Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1871-05-06
voice. from ,h. People.

THE Book THAUE.-In looking over the ar.
tcle Of the Superintendent Of our Schools, /
was at first impressed with sense Of lis ap.
parent candor, and had II not contained de-
nial, backed up by an assertion that what
Justice" stated in one Of the charges be
made against the Superintendent report was
"wholly false" would have let the gentle
man pass without further notice
With reference 10 the statement made In
connection with an application to increase his
salary the coming year 800, In Consequence
Of the labor attending the management Of the
book business, he says have been "misin.
formed" and that my assertion that he did
have his salary increased the past year 500
was wholly false" Now we will see how
this Is, for II is serious charge, and one that
must answer or admit that have been di.
recting public attention to matter that has
no foundation in fact, and that my sugges-
tions would be unsafe TO follow The gentle
man, Immediately after asserting my state
ment to be false, admits that his salary was
increased 800, ard then labors to show why
and In what manner it was increased l wish
10 have no controversy with him upon this
point, as l simply stated in my original paper
that his salary had been increased So much
for his charge of falsehood But before close
with this point, wish to say that it was un-
derstoOd by portion of the School Board,
that his management of the book department
was part Of and entered into the considera-
ton, at the time his salary was raised | will
leave this for the gentleman and the Board to
settle
AS TO his assertion thatI had been msin-
formed, in regard to the application to raise
his salary 500 this year, as compensation for
service as book seller, l have this to say -
When reading his report, and as came to
that portion of it relating TO the book bus-
ness, it struck me as being curious that he
should give it 50 much importance as to ital-
else that portion of it relating to compensa.
tion, when no one had, to my knowledge,
charged him with making money out of it, or
that the School Board had used the public
money for any such purpose Believing as
do that the "laborer is worthy of his hire"
and that when | see person performing SER
vice or labor, he does it with the expectation
of getting full compensation for it, and that
lie usually does get his compensation, in some
way or other, and having read recently of
ways that are dark" thought would look
into this book business a little and see if the
Superintendent was performing all this labor
without "a single dollar compensation or
proftw l called the attention of one of the
members of the School Board to that portion
of the report upon which was placed so much
emphasis by the Superintendent and found
that the gentlemans salary had been raised
during the past year, and that an application
had been made to increase it another hun
dred this year, and that the application was
backed up by the assurance that unless the
salary was raised, the gentleman would with
draw from the School and the increase was
urged upon the ground of the additional la
tor of attending to the book department.
In looking over carefully the gentleman's
article, headed "Voices from the People," l
see that he does not deny that all application
had been made to raise his salary, but in an
unguarded moment, throws off the disguise,
and asks "where is the justice of requiring me
TO do t,co mems work for one mans pay?"
Here it is all out, as suspected it would be,
if the thing was punctured little. He wants
his pay, and l say let him have it, but not as
the Servant of two masters" He retains the
position of Superintendent of our Schools
and receives $500 per annum, therefore let
him attend exclusively to the business of SUI
perintendent and let some one else go into the
business of selling books outside of the
Schools. If you, Sir, should hire some one to
come into your Office TO superintend the
management of the affairs of the Office for
one year, and agree to pay him for such ser.
vice the sum of $500, and during the yeai
You should add book selling 10 your othel
business and place it under the management
of your superintendent, and at the end of the
year you should he called away, and during
your absence, this superintendent of yours
should make his annual report of the business
of your Office, and in that report he should
set up the claim that by his superior manage
ment and attention to business, he had saved
you $500, and emphatically stated in that re-
port that he had not received single dollar
for all the service rendered in attending to the
book department, / imagine it would not be
safe for you to let Barnum see the broad grin
upon your editorial phyz, for you would have
to quit the editorial chair and go into the
show business. That grin would make such a
rich addition to the comic department of his
big Show" that he never would consent 10
do without it. The Superintendent tells US
that he received for his services the past year
$780, or about 81 per day for each days ac-
tua service during the year. Some difference
between this and the wages of other laboring
men, who work 3l3 days at 81 per day and
only get 1926, with no vacation, and has to
loose all the rainy days, and by the way, Mr..
Editor, did you ever consider how much the
laboring mans rain costs him? 1t does seem
at times as if all things were not equal in this
world of ours.
/ hope shall never hear any thing more
about not getting lone dollar as compensation
for services rendered in the book business, -
and presume the Superintendent will leave
it out of his next annual report. have no in
tcrest IN the book business, neither do write
in the interest of any book seller. write in