The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-03-07
School Books.

/. The people of California are becoming
decidedly aroused upon the subject of
cheaper school books, and the leading
papers of the State express themselves
most emphatically upon the desirability
of the Legislature taking the matter into
its own hands in order to prevent job
berry The Sacramento Bee, in recent
issue, has the following:
s'The tax for school books is very oner-
Gus upon poor men having large families,
and something should be done to relieve
them of this burden. The publishing
companies or houses are all combined to
keep up the price, and while they may
contest with one another for the trade,
none of them ever propose books at q re-
duced rate. There is nothing that We
know of in the shape of books that could
be, and should be, sold cheaper than
school books One composition does for
10O, 900 copies, the paper used is OF poor
quality, and book that costs fifteen to
twenty cents will not weigh more than
many of the daily newspapers that are
sold for two cents and carried round and
delivered to the subscribers, at that, yet
the newspaper matter has to be set up
fresh every day, while the school-book
matter lasts for years. And then the
sehool-book publishers get up books not
for use, but to sell. They crowd upon
the children too many boOks-many Of
them entirely useless-and are ever
ready to tamper with School
Boards and Legislatures in their
own interests, to the injury of the chill
dren and the loss of money by parents
The Legislature should put a stop now
and forever to this wrong by authorizing
the State to publish her own school-books,
and ordering them to be sold to pupils of
public schools at cost price. There is no
present necessity 10 offer them free, as
parents would be too glad to receive
them at the great reduction this would
make in them, say fifty to seventy-fye
per cent"
The Golden State is not the only suf-
ferer in this direction. The same COM
plant is made over the East, that
changes in text books are manipulated in
the interests of the publishers. The latter
know how to buy support, and when
there are those connected with the man
agement of schools whose only thought
is how to make money out of it, without
reference to the good of the pupils, the
people are imposed upon. &
Poor people often have to make Large
sacrifices in order to keep their children
In SCHOOL, 1uu Wuch - dddCa " shAo enO
expense of school books-no inconsider-
able item at best-the burden becomes
insupportable. They fondly imagine the
children are supplied with the needful
works, when change is ordered, for
what purpose it is often hard TO see to
those who are not posted as to the inside
workings of such matters. The new text
book is no gain upon the old one, unless
in few snowy things, which are Of no
benefit. So
This sort of thing initiates against the
real good of the schools because it
arouses SO strong feeling against any
change. that when one could be advanta-
geously made an active prejudice has to
Be combated. Progress is the law, and
there is room for advancement in every
thing, including methods of education,
but there should be certainty that what
is proposed is really a step forward. To-
ledo has had enough of this playing into
the hands of the publishers at the ex-
pense of the people TO feel keenly upon
the subject, and to realize as California
does that some step is necessary for reform
in this Toledo Blade.