Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1872-04-27


one cent of their In0aey IN any such bnsiuess :
Again, you say tie @el0O transaction wss
your own aud the School Board had nothing
to 90 with u, and that you have II now In
your pocket, barring WHIST yOu Had mt paid
out on legal vouchers" This is confession
am sorry 70 bas you make, for yon admit II
was lhe so0oof money, and tlat you had been
using II In Transaction ef yous own. / wish
TO sny 10 yon, the less you use the public funds
IN Ways unknown TO. and without The coDsent
of The school Board, The better VII be your
record.
Again, you say that mot one farihing has
eyer hren paid to any person or persona. either
ut'c'ly or nurcctIy, Tor The trouble Of man.
aging me book concern" I'm answer. will
say, about year ago some one. over The sig.
nature 0f Justice" charged up1n The Shpcr.
iniendeDt that be was making she pfFnft 10 gel
an Increase 0f salary Of SiOO for the then
coming year, IN consequence of the increased
labor ~ attending 10 the book busntss If
you wlii look over the files Of the Tec7rnth.
yon will find in .ne Jf his answers that he
took the gFomnd that II was his bv ripht. and
that lie onglt IN Justice. o.hayt;i NJ III was
ihen understood that The book business would
oc takrn Oui OF iAc school and the assurance
Gang nom spurcrs considered, at the time, W..
liable That The Superintendent would not get
lhe SiOO increase, yet At the end Of thc year
ma me DOCK business had been continued IN
the school, aud that tie School Board had in
creased The salary OF the Superintendcnt 800.
mak'ng It 81 600, instead of 81 800, tho
amount PAID the year before This IL equal
10 S20O per month fer actual labor think
THIS makes his ;imc worth too much TO have II
wasted In selling books, pencils, pens. paper
and INK, a service that any book.s seller will
iurniSh al me rate OF less than $2j per month.
frequently The question Is asked by those
who have to buy books, "Wby ia il that we
nave 10 BUY SO many new books and give up
our OLD Ones?' | propose 10 throw some lirht
upon this matter for the benefit of these nao-
pie, and possibly they can answer the question
inr themselves. quote from the Book spller's
Guide, published March ISL 4s72. nage 10:
"At present, by the scale adopted ly the Puh.
lisners' Board, discount of fifty per cent.
and ten per cent. off far handling, is allowed
on books for Introduction Thps. hooks ore
sold to the schools, and furnished either d,.
rcctly Ia them on the order OF the compc,cat
authority commissioners principals or leach
ers, as the case may he, or through book.
seller. Now as The difference between tbe dis
count allowed on books for introduction and
The discount allowed to the trade Is fifteen or
twenty per cent, there Is a great temptation
To school officers To order more books than
they want and turn them over TO the trade
pocketing the difference in the discount. The
extent tomilicll this prcticehas pri.vailcd du-
ring the past six month is almost incredible.
A gentleman thoroughly conversant with the
working of This system, writes: "Tbe tenchcrs
take advantage of the present 16 and 10 in
every possible way. They order double or
three times what Is actually needed, and after
supplying the class at once at q rates, have a
stock ON hand TO last six months or q year
from which they get full prices from p,Ipils
Even officers of School Boards often swindle
the publishers by ordering at special rates tor
introduction, wher the book is actually used
in the schn0l class will he advanced. say
from the Fourth to the Fifth Reader. The
class may nunibrr 90, more or less. The
tcncler, President of the Board, or some other
officer will order books enough OF and 10
for that class and say they are for first intro.
duction, although class in the same school
may have used the book during all the year or
term"
Another sHindlc is as follows "a series of
Biographies or grammars or arithmelcs are
used uniformly in school A. class rets
through with one hook of the series and is
ready 10 take up the next. The teacher finds
that the dealer will charge full retail price fer
this book, and seeing Immediately little
profit by introducing q similar book OF some
Other series, has no trouble in getting the con-
sent of the Board and pupils TO take it, on rep
resenting that il will answer The purpose and
can be had cheaper. If the retail price of this
book is Sl.00, the TEACHER can get ii for IS cts.
- -,
aud thus two series of the same study are in
use in the school. After awhile, the teacher
writes to the publisher or agent that he is
using two series of study and wishes 20
make them uniform. and wishes best figures
on enough TO supply him for another yenr,
and gets second lot CT the same books lie
had just introduced as above, and srlls them
to pupils at such prices as he can get
There is mnch more of this, but think
have given enough to satisfy any one, why il
is that books are sometimes changed and new
books introduced into our schools. Now, INV
fellow citizens, you sec in this another reason
why School Boards and teaoheFs ought to
keep entirely olear from any interest in the
book business Mr.. Treasurer, wish TO saw
to You, and through you to the School Board,
ihnt In my Judgment, yov had better throw
this disturbing elemeni=-the book business
entirely out of your school wash your hands
of it, and let it 60 where it belongs--to the
book k-selers, depending upon honorable COM
petition to regulate the price of books. Watch
over, with Jealous care, every Otherapproach
to The treasury, and with wise and prudent
you will Jay the foundation of
our schools broad and deep, and what is bet.
ter than all, there will be no more trouble
about the school fund. ARGUS.