, 1889-08-29
SCHOOL TEXT BOOKS.
An Important Circular Issued by
the Territorial Superin-
tendent.
No Change to Be Made--Status of
the Matter in the Courts
Defined.

'"i'''"'ViucHt VI HNhiiN NuCtioii w
the various county superintcndcnts, adj
vising them. of the status of the school
book question. which has gotten into
court lately aud become considerably
mixed in the minds of many people.
The circular states that no change shall
be made in the textbooks ut present,
and explains the attitude of the court
toward tho matter;
OFFICE OF TERRITORIAL SUrERisrE-
DENT of. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION., ELLESs-
BURG, Wash, Aug. "a ls0 TO thoCoun.
ty upcrintondcnts, school Officers and
Teachers; In response to various in
quiries lately mud5. as TO the proper
school text books to be used, ! call at
,cntion to the circular from this office
of August q, 1883, which states explicit
| " that by order of the bourl of eluCa-
tion, no textbooks will bc changed, but
| that "thc books in use In the territory
for the past two years will continue in
use until the state may otherwise pro-
vide"
Whenever any other condition of af-
fairs arises promst notice will be given
nom this Office to all concerned.
For the information of the public ]
Will add that the board of education, ut
its August meeting, rcsCinded its former
action in changing certain text books,
for the reason that II was advised by the
attorney general that its action In mak-
ing these changes were illegal and void,
and II was thought bcst To correct the
record, and avoid confusion, litigation
and expense to the people
Subsequently an action was begun by
Messrs. lyison, Brakeman IL CO., pub
fishers of the new books sought to be in
troduCed, the object of which was TO
compel the schools To- use those books.
This uction was dismissed by the court,
and there the matter rests, as willappcur
by the following letter from the attorney
general:
ATTORNEY GENERALS OgFlCg,l
SgATTLg. Aug II, $50.
, HON. j. II. MOHGAS, Supcrlntcndent Pub
nc lnstrction, Ellcnshursh, ", r,-Sir;
wired yot as follows:
u do not understand Chief Justice Han.
iord To pass upon The legality oi inc con
blRkcman 4 Co, 81 al. uid that the order
mnuc III the case doc not nfcct the opinion
Of the attorney general that such contracts
were valid, rs this part ~ the case was not
prosecuted ut the hearing
II understand the opinion Of tho chief !
Justice, he docs not IN ans way pass upon
board, or OF it, action at the July meeting; !
IN fact am assured ul this from the follow. !
Ing paragraph taken from the opinion flied /
III tho case:
"fhc result OF this proceeding must he the I
same whether hold the acts of the board 4
~ adopting tcSt books and contracting with |
the plaintiffs to he valid or not and hence | /
cannot decide the questions touching these .
matters, and intend TO express no opiniouin |
regard thereto"
Tho effect OF this decision was simply to |
inform the parties moving against the |
board that, far MS the Cusc which they |
presented stood, they wCrN rene lilcss, |
or u not without remedy. he was com. |
proceedings making n0 further order IN the /
premises other than tu dismiss their pCti |
ton. The opinion ot the office ~ to the lc' |
gality OF the contracts and the proceedings !
Of the board at the July meeting Is not In /
any manncg Het aside by the action of the /
court IN this case. am still of the opinion !
that the action OF the board az the July !
meeting was Illegal and invalid. that the |
only books which eau be used are those /
which were IN use ~ tho time and prior to |
the regular annual meeting In July.
Cndurthis view Of the case, do not see |
that there CaH nc any MISUNDERSTANDING Hs |
to what text booss should be used. II inter |
cstcd parties desire to have the court paNs |
upon tho action Of the board ut the July |
meeting they can readily do so. and bring |
mp u test case, but even then amy action of
the nisi piius courts Il not OF itself decisive |
of the case, H. the interests involved lead |
me 10 believe that the ,uso would probably |
be taken tc the supreme court With great
respect, am your obedicni servant,
Attorney General ofwoshmgton Tcrritory.
In dismissing inc case the court incl !
dcntally expressed the opinion that the !
August meeting Of the board was illegal,
and il has been brought to the attention
OF this office that these express ions of
the judge are being circulated 10y inter |
csted parties ~ having the effect OF an
order OF the court This Is u mistake. |
NO order has been made by the court !
except to dismiss the action brought
against the board; and il il only AN
order Of the court that the board OF edu.
cation can take notice OF Whether or
not the August meeting of the board !
was Illegal can only be finally deter |
mined by the supreme court, should amy |
litigation arise which can be Ia ken there; |
but in any case the hoard holds, upon |
the advice OF the encouragement, that |
its action at the July meeting was illegal |
and yoid, and this being the case, the |
board cannot assume amy other position |
than that the text books in use before |
the July meeting must remain III Use |
until the state in It's own good time un- |
dertakcs 10 make II change. This posi-
lion must DC respected by all school oili-
GERS, regardless OF the assertions of in /
tcrcstcd parties, unless the courts order |
Any course other than the above can
only lead 10 confusion general litigu- |
ton, injury to the schools and expense
10 the people This 1t was the intention .
of the board, in resembling its July reso-
lutions. to- avoid. Had the July action
been allowed to remain, and the new /
hooks introduced, and aitcrward, as the
board We're advised, and believed might |
be the case, their adoption declared ille-
gal and void, great and unnecessary cx- |
pense would have been cutniled upon |
the people and injury inflicted upon the |
As IL now stands, any party III |
interest, by bringing the proper ection, |
can have the case tested carried to the |
supreme court and finally settled. 1t is
needless to say that whenever one suit is |
thus brought il 1t should he finally de- |
cidcd against the bourd the proper or
der would be promptly made To carry |
the decision iuto effect throughout the |
state. In the meantime the schools |
must use tho books they now
have, until, If any further suit is |
brought, such suit Is finally settled. |
As this will necessarily require some
months, no apprehension need he felt on
the part of school officers that III amy |
event any books will bo changed during |
the coming school year, and the board is |
advised and believes that no court will
ever direct the inlroduotion of the new
books.
This being the position of the board, it |
will be tho duty of county superintcnd-
cnts. according To title Ill, section 10,
subdivision 1, 10 report to this Office amy |
action at variance Herewith, coming
from any quarter other than the courts. |
| have thought best to make this cx-
plunution Tor the information and hene- |
lit of school officers and the public who
may rely on such prompt instructions
from the board of education and this
text books In the schools. and will al
vnvs rlcarf,llv com nlv will, thp order