Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1873-10-29
Address 0f the State Board OF I'd.
ueatiOn 10 lillEenS OF Vermont.

The Buarl = Elaczfiua salruli b ths put
The faIl1Hiur stzfeucui, "a - much flr {
parpuss q sin1faafins thsnssltos against q
oTnous and irs-I,ausihle ehHrrgs, a. hocau
thsy holi theas-gltss beani 70 furnish 90 q
pcapie Who's servants they are. al imPartal
hcis explaining thsir ciiisial action-
uSIrunuTrT o. Tnyr BOOK.
Fine1n ysaFs aro, ancr fal dsfberaiion, Il
State adopted the policy u sccuriug, ~ lau
uuiformitY q te1i-books throughout IN IA
puhlie schools Of the STATE. The aivantages I
this system an obvious. Books arc no lougS
ehanrcsbic AZ any moment assoriius 70 the pFei
orrnce. Eisc Or unuis q individual supcriu
tcndeuts, toachess. parCu;s or pupils. Or throug
the merocuary persistence q hook-agunt,
Teachers know Ia what Textbooks they arc 4
be examined snd frym what they arc TO teach
for Eve years al least, In any part q the State
pupils are thus saved from confusion, teacher
from interference, and parents from expense
Aud when By a subsequent enactment Il was
provided that al changes. when found dtsimble,
should be made gradually and only as new
books should he needed and new CLASSES formed,
every reasonable objection to the measure was
removed. A change Of the entire list of text
books. IL 50 improbable thing should occur.
would not necessarily involve any additional sx-
psnse to the State, and might be saving q
several thousand dollars
Il Is obvious, however. that in Its practical
workings, this wise and useful measure must
encounter some difficulties. A body Of men
must be found, not only competent 10 make the
selection Of textbooks, hut possessing the con-
fdenoe Of the public in their competency. And
surprising thoroughly competent body Of mrn
20 have bee found, and the public aquiescence
In their division to have p'eigcl beforehand.
even then il would be certain that their choice
would dislppaint, in some particulars, great
many intelligent and well-dsposCd persons
Some are consttutionally disqualified from iud-
ing ola textbook formed on a radically new plan:
most men beyond the age Of fifty are inclined to
make unfNorable comparisons batween all new
books and those used in their boyhool: teach |
ers, especially, have their favorite books. old or
new, to which they are attached by their feel |
ings quite as much ms by their convictions
But all these influences working against I
unanimity Of opinion, are nothing compared
with the havoc made by book-publishers their
agents and rctainers. The hope Of gaining the
undisputcd possession Of q whole State for even
one textbook, often makes publisher per-
siStent lobbyist and hangcr-on wherever in
fuencc can be gained: the loss Of tiff he is
inscriptions himself and can find tools to his
hand-sometimes converts him into mischief
maker in the Legislature, an agitator and SIAN
dcrer in the public press. and an enemy Of the
whole educational system which he could not
rule.
THE RECENT SELECTION OF TEXTBOOKS. $
With reference to the competency of the a
Board by whom the last selection was made, IL L
is not for US to speak. They are men we'll ?
known to the public, who can Judge whether or t
not they had the ability and integrity which so v
important a trust demanded. We simply ap- I
pend their names: John W. Stewart Merritt s
Clark, George ~ Weber, BENJAMIN IT, Steele. n
d B. +. Bingham, VI. u Buckham. David NJ Il
Camp. Every one Of these gentlemen has been f
at some time teacher in the common schools a
All of them have identified themselves. both by o.
sympathy and by practical cooperation, with Of
the educational system Of the State. II has
been insinuatCd that the list was adopted by n
minority of the Board, with the suiicrance of d,
the rest The facts have already been given to :,
the public, but We will state them again The :"
members Of the Board, well aware Of the diff ),
Guilty of Their task first made long and abori u
GUS personal examination of the different text !"
books submitted. On coming together and " "
comparing their views, they found some divers %
ity of opinion, but far more agreement than W ~
they had expected. Each subject was fully and !!
freely discussed, Every member of the Board NJ NJ
was present and voted when every vote was Ia =, -
ken. Every book on the list, with the exocp " "
ton of the Readers, was finally adopted by eu
unanimous vote, and in the exceptional case. Ivy Ivy
there was but one dissenting vote 90
now THE LIST WAS RECEIVED. ov
The utmost that the Board hoped to accom- cs,
plsh was to reach decision which would COM an
mend itself to all inudicous and disnterestcd va
persons as IN The main wise and Just, and they
expected that all such persons would waive
their preferences for any single book, for the 3
sake Of preserving the system. Our success in OIL
both respects has been greater than we antci- ""
pated. So far as we are able to Judge, the list 'h'
n the main, pleases and satisfies those whose COZ
opinions are Of value. We are convinced that SIC
4 public opinion was not tempered with by pc
iisafected parties, the action of the Board pr
would be entirely satisfactory to the public. OF Gt'
course the Board knew very well that their 'ii'
choice would not satisfy those who had mercep. uc'
Try reasons for being dissatisfied. We expect- ON
NJ That this eamor would be raised by them II ess
vas openly threatened in case certain hooks no
hould be rejected, and now that the books have hs
'een rejected. it is no more persistent or un- ere
crupulous than was anticipated. Is Is
THE TACTICS OF THE OPPOSITION. ind
On the publication of the new list, most of sue
he competing publishers honorablv accented puI
he situation, and withdrew their agents from on
he field One firm proceeded to carry out the sus
hrcats they had freely made in case of tho ro- tax
ectlon OF their books The publishers of Green aft
'ds Arithmctics, books which had done good tina
ervlce IN their day, re fused to abandon tbe is q
Ell they had occupied for twenty years Avail peo
ng themselves Of the wcll-known disafIection rea
xlsting in certain quarters toward the Board Do
rowing out of the election of the new Se,reto. chi
y, they commenced violent assault upon him sub
nd through him upon the whole Board with and
ne hope of either breaking up the Board of Ed and
cation altogether, or of getting a new Ro,rd imT
ppointed who might by some special legislation
e empowered to make new selection of text- u
ooks Having contrived to get articles hos A..
lie to the Board inserted in several newspapers ,"
nd having thus created in the public mind n .h 'a
of something wrong, they secured s,i
4 the legislature the appointment of n Com n.'
littee to investigate the action of the Board III
nd its Secretary. The result of that invcsti- 'an
alton is before the public It iustifies the oc
on of the Board in every respect and dis WY
Kisses as groundless every charge that had been
lade. We quote from the report: p e'l
"a three hours examination failed In brine, ON,
single fact calling for censure or such ms would
lpJeet then 10 criticism. On the other hand II vi
peared that the Board had discharged their du reu
81 p WIN haeity, and rs we think, in every in
lection Of textbooks, it appeared tbatth Beard
a taken the most scrupuous care TO protect the
ate rom unnecessary expense. 1t also appeared
n p new ~. o. textbooks is upon the whole
If opinion that DIR. French is competent for the
lsiton he holds and that he has thus bonesti Edu
ny ana faithfully discharged the duties of liz cd,
foiled IN this mondeuyre, the agitators return