under its control land, patents, etc.  It should stand by itself; there should no longer be a divided responsibility, which is always productive of evil.  We are finding the necessity in our cities of making responsibility more direct and personal.  The time, we believe, has fully come to reorganize the Indian service on this basis.  Our criticism is not against any individual, but against a system which is the growth of many years.

We would suggest the following;

1.  Have the Commissioner of Indian Affairs responsible only to the President and to the public.  What he does, or may do, shall not be controlled by the Department of the Interior.

2.  Ask Congress to provide such legislation that no agents or teachers shall ever be removed without proper cause.

3.  All inspectors and special agents shall be under the absolute control of the Commissioner.

4.  There shall be a division of the Indian reservation into school districts, with an assistant superintendent for each.  It shall be their duty to visit the schools constantly, and keep themselves in full sympathy and touch with the work.  This is the method in the States—­an official responsible for a field which he can properly cover.

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EDUCATORS’ CONVENTION.

The recent Educators’ Convention of Atlanta was a large and significant gathering.  Such consultations of teachers carry a wide and beneficial influence.  We learn that the papers and addresses were of a high character, and that the discussions were carried on with great interest, and we have no doubt that the educational work throughout the South will feel the upward impulse of this Convention.

We quote the following paragraph from the excellent report in the Congregationalist: 

The importance of the work of the Convention may be indicated by the topics discussed:  Education in Rural Districts, Relative Mortality of the Colored Race, Hygiene, Industrial Training, Better Teaching in the Elementary Grades, A Scientific Course in the College Curriculum, Compulsory Education, What Can the Negro Do?  What the Ministry is Doing to Elevate the Freedmen.  A resume was given of the educational work of the different denominations, mainly by the secretaries of their educational societies.  The reports of the colored Methodist churches were especially interesting, as indicating the gratifying extent to which the colored people are taking hold of the work of their own education.  No paper of the Convention, however, was received with such spontaneous enthusiasm and applause as the report of Dr. Beard of the work of the American Missionary Association.  It was the eloquence of facts.  The proceedings of the Association will constitute a large volume, which will soon be published and widely circulated.

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"AN OPEN PATH FOR TALENT."