $150,000 for the construction and equipment of a public high school building at Pine Ridge, S. Dak. The proposed legislation is thoroughly in accord with the present program of the department for localizing Indian education wherever possible. If enacted, it would carry forward very effectively the work of Indian education on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The local authorities in this section of South Dakota have cooperated in a plan for developing a combined high school on the reservation. We are, as you know, anxious to retain more of the boys and girls on the reservation for their secondary school rather than to send them as an unselected group to distant boarding schools. Studies by the Indian Office show that there are now approximately 255 Indian children belonging to the Pine Ridge Reservation enrolled in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth high school grades and 295 in the seventh and eighth grades of some school, making approximately 500 children enrolled in what are now considered high school grades. The local school authorities estimate that there are 50 white children who would attend the suggested consolidated high school. It happens that the educational program on the Pine Ridge Reservation is in charge of one of our recently appointed superintendents of education. Through the joint efforts of this educational officer and the superintendent of the reservation, we have a very promising situation at Pine Ridge which will insure the right kind of leadership for the proposed high school program. A further advantage of S. 2340 is that any construction work that might develop as a result of it would mean employment for Indians at a time when the economic situation among Pine Ridge Indians is extremely serious. A very small percentage of the land on the Pine Ridge Reservation is taxable. Therefore, county and State resources are insufficient to finance such a building, or to warrant an attempted bond issue therefor. Furthermore, if such a building is not provided at an early date, and we are forced to continue the maintenance of the existing boarding school indefinitely, major new construction and repairs to present buildings will involve an expenditure possibly in excess of $200,000 and thus the undesirable boarding school feature will be perpetuated. The advantages to be gained by maintenance of a public high school are many, the outstanding features being a better type of education with a smaller expenditure of public funds. In this connection it is well to call attention to the desirability of a general basic law authorizing appropriations for cooperative enterprises having as their main purpose facilities for a better educational program among the Indians of the several States. During the last session of Congress specific legislation was enacted authorizing appropriations for public-school buildings to be maintained by local authorities, with the Government paying tuition for Indian pupils enrolled at Poplar, Frazer, and Browning, Mont. Studies have been made in North Dakota, Montana, Washington, and other States and there are numerous localities where such construction would be of great advantage to the service, permitting a real educational program at smaller total cost to the Federal Government. We feel that passage of this legislation will mean a significant forward step, important not only for Pine Ridge, but elsewhere. A similar consolidation on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota made possible by congressional action of the past three years is now under way and succeeding notably. A project of this sort at Pine Ridge, emphasizing high school and vocational training facilities, would be a further indication of what can be obtained in Indian education by well-planned cooperation between the Federal Government and the States. It is believed that the erection of this building would have a very marked effect in the promotion of our already well-defined educational program on the Pine Ridge Reservation, but in view of the existing financial situation it can be deferred. We therefore recommend that S. 2340 be not enacted. O C. J. RHOADS, Commissioner. Mr. STEIWER, from the Committee on Banking and Currency, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 2409] The Committee on Banking and Currency to whom was referred the bill S. 2409, having fully considered the same reports favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass without amendment. The Federal intermediate credit banks had on December 31, 1931, outstanding loans and discounts amounting to $117,935,171. This total is expanding and it is believed that with the enactment of S. 2409 the total loans and discounts of the Federal intermediate credit banks will be considerably increased. The Federal intermediate credit banks are permitted by law to charge the discounting institution an interest rate of 1 per cent more than the rate borne by their most recent debenture issue. The hearings disclosed that the interest rate on recent debentures of the Federal intermediate credit banks ranged from 3 to 5 per cent. These conditions fix the discount rates of the Federal intermediate credit banks. At the present time they are from 4 to 6 per cent. It must be understood that this is not the rate paid by the livestock and farmer borrower from the discounting institutions. These discounting institutions or credit associations are permitted by law to charge an additional spread not to exceed 3 per cent per annum. Thus, the Federal intermediate credit bank rate to the farmer borrower ranges from 7 to 9 per cent. In many areas of the country the discounting agencies do not charge the entire 3 per cent spread but charge a lesser amount which may vary from 2 to 2%1⁄2 per cent per annum. The object of S. 2409 is to provide a more dependable and abundant supply of money for use of the Federal intermediate credit banks, and to permit such banks to obtain their money supply at a lower rate of interest. This would permit loans at lower rates of interest to the farmer borrower. The reductions are estimated to amount from 1 to 11⁄2 per cent per annum. The proposed legislation is thoroughly in accord with the present program of the department for localizing Indian education wherever possible. If enacted, it would carry forward very effectively the work of Indian education on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The local authorities in this section of South Dakota have cooperated in a plan for developing a combined high school on the reservation. We are, as you know, anxious to retain more of the boys and girls on the reservation for their secondary school rather than to send them as an unselected group to distant boarding schools. Studies by the Indian Office show that there are now approximately 255 Indian children belonging to the Pine Ridge Reservation enrolled in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth high school grades and 295 in the seventh and eighth grades of some school, making approximately 500 children enrolled in what are now considered high school grades. The local school authorities estimate that there are 50 white children who would attend the suggested consolidated high school. It happens that the educational program on the Pine Ridge Reservation is in charge of one of our recently appointed superintendents of education. Through the joint efforts of this educational officer and the superintendent of the reservation, we have a very promising situation at Pine Ridge which will insure the right kind of leadership for the proposed high school program. A further advantage of S. 2340 is that any construction work that might develop as a result of it would mean employment for Indians at a time when the economic situation among Pine Ridge Indians is extremely serious. A very small percentage of the land on the Pine Ridge Reservation is taxable. Therefore, county and State resources are insufficient to finance such a building, or to warrant an attempted bond issue therefor. Furthermore, if such a building is not provided at an early date, and we are forced to continue the maintenance of the existing boarding school indefinitely, major new construction and repairs to present buildings will involve an expenditure possibly in excess of $200,000 and thus the undesirable boarding school feature will be perpetuated. The advantages to be gained by maintenance of a public high school are many, the outstanding features being a better type of education with a smaller expenditure of public funds. In this connection it is well to call attention to the desirability of a general basic law authorizing appropriations for cooperative enterprises having as their main purpose facilities for a better educational program among the Indians of the several States. During the last session of Congress specific legislation was enacted authorizing appropriations for public-school buildings to be maintained by local authorities, with the Government paying tuition for Indian pupils enrolled at Poplar, Frazer, and Browning, Mont. Studies have been made in North Dakota, Montana, Washington, and other States and there are numerous localities where such construction would be of great advantage to the service, permitting a real educational program at smaller total cost to the Federal Government. We feel that passage of this legislation will mean a significant forward step, important not only for Pine Ridge, but elsewhere. A similar consolidation on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota made possible by congressional action of the past three years is now under way and succeeding notably. A project of this sort at Pine Ridge, emphasizing high school and vocational training facilities, would be a further indication of what can be obtained in Indian education by well-planned cooperation between the Federal Government and the States. It is believed that the erection of this building would have a very marked effect in the promotion of our already well-defined educational program on the Pine Ridge Reservation, but in view of the existing financial situation it can be deferred. We therefore recommend that S. 2340 be not enacted. C. J. RHOADS, Commissioner. |