The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-10-30
School Book Trust Methods.

The school book trust is still burdening
the mails with anonymous pamphlets and
circulars attacking the new school books.
Tens OF thousands OF these scurrilouspubli-
cations have been sent out during the
last two or three weeks. Scarcely mail
reaches this office that does not contain
| specimens of them, furnished us by indig
nant friends of the new law. They abound
in reckless falsehoods, and serve no other
purpose than to illustrate the desperation
OF the trust Vicious rs they are in tone
they are as we stated the other day, mild
ness itself when compared with the at
tacks which the book trust houses used
to make upon each others publications be-
fore they organized their combine.
We have before us pamphlet which,
though anonymous, is known to have
emanated from the Van Antwerp-Bragg
house. II was issued several years ago,
and is aimed at the Appleton series OF
readers, which have high reputation and
are considered among the best readers
published in this country.
Several pages of this pamphlet are de-
voted to extracts from the Appleton
readers designed to illustrate their al
legged inferiority. Then follow these
statements regarding the books:
/. These books contain no lessons in the
definition of words, nor exercises TO teach the
meaning of new and difficult words introduced
in the lessons.
.. The lessons in general are not instructive
nor calculated 10 form the taste or improve the
moral sense of the pupils
3. There is scarcely religious sentiment
thought or allusion in the book, or in any OF
these three lower books. 1t is pure, absolute
intelectuaism. Ii is dictated by the pantheism
OF the Hegeian philosophy. This fact alone
should condemn these books. They are ire
ligi0us and atheistical, inasmuch as they ignore
all idea of GOD and our relations to Him.
4. The character, thoughts and sayings Of
animals occupy the greater part of these lower
books-cats and dogs. pigs and horses exhibit
ing the finest aesthetic and moral sensibiiity in
their thoughts and actions.
After a careful scrutiny we have been unable
TO find delineated in them one sturdy, manly
character. The number of thoughts or senti-
ments worthy to be aiken along with us as life
thoughts are signally few, yet how well we
know how lasting are these thoughts
These selections, notes and comments are
published to induce teachers and school officers
10 read and compare these trashy books before
recommending or adopting them.
That's the way the trust houses used to
pitch into each others books before they
formed the combination. When the APP
PLEToNS joined the combine. VAN ANT
wERP BRAGG & Co. ceased to attack their
immoral" and trashy" books. Indeed,
the compact they entered into with the
APPLEToNs obliged them to defend these
books, to notify the publishers when they
were threatened with displacement at any
point, and to cooperate with them to pre-
vent such displacement
1t will be seen that in making scurrilous
attacks upon the new books VAN ANTWERP,
BRAGG & Co. are only playing tricks they
learned when there was rivalry in the
school-book business. For number of
years there has been no such rivalry, and
the trust houses have not been obliged to
expend their money in the preparation
and circulation, under the shelter OF anony-
nifty, OF libelous literature of this sort
The passage OF the Indiana school-book
law, and the award of a contract under it,
has driven them to the necessity of resum-
ing this dirty work. Although the
pamphlets and circulars denounc-
ing the new textbooks are pre-
pared and circulated by VAN ANTWERP,
BRAGG x Co., the other trust houses are,
of course, assessed for their share of the
expense.
1t is easy enough, by detaching words
and sentences from the context, to make
even the sublimest writings appear ridicu-
lOus. Some of the extracts which the
trust blackguards are parading from the
new readers as evidences oftheir inferiority
are taken from the works of the most
eminent writers-of such men as HANS
CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN, CHARLES Dickens
and others of that class. This fact alone
is sufficient to show the worthlessness of
these criticisms. 1t will be hard TO con-
vince intelligent people that their chill
dren are liable TO be demoralized by read
ing selections from the works OF DICKENS
and ANDERSEN.