Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-02-23
THE TEXT BOOK JOB
ABLE SPEECH BY HON. j. III. COLE
OF WINONA.

ABLE SPEECH BY HON. y. III. COLE
OF WINONA.
He Points Out the Ubiquitous and Danger
Gus Features of the Pending Job-An
Argument that Ought to Defeat the Bill.
While the supplementary text book bill
was under consideration yesterday, Hon.
j. M. Cole of Winona made the follow
remarks:
opposed the passage of the Merrill text
book law last winter, because it was unjust
to the public schools. am opposed to this
bill, supplementary to it, because it is adding
insult to injury. My motives are to defend
the rights of the people here represent.
10 guard the interests of the people Of the
State in the popular education. To prevent
If possible, the machinery of our public
school system from being the means to adj
vance the private interests of-individuals or
localities, against the public good. To pre-
vent the entangling of our school affairs
with the commercial pursuits, which this
bill, with the textbook law, make para
mount to popular education or to the rights
of the people.
The people here represent are strongly
opposed to the Merrill textbook law.
If this law is to be made operative by the
passage of this bill now under consideration,
am anxious to have their school advanta-
ges secured to them and their rights respect
ed
Section 8, Of this bill now provides that
the State textbook contractor shall have the
right to accept or reject this supplementary
My object in presenting this amendment
to section s, for your adoption, is to give the
people the same opportunities. This amend
ment will permit them to decide whether
the State textbooks shall be adopted, or
whether they will reject them and adopt
others.
If this bill should pass the House as it
came from the Senate, if it should be app
proved and duly signed by the Governor, it
will not become an operative law until the
State textbook contractor afixes his sigma
ture to his written acceptance of the same
and files it with the secretary of State.
The friends of this bill are making ex-
citedly anxious efforts to pass it without
amendments
If it is for the benefit of the people and
for the advantage of popular education, why
should we hesitate to fully consider and re-
spect the sovereign rights of the people of
this State before we humiliate them by maxi
| ing their laws dependent on the sovereign
nod of the Slate textbook contractor
NO REGARD FOR THE PEOPLE.
have stated that this Merrill text book
law, or in this bill under consideration, the
rights of the people are not respected. Ex
amino the law or the bill and you will find
that wherever the law may appear to their
advantage it is only so far as may be neces-
sary for the success of the scheme.
There is not single line in the bill that is
designed for the special benefit of the peo-
pie of the State of Minnesota.
There is but one line of this Merrill text
book law of which very large majority of
the people of the State have any knowledge,
or are in the least familiar with, and that is
the s:title.'
THE GREAT ILLUSIOEIST.
In the early part of the session Of the
Legislature last winter, a bill, S. F. No. 6,
was intrcdu in the Senate by we'll
known introducer of executive bills. It was
rumored and was no doubt true, that one of
the originators of the bill was the great
illusionist of the Senate. No danger, how
ever, was apprehended from it at that time.
S. F. No. 6 proposed ''to provide uniform
and cheap text books for the public schools
of our State,'' by establishing and maintain
ing, at the expense of the State, a publish
ing house for the purpose of furnishing all
the public schools in the State with text
books at cost with small per cent. commits
sion for handling.
This bill was referred to a committee, who,
while considering the same, consulted the
book dealers, among others Daniel D. Mer-
rill, who is a man of great experience in the
business of selling school books, and who
has probably sold more high priced school
books than any INSCRIPTIONS book seller in
the State.
Mr.. Merrill, being sharp business man,
saw .sjob' in this visionary bill. St. Paul
had no objections to large publishing
house being located in this city at the ex-
pense of the State, for the printing, binding
and general publishing of all the school
books used in the public schools. Con
sequently negotiations with MIR. Merrill re-
suited in changes being made in the bill.
One month after the introduction of this
bill, the introducer of eccentric and visionary
bills, introduced in the Senate S. F. No. 1888
a substitute for S. F. No. 6.
The originators of this bill successfully
engineered it into this act, which is known
I 4o1r4 H. low
this bill is supplementary.
When this act passed last winter, it was
supposed by some that a publishing house
would soon be added to the business of St
Paul. A failure only to secure the proper
State funds, has delayed the enterprise
! THE MERRILL CONTRACT.
\ Mr.. Merrill has contract with the State
which is drawn according to the specification
of this law, and it was supposed that his
personal advantages were guarded at ever,
point This failure to secure the State funds
had the effect to make this law imperative
Mr.. Merrill now asks for funds to carry OF
his commercial affairs under that contract.
It is not this contract we are now consid
ering. The question is, will we put GU
necks under the yoke voluntarily, and Civ
to him the right of using our school funds
which are raised by taxation for the supper
of our public schools, without giving tn
people the right to reject this proposition?
If the originators Of this bill had BEEF
: friends of our common school system, ha.
not in fact been enemies of popular educa
ton, they would have provided a special ta
for Mr.. Merrill, instead of deranging on
school system, and diverting the teacher
wages, and funds raised by tax for specis
}, purposes, to benefit the commercial affair
8 of Mr. Merrill.
Iprotest against this injustice and ask fo