, 1874-10-04

year for .cxt-books is an ugly p,ras;te on the
FREQ growth CT our great pub1io-school system
\ sooc deal OF fault is found NTH the frequent
c1an SO OF school l-booka:' but that would not
oe II tie prices weEo lower The people would
10 AZ rea4ty to supply frcsEer textbooks for
eaesf chl!asel. as they a1o to get new and i'm
proved tools for t..elr own use
=. ~ Iho Constitutions! Convention Of Ohio. Last
a. .da.. .n!s matter was brought forward Various
LOOKS appointed, But the subject yns very su.!-
oehi5 dropped. aud the Committees did not re-
port. IT Is inspected that sunury publishing
quietus. :" avs
Tho cost OF getting out book is Of conrs,
!arge but it il small beginning to Weld such
harvest as has accrued from tho sale OF Sandc-a,
spe!!er, for example. Tho risk is considerable
man must be lecturer or novelist, OF hayo
aatonlshed his fellow-moEtals in some Hav be-
fore publisher is sure that his arithmetlcs vii,
take And 30, il q work on grammar is auc-
cessfully introduced, that fact is pretty suro
sign that its author will give to the world =
series of textbooks, upon all the variety OF
topics with which the pedasosue is expected to
tcquaint the juvenile mind Of this nineteenth
century.
Perhaps. unccr different arrangement, tho
quality Of school-books would be improved.
But 1t IS cheap in the i3nra!ire rathoE than tho
literal sense. OF which we are now speaking.
Competition does something. When. through
some mistake, 4 book is issued from two honses
at the saue tlme aud thereby falls in price so
per cent. yet still has profitable sale, NO wish
that simllar lucky accident might befall other
books, not quite as important as Jules Yc1nes
stories.
For all the "discoun.s" and per-cents OIL
introduction" and exchange prices ~; for the
gentle fInness with which tho book agent
presses Us with mental food,-we arc truly
thankful. But still there is something wrong
about the supply and demand, and it occurs to
us that there are other than railroad mon nopoliea
Once let the great army Of parents and school
children be enlisted in q reform against the
powers that be, and it will r1rsl in extent and in
nuence both the Grangcr-movement and the
tcmperance-crusadc.
Al for ether works than students books, NO
ml1lst, perhaps, consider them as iu1u1ics, and
be contensto pay = tax accordingly, as John docs
on bis cigars, and Flora Oh her yeIrets.
But, Tor the life OF US, We cannot understand
why We should pay twenty times as much for
that Which comes in book-forrn, as for the Same
amount OF matter issued rs great metropolitan
daily. Particularly when tho former is, many
times, but compilation from the latter.
Does the magic lie LII the binding, or in the
gilt-tcttering the type, or in the tint of tho
paper?
In the one ease, the book is '4set up," the
plates electrotyped and the work is done. In
the other. tho outlay ii continuous. Hundreds
OF operatives must be employed night aud day.
Oh the mere manual execution. Yet there Ia thi.
vast difference Ii the price.
Newspapers ald periodicals come in upon us
like flood; why not be content to take all of
our reading in that way: our history and travels
in the rich letters OF talented correspondents:
our science OF living in the editors rehash Of
the topics Of tho dag; os1r novels in "contin-
ucd tidoits and drlblets?
But too often the whole is An indigcstib1a
compound. and, moreover, has to be swallowed
10 frequently and no rapidly, in the fear OF its
becoming stale. that it does not ass.milate NTH,
Ill. become part OF. ourselves.
Then, too, VIC want our literature in q moro
permanent form than the rustling bustling
newspaper er,-hero to-day and gone to-1noz1ow;
something more tangible to place upon oul
lb1ary-shelyes, aud to hand down to posterity.
George Eliot aays that The greatest question
il the world is to givo to every man 8 mans
share Of what goes on IN it"
The advantages arising from cheaper books
would be many and important. Good public
and private libraries might then be expected in
every town and village. The SUCCESS OF
"Beadles Dime Series,' and OF other volumes
of yel1ow-coreted literature, is due quito as
much to their cheapress as to the subject-mat-
ter which they contain.
After ell, What ia to be dono about it i? Wait
patiently, we suppose, for the good time com-
ing. when VIC shall have our 1ettor-postage re-
daced to l cent. ride on the cars for cents
mile aud send our corn gratis. Then, and not
till then, may We hope to furnish the children
with Scent spcllers and be able to look over the
list of fa1lpublcations without breaking thu
Tenth Commandment.
OCIroTE OCICEs1aHr