Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-08-07
STATE SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS.


STATE SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS.
The REcoRD-USIoN, from the earliest
suggestion that the State should print the
textbooks for use of the common schools
Of the State, pronounced alphabetically for
the scheme, and warmly advocated it to
its final adoption No recent progressive
movement has met with stronger opposi
ton There has been arrayed against it
the powerful influence of private publish
ing houses, backed by enormous capital
and the broad profits reaped from the
business Of supplying textbooks TO school
districts. The vast sum of money that has
been spent by the people OF this State in
thirty wears for school books is almost in
conceivable, and by fir the larger part of
it has represented enormous profits to pub
fishing houses. But this was the very
least Of the evil The publishing agencies,
in order to secure the introduction of their
books, entered the political arena, and in
greater or less degree exercised baneful
influence upon Boards of Education, school
officers, and even upon the teachers of our
youth. They were active in our Legisla
lures, in promoting measures calculated to
enhance their gains, and were felt in
nearly every election held in the State.
They used money freely, and for no good
purposes, and made public needs subserv-
lent at all times to their private ends.
They formed rings and syndicates to con-
troll prices, in order to prevent honest
competition among publishers, and thus
force the people of the State to pay such
prices as these combinations saw fit to
charge for books needed.
so serious had grown these great evils
that the people demanded and adopted
constitutional amendment requiring legis-
la.ion with view off cutting off all these
ills, and OF having the production of the
school textbooks made State concern.
Under this mandate of the people, the
Legislature passed an Act in February,
1885, providing that the State Board of
Education should compile, or cause to be
compiled, three readers, one speller, one
arithmetic, one grammar, one history Of
the United States and one geography.
These books were to be printed and bound
at the State Printing Office, and sold to
the people of the State at a uniform price
not to exceed the cost of production. I'm
der this Act-which we elsewhere publish
in full-the plant of the State Printing
Office was enlarged and supplied with all
aeeded material for book work, and
bindery with frst-class machinery estab-
lished, supplemented by departments of
wood engraving and Of electrotyping of the
first order, and this new machinery is used
by the State for its other work, formerly
sent to private establishments. The State
Board of Education promptly entered upon
the work Of securing and preparing the
text matter, and at this writing the work of
producing textbooks has so far progressed
rs to warrant the assertion that the entire
scheme will prove success aud result in
vast saving to the people.
While the prices of the new books have
not vet been fixed, from all we learn we
are justified in stating that the volumes
will be furnished to the people for less than
one-half the sum they have been compelled
to pay in the past for similar works. 1t
is demonstrable, for instance, that the new
Third Reader,which takes the place of and
covers the whole ground formerly occupied
by Third, Fourth and Fifth Readere, will
be sold at sum less than 80 cents The
book contains 5l2 pages. Appleton's
" Fifth Reader" which we select for COM
parison as a fairly representative work of
the old style contains but 472 pages and
relails at 81 Is. As between these two
hooks, therefore, there is saved to the
purchaser more than Is cents, while there
is wholly eliminated the cost for all the
intermediate volumes under the old sys-
TEN.
Elsewhere we present fac SMILES of
twenty-four pages of the State First and
Third Readers and the State Spelling
book. These are fair samples of the
books, and we submit that, in manner of
arrangement, character OF text and typo
graphical execution. they Will rank with
the best ever issued by private houses
OF course, our readers well understand
that in a newspaper issue, and upon
newspaper press the text and engrayings
cannot be presented at their best, nor so
clearly as when worked upon book presses
and with finer quality Of paper and ink
than usually employed by newspapers.
It viii be found also, when the works
are issued in book form, besides being ad-
mirably bound and printed, that the
whole text matter is of the highest order.
and that the State has secured as valuable
textbooks as any ever issued. II will be
remembered that the people were told
this would be impossible. For sone in
scrutable reason, we were assured that
the State could not command the scholarly
ability for this work which private pub
fishers secure. For some deep and mystic
rious reason, never explained, we were