Page:LewisMeriam-TheProblemOfIndianAdministration.djvu/118

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
General Indian Policy
91

of persons who cannot be used effectively in the highly developed modern industrial system and must find what employment they can as sub-standard unskilled workers. In this country, with its great use of power and machinery, the possibility for the utilization of sub-standard labor is rapidly disappearing not alone in manufacturing enterprises but also in mining, lumbering, and agriculture. The whole tendency is toward a large investment in power and machines and the employment of a relatively small number of skilled workers. The future holds less opportunity for the Indians than the past unless better work can be done for their economic advancement.

A further objection to leaving sub-standard people alone is that they furnish fertile fields for the lower type of agitators who take advantage of discontent and ignorance to promote movements which are destructive rather than constructive.

Private philanthropic organization, especially the churches, actuated by the teachings of the Christian religion, notably the second great commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” have for centuries recognized the obligation to make determined efforts to aid sub-standard groups. To an increasing extent governments, actuated in part doubtless by ethical motives but also by more material ones, have recognized the necessity for really educating the members of such groups.

The earlier efforts in behalf of the retarded classes were of course palliative, but with growth of knowledge and experience they have become corrective and preventive. Thus today the modern state has many departments concerned with advancing the social and economic condition of its people. Although these functions are well known it will perhaps be advantageous briefly to mention certain of them because some agency must furnish for Indians the kinds of service which are being rendered by modern states for their people. Again it must be emphasized that at this time the contention is not that these services must indefinitely be rendered by the federal government. The point is that they must be rendered by some government or private agency, and that it is important first to recognize the type of services which must be rendered before the effort is made to say what agency can best render them. These services can, however, be briefly enumerated in outline form without much exposition. They are:

8