COMMON SCHOOLS OF GEORGIA, 1863-1900.

State and United States Senator, as the president of the school board, a position His successor was the Hon. Hoke Smith, occupied by him until his death. the son of a distinguished educator and, during the second term of President Cleveland's Administration, Secretary of the Interior, also a steady and intelligent friend of education. The first superintendent of the new system was Mr. Bernard Mallon, called from a similar position in the public schools of Savannah. Under the administration of this able and devoted executive the schools were so organized that, in the sixth report (for 1877-78), we learn that after a temporary reaction the schools were well established. In 1875 the population of Atlanta was 32,000. The number of children of school age was 10,362 (7,238 white and 3,124 colored). The total attendance was 3,280; the average attendance, 2,400; 214 were enrolled in the two high schools. There There were said to be 800 pupils in attendwere 53 teachers of the nine schools. ance on private schools in the city. The value of school property was $65,000. The expenses of the system were $35,662.05. Superintendent Mallon had taken charge of the girls' high school, which he made also a seminary for the training of teachers, as well as one of the most promising schools of the kind in the State. Under this administration the schools continued until 1879, when Superintendent Mallon resigned, having supervised the system during the seven years of his incumbency and made it a model for the imitation of the other In that year the population of the city had risen to 40,000, cities of the State. with a school population of 10,340 and 4,000 pupils. The number of days the schools were in session was 197.

The successor of Superintendent Mallon was Mr. W. F. Slaton, who has held the position until the present day. Superintendent Mallon was followed in his principalship of the girls' high school by Miss Laura Haygood, sister of Bishop Atticus Haygood. Under her administration the school was developed into one of the most attractive of its class in the State or in the South; it remained under her charge until 1887, when she resigned to enter the missionary field as an organizer of a high school for native girls in China. Mr. H. H. Smith, the father of Hon. Hoke Smith, Miss S. McKinley, and Miss N. E. Sargent have succeeded in the principalship of this high school, now one of the most flourIn 1900 the number of children of school age in the city of ishing of its kind. Atlanta was 18,299, of whom 11,260 were enrolled, the average attendance being 10,169. The sum appropriated by the city was $128,928.62, which, with $39,864.70 from the State, made the total expenditure $168,793.32. From, the report of the Hon. Hoke Smith, president of the school board, to the mayor and genForty chileral council of the city in 1900, we learn that "the schools of Atlanta are all crowded to an extent that prevents the best work from being done. dren are as many as one teacher should undertake to control and instruct. We have been compelled, in a majority of our schoolrooms under one teacher, to To relieve this pressure we really ought to increase 50 per place 60 children. cent the grammar schools of the city. We can not hope, however, to obtain so large a sum from a single year's appropriation. The growth of the city has caused an average increase of attendance by the children upon the schools of between 7 and 10 per cent annually. For the past ten years we have built only 2 grammar schools for white children, and the negro schools have received only the increase recently made by the additions to the Houston Street School. appropriations to the schools have not increased with the growth of the city. During the past year the city appropriated for police purposes $150,358.63, while it appropriated for the erection of new schoolhouses and for the education of 13,000 children only $128,928.62. The last council was the first to give money to build a new schoolhouse since 1893. The city of Atlanta gives less than 10 -69 ED 1904 M

The

per cent of her revenue to the schools of Atlanta." In a table published in his report it appears that the schools in 11 American cities of population similar to Atlanta receive from 20 to 36 per cent of the entire revenue. "There is need

for 3 white grammar schools, with additions to others, and 4 new negro schools, with an additional girls' high school." "We are confronted with the necessity for so large an increase of school buildings now on account of the failure of the city council to furnish enough money for buildings during the past four years." The schools of Atlanta in 1901 received $40,000 from the State, and in addition to this the board of education reports that the schools will need $290,000 from the city. A lady board of school visitors is mentioned with appreciation for its excellent work, and the president of the board remarks that the only mistake in the matter was in not adding the ladies to the board of education.

In no State of the South has the recent revival of interest in public education met a more hearty response than in Georgia. Several important meetings of distinguished educators from within and without the State have been held there during the past year. A committee for a general waking up of the population of the rural districts has been appointed during the present year, of which the president of the Atlanta board of education, Hon. Hoke Smith, is one of the. most active members. No American State that has once heartily adopted the American system of universal education has permanently repudiated it; and we are confident that the coming years of the new century will bring a hearty response to the original announcement concerning the importance of general education made by the Empire State of the South a century ago.

CHAPTER XVII.

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER INTO ALASKA.

I. PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE GENERAL AGENT OF EDUCATION FOR ALASKA TO THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, 1890, a

By Sheldon Jackson, General Agent of Education for Alaska.

The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR,

Washington, D. C.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

BUREAU OF EDUCATION,

Washington, D. C., December 26, 1890.

SIR: On the 5th instant I had the honor of transmitting to you a report from Dr. Sheldon Jackson, general agent of education for Alaska, in which he stated that the Eskimo of arctic Alaska were on the verge of starvation, and recommended that we avail ourselves of the benefit of the several acts of Congress for promoting instruction in agriculture and the mechanic arts, and thereby provide a way of introducing into Alaska the domesticated reindeer of Siberia.

On the 15th instant you very kindly transmitted the above communications to Congress for such action as might be necessary, and on the 19th instant a joint resolution was introduced into the House of Representatives authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to extend to Alaska the benefits of the act approved March 2, 1887, creating "agricultural experiment stations," and of an act approved August 30, 1890, for the better support of agricultural schools in the several States and Territories.

If this very desirable legislation is granted, and under its provisions a suitable school is established, it will be a comparatively easy matter to purchase in Siberia a herd of domesticated reindeer, transport them to Alaska, and give instruction in their care and management. This would be a great step forward in lifting the native races of that boreal region out of barbarism and starting them toward civilization-a step from the grade of wild hunter to the grade of herdsmen who live on domesticated cattle--and besides this furnish an article of exportation and commerce. The native tribes on the Siberian, side are thriving with their herds of reindeer.

It seems that all northern Alaska is filled with moss meadows (tundra) which furnish the very food that the reindeer requires.

Once started, the business would grow into large proportions, and the most serious problem that threatens Alaska will be solved.

Since the subject has been agitated a number of calls have been received by this Office for information with regard to it.

I would, therefore, respectfully request permission to publish in a small pamphlet the inclosed report of Dr. Sheldon Jackson with accompanying papers.

Respectfully, yours,

W. T. HARRIS, Commissioner.

a Reprinted from the original document (Government Printing Office, 1891).

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, ALASKA DIVISION,

Hon. W. T. HARRIS, LL. D.,

Washington, D. C., November 12, 1890.

Commissioner of Education of the United States.

DEAR SIR: In advance of a full report of operations in Alaska, I desire to call your attention to the need of legislation by Congress in order to secure for Alaska the benefits of the acts of Congress in 1887 and 1890 to promote instruction in agriculture and the mechanic

arts.

And I do this now

1. Because it is the short session of Congress, and whatever is done should be done at once; and

2. Because of the starving condition of the Eskimo on the arctic coast of Alaska, which condition will be relieved by the proposed legislation. (Appendixes A and B.)

From time immemorial they have lived upon the whale, the walrus, and the seal of their coasts, the fish and aquatic birds of their rivers, and the caribou or wild reindeer of their vast inland plains.

The supply of these in years past was abundant and furnished ample food for all the people; but fifty years ago American whalers, having largely exhausted the supply in other waters, found their way into the North Pacific Ocean. Then commenced for that section the slaughter and destruction of whales that went steadily forward at the rate of hundreds and thousands annually, until they were destroyed and driven out of the Pacific Ocean. They were then followed into Bering Sea and the slaughter went on. The whales took refuge among the ice fields of the Arctic Ocean, and thither the whalers followed. In this relentless hunt the remnant have been driven still farther into the inaccessible regions around the north pole and are no longer within reach of the natives. (Appendixes C, D,

and E.)

As the great herds of buffalo that once roamed the western prairies have been exterminated for their pelts, so the whales have been sacrificed for the fat that encased their bodies and the bone that hung in their mouths. With the destruction of the whale one large source of food supply for the natives has been cut off.

Another large supply was derived from the walrus, which once swarmed in great numbers in those northern seas; but commerce wanted more ivory, and the whalers turned their attention to the walrus, destroying thousands annually for the sake of their tusks. Where a few years ago they were so numerous that their bellowings were heard above the roar of the waves and grinding and crashing of the ice fields, this year I cruised for weeks without seeing or hearing one. The walrus as a source of food supply is already practically extinct. The seal and sea lion, once so common in Bering Sea, are now becoming so scarce that it is with difficulty that the natives procure a sufficient number of skins to cover their boats, and their flesh, on account of its rarity, has become a luxury.

In the past the natives, with tireless industry, caught and cured for use in their long winters great quantities of fish; but American canneries have already come to some of their streams, and will soon be found on all of them, both carrying the food out of the country and, by their wasteful methods, destroying the future supply. Five million cans of salmon annually shipped away from Alaska-and the business still in its infancy-means starvation to the native races in the near future.

With the advent of improved breech-loading firearms the wild reindeer are both being killed off and frightened away to the remote and more inaccessible regions of the interior (Appendix K ), and another source of food supply is diminishing."

Thus the support of the people is largely gone, and the process of slow starvation and extermination has commenced along the whole arctic coast of Alaska. Villages that once numbered thousands have been reduced to hundreds; of some tribes but two or three

a The reindeer have long since been driven away. (John W. Kelly, in Ethnographical Memoranda Concerning the Arctic Eskimos in Alaska, A. D. 1889, page 9.)

families remain. At Point Barrow, in 1828, Captain Beechey's expedition found Nuwuk a village of 1,000 people; in 1863 there were 309; now there are not over 100. In 1826 Captain Beechey speaks of finding a large population at Cape Franklin; to-day it is without an inhabitant. He also mentions a large village of 1,000 to 2,000 people on Schismareff Inlet; it has now but 3 houses.

According to Mr. John W. Kelly, who has written a monograph upon the arctic Eskimo of Alaska, Point Hope, at the commencement of the century, had a population of 2,000; now it has about 350. Mr. Kelly further says: "The Kavea country is almost depopulated, owing to the scarcity of game, which has been killed or driven away. ** * The coast tribes

between Point Hope and Point Barrow have been cut down in population so as to be almost obliterated. The Kookpovoros of Point Lay have only 3 huts left; the Ootookas of Icy Cape, 1 hut; the Koogmute has 3 settlements of from 1 to 4 families; Sezaro has about 80 people."

Mr. Henry D. Woolfe, who has spent many years in the arctic region, writes: "Along the seacoast from Wainwright Inlet to Point Lay numerous remains of houses testify to the former number of the people. * * * From Cape Seppings to Cape Krusenstern and inland to Nounatok River there still remain about 40 people, the remnant of a tribe called Key wah ling nach ah mutes. They will in a few years entirely disappear as a distinctive tribe."

I myself saw a number of abandoned villages and crumbling houses during the summer, and wherever I visited the people I heard the same tale of destitution.

On the island of Attou, once famous for the number of its sea-otter skins, the catch for the past nine years has averaged but 3 sea-otter and 25 fox skins, an annual income of about $2 for each person. The Alaska Commercial Company this past summer sent $1,300 worth of provisions to keep them from starving.

At Akutan the whole catch for the past summer was 19 sea otters. This represents the entire support of 100 people for twelve months. At Unalaska both the agent of the Alaska Commercial Company and the teacher of the Government school testified that there would be great destitution among the people this winter because of the disappearance of the sea otter. At St. George Island the United States Treasury agent testified that there was not sufficient provision on the island to last through the season, and asked that a Government vessel might be sent with a full supply. At Cape Prince of Wales, Point Hope, and Point Barrow was the same account of short supply of food. At the latter place intimations were given that the natives in their distress would break into the Government warehouse and help themselves to the supply that is in store for shipwrecked whalers. At Point Barrow, largely owing to the insufficient food supply, the death rate is reported to the birth rate as 15 to 1. It does not take long to figure out the end. They will die off more and more rapidly as the already insufficient food supply becomes less and less.

INTRODUCTION OF REINDEER.

In this crisis it is important that steps should be taken at once to afford relief. Relief can, of course, be afforded by Congress voting an appropriation to feed them, as it has so many of the North American Indians. But I think that every one familiar with the feeding process among the Indians will devoutly wish that it may not be necessary to extend that system to the Eskimo of Alaska. It would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, and, worse than that, degrade, pauperize, and finally exterminate the people. There is a better, cheaper, more practical, and more humane way, and that is to introduce into northern Alaska the domesticated reindeer (Appendixes F and G) of Siberia, and train the Eskimo young men in their management, care, and propagation.

This would in a few years create as permanent and secure a food supply for the Eskimo as cattle or sheep raising in Texas or New Mexico does for the people of those sections.

It may be necessary to afford temporary relief for two or three years to the Eskimo, until the herds of domestic reindeer can be started, but after that the people will be self-supporting.