The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-09-04
AN ARGUMENT AGAINST.


| foundation stones of our Republican govern
| ment. L.
AN ARGUMENT AGAINST.
! To the Edsto~ of the Press:
At meeting of the school committee last
Friday evening, it was voted to appropriate
the sum of $500, if the City Council approves.
for the purpose of purchasing readers with
which to supply all the scholars rich and poor
alike, in our primary and grammar schools. Of
seven members of the board, four voted in IA
vor of the project and three opposed it. The
order was of the nature of compromise, and
possibly some of the four who voted fer it did
so with fear and trembling, anticipating that it
would have hard time in passing the Coun-
Gill; should be right glad if the finances of
the city were in such prosperous condition that
we could justly perform an act of generosity so
entirely unsolicited, and so wholly unnecessa-
~. can think of several acts of bare justice
to parents and pupils in connection with our
schools, that should be attended to before this
bit of generosity is INDUCED in. There are
persons, doubtless, acquainted with the needs
of the city, who can think of other matters
outside of the department of schools, that
buOuIu 10 dstOuu0Q W IL opliCu IuoblCO WClO
done, before this extremely liberal proposition
is adopted. We will confne ourselves entirely
to the schools for the present. In the annual
report of 1882 Mr.. fash says: give of our
Oldest buildings, now used for primary schools,
viz, the Chestnut street, the Casco street, the
Spring street, the Park street, and the School
street buildings need remodeling at an early
day, in order to meet properly the present and
prospective needs of these districts. These
buildings are old, as at present arranged, quite
inconvenient, and unequal to the demands OF
the school population which they are expected
to accommodate. Many parents have been
obliged to send their children to school rooms
horribly oyercrowded, and to 70 ms SO misera-
bly, lighted that they have seen their chill
dren's eyes permanently injured. There are
yet number of school rooms aving from six
ty to seventy, or seventy-ive scholars uring
the last spring, summer and early fall months,
that never ougnJ to have more than thirty-hye
or forty scholars. 1t is cruelty TO tie teacher;
it endangers the lives and health of the pupils.
The ventilation of these rooms is quite simple,
but very dangerous. The windows are opened
and cold draft is let in on the hot heads of
school rooms that are totally unfit for use on
account of insufficiency of light and improper
introduction of light into the rooms. When
complaint is mads of these things we are
met by the statement that the city is obvia ting
these difficulties as fast as the condition of b. Q
finances will permit The school yards of sew
eral of eur schools are in such condition in the
spring and fall that the children are obliged to
keep out of them or suffer with wet feet during
the school session. We are asked to give our
consent to the indefinite postponement OF our
rights in matters pertaining to the lives and
health of our children, in favor of a wild
scheme that is wholly wrong in principle.
Towns or cities have no right to invest capital
credit in business that is, or can be, carried
on as we'll by private parties 1t requires cap
ital to go into the Wholesale book business. 1t
may not require as much as it did for
this city to go into the railroad BUSH
ness, when the city voted its mil
lions for the Ogdensburg and Rochester
roads. The principle of the two transactions
is just the same, and the result will inevitably
be the same, if there is any truth in political
economy. What person or what department
OF our city authorities is competent to do the
| work of wholesale and retail bookseller? Is
| there not some special skill and knowledge
| and training and experience requisite to carry
| on SO large a business? If we think none is
required on our part, we shall lind in few
| months that the skill and experience that will
| be pitted against rS will drive us to the wall,
| to our financial cost The experience of the
| town of Westbrook may be taken as valuable
| lesson for us. The supervisor told the voters
| assembled in town meeting that i've hundred
| dollars would provide what books were needed
| for the year. The town voted the money,
| more money was required and debt WIS in
| Cured to the amout of fifteen hundred dollars.
| The probability is that the eight hundred
| dollars called for by the vote of the school
committee of this city is no nearer to what
| will be actually needed to accomplish the OBJ
| ject designed than the five hundred dollars was
| for Westbrook, One of the ex-mayors of
| Lewiston told friend of the writer that the
| plan of the ownership of school books by the
| city was useless and senseless extravaganza;
that the actual cost of the books to the city was
| double what it would be if every child bought
| its own books. Who wants his child to use a
second hand book, just from the hands, per-
| haps of a child afflicted with some contagious
disease? During epdemics of scarlatina, this
| interchange of books must certainly be danger
| Gus. In many towns aud cities school books
| are sold by the dealers at the regular retail
| price, which is some twenty-five per cent.
| above the wholesale price. In such places
| there is some reason for the authorities to take
| the matter into their own hands. In this city,
| the profits made on the sale OF school books,
| by the booksellers is very small. There is no
| article of merchandise that sells for SO small
| margin of profit. School books are sold here
| at retail at the regular wholesale prices. What
| have the booksellers of this city done that the
| authorities should conspire to break up their
| business? Why not furnish boots and shoes,
| great coats and mittens, hose and under
| garments to the scholars? Many children can
| not 90 to school for want of these things 1t
would be a great saving for those parents
blessed with numerous progeny.
| The profits on the sale of these articles are
| greater than on the sale of school books, there
| fore the saving to the city would be greater;
| AWAY with all such nonsense! "a burned
| child breads the fire." If our city fathers,
| when they assemble in council this evening,
| will only say over to themselves the magical
words, "Ogdensburg" Rochester, it will not
| take long to settle the whole business. There
| is more reason for the city to help railroads
| than there is for them to give school books to
| the scholars. Yet any road asking for the loan
| of the city's credit Just now would be sure OF
| refusal. There is surely more reason for oppo-
| sition to this wild scheme A city has no busl-
| ness in trade. 1t has no business to drive out
| Of trade, respectable firms who are paying
| taxes and doing all they can to help the city's
| growth. 1t has no right to perform deeds OF
questionable generosity, at the expense of the
| lives and health of our children.
| Who will be benefited by this action? The
| rich and well-to-do never ought to complain OF
| the hardship of buying school books for their
children. The really poor and destitute are
| always provided with school books at the city's
| EXPENSE 1t is true, there are some families to
| whom it is hardship to have to buy books,
| but they are too proud to complain AS much
| as we may svmpathize with this class, and l
trust it is small GLASS; it certainly is not right
| to saddle an immense commercial enterprise
upon the city for their benefit. They do not
| even ask for it. The sum of eight hundred
| dollars seems small amount with which to
buy SO many books. This is only the first call;
| the next call may be for couple of thousand
dollars to finish up the Reader business. There
are many other books in use in our schools
that. on the same principle, the city ought to
buy. If this question is settled by the council
in favor OF the passage of the order allowing
the school committee to buy these books, there
is no doubt but that ten thousand dollars will
| be asked for within year. This matter is
only the entering wedge. Every scholar ought
to own his own text books, and take pride III
them. Ii the pupils do not take good care of
them, it is largely the teachers fault. A love
for books should be inculcated upon every