"It seems almost inconceivable that while so much has been done for
the Indians of the plains, for the people of the Philippine Islands
and for Porto Rico, in the way of sanitation, these natives who have
been wards of the nation for forty-seven years should have been almost
entirely neglected in this respect. According to the information
which I have, there is not a single government hospital in all Alaska,
and only one hospital of any kind--our own at Haines--that is being
maintained for the benefit of the natives; nor are there any homes
for the aged, the incurables, or orphans, though these are sadly
needed. While the church has been ministering to their spiritual
needs, and the government and church together have been supplying
educational facilities, all agencies have failed to meet the
fundamental problem of physical regeneration.

"The question may be asked, as, indeed, it has been, 'What is the
use of attempting to save a dying race?' and secondly, 'Can the
race be saved?' I have little patience with Christian men and women
who ask the first question, but shall reply most emphatically that
on commercial grounds alone we should save these people. They ought
to become a very valuable asset in the new economic development of
the entire territory of Alaska. When properly trained and disciplined
they make excellent workmen. Their natural adaptation to the climatic
conditions should prove a valuable commercial asset. In the name of a
common humanity; in the name of the gospel of the brotherhood of man,
as well as for commercial reasons, I do not hesitate to say that they
should be saved.

"Can they be regenerated physically? Possibly not as a race; but
as individuals without hesitation I answer in the affirmative. The
introduction of proper sanitary measures by the government; the