The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1877-12-13

circular has been secretly circulated
in the remote parts Of this county,
and also in some of the adjoining
counties, announcing in tones, half
smothered with awful fright. 1.-The
Great Conspiracy! Prof. Spring in
cahoot with the Book Ring! has an
nulled the Meraill Text Book Law in
Olmstead county!!" Now, this is all
bosh and twaddle and is only and sim
ply an Internal conspiracy to injure
superintendent Spring in the estima-
ton of the voters Of this county, be-
fore he has an opportunity to refute
the falsehood. It will prove a boom
erang to it's authors.
1t is true that an agent of one fthe
houses best represented in this coun-
ty informed superintendent Spring
that his house was going to reduce
the prices on their publications used
here, and would certainly do so, if he
would not encourage the country
schools to Glamour for the cheap
works adopted for use in our city
schools, or for the Merrill books; but
neither that house nor any of the 9TH
ers have reduced the prices on their
books so far as anybody in this county
has ascertained. They don't seem
to be largely inclined to that wayEof
doing,
Only part of the text books used
in our city schools, have been posi-
lively adopted for use for five years.
Had our Board of Education had good
reasons at the time to expect that
Mr.. Merrill would succeed in securing
good text books in time to answer
our wants, there is no doub but they
would have waited for his books.
The people of this city however were
ernest in advocating the Immediate
use Of books which could be secured
at the greatly reduced prices, but also
strenuous that the books must at the
same time be ''number one" in all the
essentials of text book. According
ly our Board decided upon few OF
. the books in most general use in the
schools, and, to follow out the matter
to it's best results, let the contract fol
handling the books to the lowest bid
der. The prices secured by this &C
| ton of our Board ranged from about
one-third to one-half of the price.
paid heretofore for the same qualit.
! of books, or rather for the same
. grade, for most of the books agreed
4 upon are superior in all the essentials
: to the books previously used. Thi
!. contract was within few week
broken, as you state, by the book
e merchants of our city entering into
:, compact to put them up and to hol
them up, even at the expense of thei
+ own private means! The first resul
e was, that the Board employed a ma
J not before engaged in that trade to 6
! into the book business at profit {
" ten per cent, so that the books we1
furnished soon again at about the sam
D. figures as before the said compact.
- The second result was, that sal
IF compact was within a few weeks S
1t lently broken by one of the partle
III and all are now trying to see whit
can sell books the cheapest!
d. Our pupils are now getting Il
spelling book and first reader at ele
n en- cents: second reader at a cent
third reader at "a cents; fourth read
at 40 cents; fifth reader at 62 cent
practical arithmetic at 81 cents; COP
books at 10 cents; drawing books
cents; and other books at about
same rates of discount. except a fl
ad used in the High School.
We are fully as we'll pleased wi
the second result as with the first.
any part of the whole transactit
Very truly,
aii c.. III. ROBERTS