Omaha daily bee., 1883-01-11

(you know poor men invariably have
largo fsmilies) moves into an sdjoin-
ing district, in nine cases out OF ten he
will have to purchase an entirely new
set OF books for his children. 1t Is
usually the poorer class that move Of
ten, and at that particular time sll
their hard earnings are needed for
other purposes. The result is they
furnish only a part OF the necessary
list of text books, and in many cases
they keep them ont of school for the
sole reason that they can not afford to
buy the necessary books. Our school
laws should be- SO framed as to favor
the poor, as the rich can devise ways
and means to take care of themselves
Thousands of children in this state
to-day ere deprived of the advantages
OF education simply because their par.
ents cannot or will not obtain for
them tho necessary books. God pity
them. 1t is their misfortune TO be
poor
1t 10 strange to me that our school
books cost nearly twice as much as
our best literary works OF the same
binding. The gchool text books of
to-day are far inferior to many OF our
literary works. The most of them
are but ~plagiarisms of preceding Of.
forts. Take for exsmple our readers
They are extracts from literary works
with a few stolen definitions and prin-
ciples of reading. Many of
the authors have not even the
judgment of the common literary
thief as their selections are filmsy and
trashy, and their treatise in reading,
etc , bear tho ear marks of some
author so Enthusiastically that any ordi-
nary school boy can recognize them at
. glance
The grammars are go complex and
of go different a variety that to cite
any n as authority is to make mat.
tiers all the more mu1dled.
The other text books are nearly all
q sameness. Now for the remedy, we
have tried the uniformity of the text
book system, and 1t is a consummate
failure. 1t is a failure for several
reasons.
The people do not like the list re.
commended by the state superintend-
ont. 1t gives the state superintendent
too good a chance to get a bonus from
some one publishing house for recon-
mendipg their pet books. Of course
such men are honest, but it is wrong
to put pie to hungry boys mouth If it
is just to make his mouth water.
70 enforce the adoption OF any one
list is to create a greater monopoly
than exists at the present, ss several
houses now have a finger In the pie
and are jointly reaping a rich har
vest.
The only way in which I see to
remedy this evil is for our Legislature
to create a state school board, whose
duty it shall be to get up a complete
list of text books from the primer to
the highest used Ia our common
schools.
Said school board shall give the
publishing of said books is the low
est responsible bidder; and when they
shall have been published sell them
to the district school boards through.
out the state at cost. We can give
the school boards say from one TO
two years, after the books are ready
for sale, to adopt them. This is not
a hard problem to solve. 1t Is but a
plain fact; and IL it was not for the
condemnation it would meet with
from the publishing houses that are
now feeding and fattening off the
poor of our state, l know that it
would meet with universal approval.
Yours for the right,
SrppurNa