The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-06-02
Hicksville, Defiance Co., May, 'Sl


the gross extortion practiced in the sale
of school text book. 1t is at once an in
suit to your intelligence and an outrage
upon your rights and Interests. To prove
these assertions we do not propose to re.
sort to the reports of Legislative Com
mittees, nor to the carefully prepared
statements made by book publishers to
conceal the facts, nor to the adroit argu'
ments of their hired advocates inside or
outside of our L gislative hills. We
have only to appeal to your own bitter
personal experience for the truth of
what we allege.
The abuse is one tina affects all classes.
1t reaches every household and family
in the State. 1t bears with peculiar
hardship upon the poor and the needy,
upon the widow and the orphan, and
upon the laboring man with humorous
offspring. Throughout the State, and in
other States, it is a subject of loud and
universal COHJ plhLAV'
Year after year appeals are made to
the Legislature for relief Unexception.
able measures are presented for it's con-
sideration. And yet no relief comes.
Other abuses are Confron ed and abol.
ished, as they should be. But whenever
this one, the greatest Of all, turns up, a
majority of your representatives seem
spell-bound, and fail to respond to your
petitions. Mysterious inf flences invade
your legislative halls, and wrong and op-
preston triumph over justice and right.
The clearly asCertained wishes and in.
terests of the people are made to sue.
cumb to the arts and corrupt appliances
of q grasping monopoly.
How long is this state of things to last?
1t is for you to say, The people of all
parties, must take the remedy into their
own hands. Through the ballot box they
have the power. l exhort them to use
it. In their Conventions let them see to
it that no man is nominated for a seat in
the Legislature unless he makes dis.
tinct and uneqriyoCal pledge that he
will stand by the people in this contest
with their OF pressors.
Do this, and the next General Assem-
bly, will see an end to question by
which you have long been vexed and
harassed, and to a system of extortion
under which you have been groaning Tor
years. Do this, and you will have cheap
school books. You will have a pleasant,
stable order of things free from the.pes.
tiferous nuisance of book agents, and
from the annoyance of frequent changes
in text books.
The United States Bank was, in its
way,a dangerous institution,a and a stand.
ing menace to the rights and liberties of
the people. 1t was all powerful over
their business interests and oyer their
social relations. With its money it
bought up many of the leading papers of
the country and many of the peoples
representatives in Congress. twas max.
ing rapid strides toward the complete
control of the Federal Government, and,
through it, Of the people. But finally, it
met lion in it's path. 1t was crushed in.
to the interest Of the masses, whom it
treated with contempt. 1t proved to be
rotten to the core; and when it fell the
people reganed their rights.
The School Book Ring may not exact
ly aspire to the government of the coun-
try. What they aim at is to hold it tribu.
tary to their avariCe. They supply all
the school books used in the United
States. From this source they derive
vast income, and through it WELD an i'm.
mense power.
There are 14500O00 school children
in the United States Suppose that only
10,000,0O0 attend the Public Schools, and |
that, upon an average, each pupil re-
quires only $3.50 worth of tex books.
This would make the receipt of the
dealers and publishers of school books
amount to $4,000 900 per annum. And
at least one-half of that sum goes into
their pockets as clear profit.
1t is no wonder they can afford to ex.
pend S200O,000 year in the employ
ment Of agents, regular and irregular, to |
Cajole the people and carry on their work |
of extortion.
The publishers, their agents and
henChmen form a compact body, ami
mated by one spirit, and are as thorough.
ly organized as a well disciplined army.
With few honorable exceptions, all the
great publishing houses in the country
are combined for certain purposes. They
occasionally tread lightly on each others
toes and invade each others territory
But when common stranger is present
when legislation adverse to their in.
terests is proposad-they are as firmly
united as a Macedonian phalanX, and
pool their resources to defeat, by unscru.
pulous means, all such legislation,
Through secret agents they take a
hand in nominating Conventions, State
and municipal. They interfere in the
election of Boards of Education, School
Trustees and teachers and bring their
magic arts to bear upon them afterward.
Not all, but a majority Of these school
officials, instead of being true sci wants of
the people and the State become the
confidential agents of the book ring, and
enlist, like faithful henchmen, under
their banners.
Not all, but large proportion of the
retail dealers in school books are their
devoted adherents. Such dealers put on
their books what prices they please,
charge eXtravagant rates, and are as
much to blame as the publishers. They
should by law be restricted to a profit Of
10 or u per cent. on their sales, and
should thus be compelled to yield some
thing to the claims Of patriotism as well
as their pockets while their fellow Citi.
zens are generously contributing So, 9,000,-
600 a year to maiutain our grand system
Of free education, From this class OF
men a strong opposition invariable man.
ifests itself to every measure of relief
and the people should be on their guard
against these allies of the Book Ring.
School books, like the Holy Scriptures,