640 Presidential Addresses 



of great importance. But, excellent though these 

 are, an immense amount of additional work must be 

 done on the reservations themselves among the old, 

 and above all among the young, Indians. 



The first and most important step toward the ab- 

 sorption of the Indian is to teach him to earn his 

 living ; yet it is not necessarily to be assumed that in 

 each community all Indians "must become either till- 

 ers of the soil or stock raisers. Their industries may 

 properly be diversified, and those who show special 

 desire or adaptability for industrial or even commer- 

 tial pursuits should be encouraged so far as practica- 

 ble to follow out each his own bent. 



Every effort should be made to develop the In- 

 dian along the lines of natural aptitude, and to en- 

 courage the existing native industries peculiar to 

 certain tribes, such as the various kinds of basket 

 weaving, canoe building, smith work, and blanket 

 work. Above all, the Indian boys and girls should 

 be given confident command of colloquial English, 

 and should ordinarily be prepared for a vigorous 

 struggle with the conditions under which their peo- 

 ple live, rather than for immediate absorption into 

 some more highly developed community. 



The officials who represent the Government in 

 dealing with the Indians work under hard condi- 

 tions, and also under conditions which render it 

 easy to do wrong, and very difficult to detect wrong. 

 Consequently they should be amply paid on the one 

 hand, and on the other hand a particularly high 

 standard of conduct should be demanded from them, 



