Ogden Standard-Examiner | 1920-05-30 | Page 7 | Open Hearing on Indian Affairs

I- OPEN HEARING 1 I H D I AHJIFFAIHS Jfouse Committee Begins Ses-1 sions in Federal Building at Salt Lake -SALT LAKE, May 29.-Hearing on Indian affairs in Utah, Idaho and Ne-vada Ne-vada was opened here yesterday morn-Ins morn-Ins with the arrival of the house com-mlttco com-mlttco on Indian affairs, tho first session ses-sion being held in the 'federal building. build-ing. Several witnesses were examined by tho visiting congressmen under the( direction of Homer P. Snyder, chairman chair-man of the committee. , fH Tho initial witness called was Al- . 1 bort H. Kncalo, superintendent of tho Uintah Indian reservation. Ho tcstl- H fled to various matters pertaining to H' the Internal affairs among tho Indians H on tho reservation, tho possibilities of Q educating thorn to bo good citizens H and gave his recommendations. Only H about one-half, or 112,000 acres of the grazing area on tho reservation, has been alloted, he declared. Of this but I 72,000 acres are under cultivation, I 11,000 acres by the Indians and tho remainder by white lessees. But one government boarding I school has been established on tho reservation with a capacity of caring - for C5 children. Ho declared this I school to be greatly overcrowded as I at tho present time they are caring! - X for between 72 and 92. In making ,. recommendations ror iuturo care oi - J tho Indians he advocated that thoy bo pp' placed in the public schools to come ;f " in contact with the ways of tho white men, yet ho declared it to bo practically practi-cally Impossible to send them to puo-Uc puo-Uc schools, as invariably they will not stay. Ho declared It to be well worth I ' - i while for the .government to spend money for education. Only ono-thlrd , of the children aro In schools and not . s more than 20 per cent of tho Indians , can speak tho English language so it ,1 '. can bo understood, said Mr. Kncaie. Reservation Improvements. fa: i H. W. Dletz, supervising engineer :fV- ' in charge of the Indian irrigation sor- ' V vice for Utah, Idaho and Nevada, was x ' . tho next witness called. He testified 'v tnat l,p lo lno nrosent tlme $soo,ood l had been spent In construction on tho B. Uinta, reservation and $400,000 had ?v " been spent in maintenance and ope- , ration. He declared ho thought it to be . . a good place to establish an Irrigation i ' project. When asked If $1,200,000 l,- f wa3 not too much to spend in im- " rji provements on land which at most was worth but from $25 to $40 per I I acre Mr. Diets declared he thought It ) jri well worth while Mr. Snydor took f -Issue with him declaring that tho in- .tecest on this money was so small as to be not worth while. W. "W. Hast-; Hast-; lngs, one Of tho committeemen, de ft' ' clared ho thought the interest when figured out correctly to bo exceptionally exception-ally good. Mr. Dletz declared the land to be worth much moro than what it cost to put it under cultivation ' and that while It had only sold for tho prices mentioned, yet it was really worth from $30 to $100 per acre.