any laws or rules, legal or equitable, of any nature, regulating the mode of investment of trust funds; only I wish that neither principal nor income be expended in land or buildings for any other purpose than that of safe and productive investment for income. And I hereby discharge the corporation and its individual members, so far as it is in my power so to do, of all responsibility, except for the faithful administration of this trust according to their own honest understanding and best judg ment. In particular, also, I wish to relieve them of any pretended claim on the part of any person, party, sect, institution, or locality, to benefactions from this fund that may be put forward on any ground whatever, as I wish every expenditure to be determined solely by the convictions of the corporation itself as to the most useful disposition of its gifts.

I desire that the doings of the corporation each year be printed and sent to each of the State libraries in the United States, and to the Library of Congress.

In case the capital of the fund should become impaired, I desire that a part of the income, not greater than one-half, be invested, from year to year, until the capital be restored to its original amount.

I purposely leave to the corporation the largest liberty of making such changes in the methods of applying the income of the fund as shall seem from time to time best adapted to accomplish the general object herein defined. But being warned by the history of such endowments that they sometimes tend to discourage rather than promote effort and self-reliance on the part of beneficiaries; or to inure to the advancement of learning instead of the dissemination of it; or to become a convenience to the rich instead of a help to those who need help, I solemnly charge my trustees to use their best wisdom in preventing any such defeat of the spirit of this trust, so that my gift may continue to future generations to be a blessing to the poor. If at any time after the lapse of thirty-three years from the date of this foundation it shall appear to the judgment of three-fourths of the members of this corporation that, by reason of a change in social conditions, or by reason of adequate and equitable public provision for education, or by any other sufficient reason, there is no further serious need of this fund in the form in which it is at first instituted. I authorize the corporation to apply the capital of the fund to the establishment of foundations subsidiary to then already existing institutions of higher education, in such wise as to make the educational advantages of such institutions more freely accessible to poor students of the colored race.

It is my wish that this trust be administered in no partisan, sectional, or sectarian spirit, but in the interest of a generous patriotism and an enlightened Christian faith; and that the corporation about to be formed may continue to be constituted of men distinguished either by houorable success in business, or by services to literature, education, religion, or the State.

I am encouraged to the execution in this charitable foundation of a long-cherished purpose by the eminent wisdom and success that has marked the conduct of the Peabody education fund in a field of operation not remote from that contemplated by this trust. I shall commit it to your hands, deeply conscious how insufficient is our best forecast to provide for the future that is known only to God, but humbly hoping that the administration of it may be so guided by divine wisdom as to be in its turn an encouragement to philanthropic enterprise on the part of others, and an enduring means of good to our beloved country and to our fellow-men. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your friend and fellow-citizen,

NORWICH, CONN., March 4, 1882.

Letter of the trustees accepting the gift.

JOHN F. SLATER.

NEW YORK, May 18, 1882.

JOHN F. SLATER, Esq., Norwich, Conn.: The members of the board of trustees whom you invited to take charge of the fund which you have devoted to the education of the lately emancipated people of the Southern States and their posterity, desire, at the beginning of their work, to place on record their appreciation of your purpose, and to congratulate you on having completed this wise and generous gift at a period of your life when you may hope to observe for many years its beneficent influence.

They wish especially to assure you of their gratification in being called upon to administer a work so noble and timely. If this trust is successfully managed, it may, like the gift of George Peabody, lead to many other benefactions. As it tends to remove the ignorance of large numbers of those who have a vote in public affairs, it will promote the welfare of every part of our country, and your generous action will receive, as it deserves, the thanks of good men and women in this and other lands. Your trustees unite in wishing you long life and health, that you may have the satisfaction of seeing the result of your patriotic forecast.

The thanks of Congress.

JOINT RESOLUTION of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, approved February 6, 1883.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they hereby are, presented to John F. Slater, of Connecticut, for his great beneficence in giving the large sum of $1,000,000 for the purpose of "uplifting the lately emancipated population of the Southern States and their posterity by conferring on them the blessings of Christian education."

SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the President to cause a gold medal to be struck with suitable devices and inscriptions, which, together with a copy of this resolution, shall be presented to Mr. Slater in the name of the people of the United States. JOINT RESOLUTION of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, approved April 9, 1896.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the sum of one thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be needed, is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to defray the cost of the medal ordered by public resolution numbered six, approved February sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, to be presented to John F. Slater, of Connecticut, then living, but now deceased.

SEC. 2. That said medal and a copy of the original resolution aforesaid shall be presented to the legal representatives of said John F. Slater, deceased.

By-laws adopted May 18, 1882, and amended from time to time.

1. The officers of the board shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a treasurer, chosen from the members. These officers shall serve until death, resignation, or removal for cause, and vacancies, when they occur, shall be filled by ballot. 2. There shall be appointed at each annual meeting a finance committee and an executive committee. The finance committee shall consist of three, and the executive committee of five, the president of the board being, ex officio, one of the five. 3. There shall also be an educational committee consisting of six persons, three of whom shall be appointed by the board and three of whom shall be ex officio members, to wit, the president, the treasurer, and the secretary of the board.

4. The annual meeting of the board shall be held at such place in the city of New York as shall be designated by the board, or the president, on the second Wednesday in April in each year. Special meetings may be called by the president or the executive committee at such times and places as in their judgment may be necessary.

5. A majority of the members of the board shall be a quorum for the transaction of business.

6. In case of the absence or disability of the president, the vice-president shall perform his duties.

7. The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, which shall be annually published for general distribution.

8. The executive committee shall be charged with the duty of carrying out the resolutions and orders of the board as the same are from time to time adopted. Three shall constitute a quorum for business.

9. The finance committee, in connection with the treasurer, shall have charge of the moneys and securities belonging to the fund, with authority to invest and reinvest the moneys and dispose of the securities at their discretion, subject, however, at all times to the instructions of the board.

All securities belonging to the trust shall stand in the name of "the trustees of the John F. Slater fund," and be transferred only by the treasurer when authorized by a resolution of the finance committee.

10. The secretary of the board shall be, ex officio, secretary of the executive committee.

11. In case of the absence or disability of the treasurer, the finance committee shall have power to fill the vacancy temporarily.

12. Vacancies in the board shall be filled by ballot, and a vote of two-thirds of all the members shall be necessary for an election.

13. These by-laws may be altered or amended at any annual or special meeting by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of the board.

From 1882 to 1891 the general agent of the trust was Rev. A. G. Haygood, D. D., of Georgia, who resigned the office when he became a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Since 1891 the duties of a general agent have been discharged by Dr. J. L. M. Curry, of Washington, D. C., chairman of the educational committee.

Remarks of President Hayes on the death of Mr. Slater.

Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Slater Fund:

Our first duty at this the fifth meeting of the trustees of the John F. Slater fund for the education of freedmen is devolved upon us by the death, since our last meeting, of the founder of this trust.

John F. Slater died early Wednesday morning, the 7th of May last, at his home in Norwich, Conn., at the age of 69. He had suffered severely from chronic complaints for several months, and his death was not a surprise to his family or intimate friends. Two of the members of this board of trustees, Mr. Morris K. Jesup and myself, had the melancholy privilege of representing the board at the impressive funeral services of Mr. Slater at his home, at the Congregational Church, and at the cemetery in Norwich, on the Saturday following his death.

When he last met this board, his healthful appearance and general vigor gave promise of a long and active life. It was with great confidence that we then expressed to him our conviction that his wise and generous gift for the education of the emancipated people of the South and their posterity was made at a period of his life when he might reasonably hope to observe during many years its beneficent influence. But in the providence of God it has been otherwise ordered, and the life which we fondly wished would last long enough to yield to him the satisfaction of seeing the results of his patriotic forecast has been brought to a close.

He had a widely extended and well-earned reputation for ability, energy, integrity, and success as a manufacturer and as a man of affairs. He was a philanthropist, a patriot, a good citizen, and a good neighbor. He was a member of the Park Congregational Society in Norwich for many years and was warmly and strongly attached to the denomination of his choice. His church relations did not limit his sympathies, nor narrow his views of duty. In his letter establishing this trust is the folfowing clause:

"The general object which I desire to have exclusively pursued is the uplifting of the lately emancipated population of the Southern States, and their posterity, by conferring on them the blessings of Christian education.”

When asked the precise meaning of the phrase "Christian education," he replied that "the phrase Christian education is to be taken in the largest and most general sense that, in the sense which he intended, the common-school teaching of

Massachusetts and Connecticut was Christian education. That it is leavened with a predominant and salutary Christian influence. That there was no need of limiting the gifts of the fund to denominational institutions. That, if the trustees should be satisfied that at a certain State institution their beneficiaries would be surrounded by wholesome influences such as would tend to make good Christian citizens of them, there is nothing in the use of the phrase referred to to hinder their sending pupils to it."

I forbear to attempt to give a full sketch of Mr. Slater. Enough has perhaps been said to bring to your attention the great loss which this trust has sustained in the death of its founder, and the propriety of placing on our records and giving to the public a worthy and elaborate notice of his life, character, and good deeds.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

REPORT ON EDUCATION IN ALASKA.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

BUREAU OF EDUCATION, DIVISION OF ALASKA, Washington, D. C., June 30, 1895. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following annual report of the general agent of education in Alaska for the year ending June 30, 1895:

There is in Alaska a school population of from 8,000 to 10,000; of these, 1,030 were enrolled in the 17 day schools sustained by the Government. In addition to the Government schools, the missionary societies of the Moravian, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Congregational, Baptist, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic churches sustained 24 schools with an enrollment of about 900 pupils. Of these latter, threefourths were industrial pupils; these were clothed, housed, fed, and taught at the expense of the societies.

St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea.-V. C. Gambell, teacher; enrollment of pupils, 52; population, barbarous Eskimos; mail, once a year. On the 15th of September, 1894, the revenue cutter Bear steamed away from St. Lawrence Island, leaving our two missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. V. C. Gambell, shut off from all communication with, or sight of, the civilized world for the next eight or ten months, as they then thought; but on October 2d a whale ship, which they vainly hoped would anchor, steamed close along the shore. When Mr. Gambell found that it would not stop, he hurried some natives into a boat, and, waving a coat to attract attention, rowed after it. The captain, seeing this, turned about and came back, taking Mr. Gambell on board. They had been in the Arctic over winter and were on their way to San Francisco, but hearing that the Gambells were on the island, had sailed near, so as to give them a chance to send letters or to afford them any help they could. After Mr. Gambell left the steamer and returned to their island home, their complete isolation began.

The school room is under the same roof and communicates with the house; but a new outside door allows the pupils entrance to it without going through the house. The school opened the first Monday of November, 1891. The whole village was excited over this event. They are like one large family. Being separated from the main land by so much water, they rarely mingle with other Alaskans or Siberians, and, of course, intermarry constantly, so that everybody is related to everybody else, and the interests of one are the interests of all. So the opening of school would naturally be common talk. The pupils, ranging in age from 16 years down, are principally boys, the girls being too shy to go. The men were anxious to go, too, but it was thought best not to have them with the boys. Mr. Gambell had been apprised of the fact that the native language was very difficult to acquire, and this he has found to be the case. He teaches the children English, and they are as apt at learning as the average pupils in our schools. He writes, June, 1895, that the boys have learned enough English to be able to make themselves understood and to understand almost anything he wanted to tell them. They are particularly quick in arithmetic, as far as he has taken them, and specimens of their penmanship that he sent home are really remarkable. One exercise was copying on paper and reading short sentences written on the blackboard. After only a month's teaching they could read at once sentences containing words that they had learned. The men visit the school frequently, and are very much pleased to hear the sentences read. They sit breathlessly attentive until a sentence is read, and laugh heartily when it is rubbed out. When a boy hesitates, and fails to recognize a word at once, the men grow excited, and say, "oo-hook, oo-hook," an exclamation they use to their dogs when the want them to go faster. Some of the men try to write and make figures, but they do not succeed so well as the 15-year-old boys. In March, Mr. Gambell writes: The boys are getting along well. They like number work, adding correctly and rapidly columns of five figures, some of them never making a mistake. Many of them know the multiplication table to the 'elevens.' I let them do so much of this because they like it, and I think they have more confidence in themselves and use