Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-02-02
THE FIFTEEN YEAR JOB
THE SCHOOL BooK1Aw rEsr11ArED

A County superintendent Shows That 1t
Is Expensive to the Public, and Unsatis-
factory in Every Respect The State
Jumped From Frying Pan to Fire-A
Sensitive Circle.
IOwatonna Journal
Attention is directed to another paper by
the County Superintendent on the text book
question. The people have deep interest
in this matter, both as to its financial and
educational bearing. We believe large
majority of the tax payers of Steele county
desire the repeal of the Merrill law, and that
fact should be made apparent to our repre-
sentatives in the Legislature. Action in this
matter must be prompt to prove effective.
There is better way to break down the
school book ring than by granting monop
oily of the school book trade to one man for
fifteen years. The remedy is worse than
the evil, and could not have been conceived
by less impracticable mind than Donnelly
possesses. better plan to guard the peo-
pie against extortions in the school book
trade would be to authorize the counties, as
such, to purchase books and make their own
| terms in free market. Then the natural
laws of trade would not be disturbed, and,
at the same time, the people would have Sc
cured for them the advantages of wholesale
prices.
The County SMperintendent's Paper Re
Terred to -lborc.
In this paper shall examine only one of
the new series of books selected for the use
of our schools. The people have right to
| know the merits of book which is to be
used for the next fifteen years. First as to
the price. They are cheap text books. The
| Practical Grammar is to be sold in st. Paul
for so cents. Including freight &C., it will
cost us here about SIS cents. Greene's In
PRODUCTION has been sold here for long
time for so cents, and for the past season
for 45 cents. It can be laid down in Owa-
tonna, by the dozen, for 37115 cents. That
is, we can save at least 16 cents on a book,
if the Legislature will allow us to buy our
own books.
Another feature of the proposed law is,
that it makes two books necessary The
text book bill is made to sell books. Ou1
district schools do not need two books on
grammar. The first book contains too lit
tie, so that the second book becomes ne
cessity.
But what are the comparative merits OF
these books? Let us take the treatment OF
the Noun. The State pays for words an6
not thoughts in the proposed textbook
Quackenbos contains nearly 81 pages on the
noun, including exercises, while Greene has
only II. If we leave out the exercises, the
proportion is as IL in Quackenbos to il
Greene. Greene says in few words all tina
is necessary, while the other is wordy. Mr.
Burt rightly calls the author prolific. 1t i.
an imposition on child to commit these
verbose definitions when short ones are Sc
much more to the point. After careful
comparison of the Noun. as treated by thes,
two authors, / am surprised to find ever,
single topic of the proposed textbook neat
ly expressed in less than one-half the spac,
in Greene. Quackenbos gives three pages OF
the kinds of Nouns, Greene only one An.
yet the latter does not omit a single idea es
Noun. Quackenbos devotes 10 pages t,
number while Greene has only g. And We
Greene is sufficiently full for all practica
purposes. The latter leaves to the spellin,
book and dictionary the long lists of word
which form their plurals irregularly
stating only the rule with fey
appropriate examples. Few peopl
ever go to the grammar for spelling or def
nitions. These are learned from the die
tionary. In this way Greene has given us
concise work on grammar sufficient for tn
wants of our district schools, and at pric
at least Is per, cent. less than the cheap tex
book of the proposed series. And if w
reckon the price of Greene at 3715 cents
our districts will save over 25 per cent. b
keeping the book already in use.
In the treatment of the verb there is tn
same conciseness in Greene. His definition
are short yet simple: and because he ha
stated them SO briefly his little book seem
more elementary than it really is If full
ness IS required, then Quackenbos does no
begin to compare with Kerl. But if wha
we require is an elementary work on gram
mar containing enough for all our common
schools, leaving to the dictionary on the on
hand and to rhetoric on the other, what be
longs to them, we certainly have it il
Greene's Introduction. And there is also al
elementary course in the same book, so tina
in place of two books of grammar, as tn
State series proposes. one worth so or s.
cents, the other 25 or 80, making at least 81
cents in all, we have one book sufficient TO
every district school in Minnesota containing
an elementary and an intermediate course
and costing per dozen one-half the price o
the so-called cheap text book series.
do not wish to fill the space of tn
Journal with too much on this subject.
only wish the intelligent voters of this count,
could examine these text books for them
selves. They would certainly reject then
by an overwhelming vote.
This bill of Mr.. Donnelly in fifteen year.
will be worse thought of than the railroad
bonds are now. 1t is just such anothe
speculation. 1t would seem as if the Legis
lature would pause before it decides to throw
out of our schools in Minnesota at least foul
hundred thousand dollars worth of books
to bind the State to an enormous monopoly
for fifteen years, when our districts can buy
a better book at lower figures to-day than the
text book law gives us.
GEO. C. TANNER,
County Superintendent, Steele County.
The Quicker the State Gets out the Betfe,.
[Red Wing Argus.
most determined effort will be made
during the session of the presentiL legislature
to repeal the law, reimburse the contractor
for his expenses thus far, and leave the mat
ter where it was before. We hardly think
this will be done. but we thought at the time
and still do think that it is very bad policy
for the State to go into the school book OF